false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255723110m/5478184.jpg 5478184 2 Zen teacher and punk bassist Brad Warner had a tough year: He lost his dream job, his mother died, his grandmother died, and his marriage fell apart. In "Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate", Brad follows the form of his first two books, mixing his real-life adventures with Buddhist philosophy and pop culture examples. He applies the Buddha's teachings to his own real-life suffering, deconstructing the popular image of the Buddhist Master. How does a real Zen Master deal with death, divorce, job loss, and personal discord? How does he perform the work of trying to help others get over their tough times while going through some pretty heavy pain of his own? How do you sit and meditate while your world crumbles all around you?Warner also explores whether real Buddhism exists in the West, travelling around North America in search of authentic Buddhist practice. 'While I've found shining examples of the Buddha's way in prisons and at heavy metal shows', he writes, 'I've also seen sad perversions of Buddhism in temples and among those supposedly propagating the Way in America. Authentic Buddhism doesn't always come packaged the way we imagine it should'. This isn't another esoteric book about the ancient, venerable, and exotic philosophy of Buddhism. It's a book about what it means to live your life as a real human being. According to Warner, although Zen does not offer the kind of pie-in-the-sky 'ultimate solutions' many religions and cults promise, it does provide a real and exceptionally practical way to deal with what life dishes out to all of us. In fact, he says, Zen practice and philosophy provides the only truly rational and realistic way to live a balanced and happy life. 5545824 1 2 2009 Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate: A Trip Through Death, Sex, Divorce, and Spiritual Celebrity in Search of the True Dharma total:102|5:26|4:43|3:22|2:10|1:1| 102 389 193 29 2 2 false false Sat Mar 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 21 13:58:14 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 21 14:13:05 -0700 2009 Harcore Zen a refreshingly voiced read, and shared it with many students and fellow practitioners. Having been in a few punk/alt bands myself, and writing a lot about it back in the late 70s/early 80s, I resonated with his perspective.

By his second book, Sit ...more...]]> 4 2 false false Wed Apr 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 20:44:22 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 18:20:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Feb 07 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 21:17:30 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 21:25:02 -0800 2009
And, as a guy, he screws up, occasionally sits around ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Feb 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 14:55:43 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 15:11:27 -0800 2009 Hardcore Zen, told how he came to Zen after being a hardcore punk and served as an introduction to zazen and Zen ideas. His second was an exploration of the Shōbōgenzō, a work written by the Zen te...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Apr 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 23 17:22:55 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 26 13:21:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 03:22:04 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 20:37:19 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jun 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 20 07:44:17 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 25 17:48:44 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 05:26:37 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 05:38:48 -0700 2009
The thing that I don't like about this book is that it doesn't play to Brad's strengths. It's indulgent and was no doubt cathartic to write, but he seems to be fighting a battle that only exists within a small minority: I know that 'zen...more...]]> 2 1 false false Fri Jun 26 04:50:07 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 26 05:01:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jun 05 18:08:55 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 18:14:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Apr 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Dec 19 21:29:44 -0800 2008 Thu Apr 09 19:39:26 -0700 2009
again, i had some is...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Apr 16 20:08:43 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 16 20:14:53 -0700 2009
he discusses a year in his life as he deals with several deaths in the family, troubles with work and love...

it was rea...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Apr 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 15:52:38 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 16:02:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 04:35:41 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 04:39:10 -0800 2009 http://inspirationlocation.wordpress.com
But I really liked this, as much, if not more than the other book I read by Brad Warner a while ago called "Hardcore Zen." This is no bullshit zen: clean, irreverent, no zen-stink, funny. He writes in an ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Aug 09 07:27:55 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 09 07:30:17 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Sep 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 14 08:48:44 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 16 08:10:20 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Sep 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 17:08:09 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 10:18:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Mar 12 21:58:15 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 12 21:59:41 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Jun 12 07:03:40 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 07:03:40 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 20:21:27 -0700 2009 Fri May 01 09:36:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=5478184