Brad Warner's Blog, page 27

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

OK. My sister and her kids are due here any minute. So this will very likely be my last post for a while.

So far, so good on the first 20 hrs. or so of having the comments section back. I was intrigued by one of the first ones to appear. An anonymous commenter said:

Brad, good to see you Back.

Still seems like you carry a lot of grudges and revenge about a lot of stuff for someone who is supposed to have been practicing Zen.

I guess you don't seem like someone to respect or look up to. Isn't...

SCREEN TIME, MY MAD CHAMBER OF HORRORS and OTHER DELIGHTS

OK. I've turned commenting back on. For now...

I've been enjoying Gniz's recent lambasting of Genpo Roshi and Big Mind® over on the Reblogging Brad Warner blog. It's good to see this stuff getting a public airing. But I've never felt the need to dig as deeply as Gniz has. The fact that Big Mind® is bullshit is overwhelmingly evident just by watching videos of it.

In any case, the fact that Gniz has chosen to write these pieces means that his blog is no longer really functioning as a place to c...

My Home Town and Bullshit Sexism in Buddhism

I'm thinking about reinstating the comments section. But I'm gonna need to consult with Aaron now that he's involved.

Anyway, I've occasionally seen debates crop up over whether or not Brad Warner is really "street" or, in fact, secretly did not grow up in the alleys of the inner city, but (~gasp!~) in a quiet suburb. I think this comes from people who read Noah Levine's PR, confuse it with me and then accuse me of being a fake because I'm not what they imagine Noah is (which isn't what Noah i...

BC Report & c.

I did my first talk in Victoria, BC last night. It was very nice. There's a photo of the event to your left. It was Rinzai style Zen in the tradition of Joshu Sasaki Roshi.

A couple days before that I gave a talk at another temple in the Sasaki tradition, Vancouver Zen Centre (they don't know how to spell the word "center" in Canada). That also went swimmingly. The talk was styled as a dialogue between me and Eshin, the head of the centre there. That was a good way to do things, I thought.

On ...

Dharma Wars and Appolgies to Canada

First off, someone pointed out that Vancouver is in Southwest Canada, not Northwest Canada. True. I was mixing two ideas, one of which was that I'd been trying for ages to set up a Northwest Tour. This would've included Seattle, Portland, Victoria and Vancouver. But only the folks in Victoria, BC, Canada ponied up for plane fare. Thus it became a "Northwest Canada Tour" in my shriveled up, nearly useless mind. By the way, I wish I was Thurston Howell III and could just jet off to different pl...

NORTHWEST CANADA REPORT

So I'm sitting on a sofa looking out at a lovely view of the city of Vancouver and its surrounding mountains. Low clouds, gray skies, leaves of red and gold. The bay, the buildings, the docks. I gave my first talk last night. It was really cool. Thanks to everyone who attended.

I have another sitting + talk this afternoon and yet another one of those tomorrow. Then it's on to Victoria. The full schedule is available at this link.

Last night was the second attempt at what I foresee as an ongoing...

Interview With DEVO

The Interview with Mark Mothersbaugh of DEVO I recently did for Suicide Girls is now on-line. Go check it out!

And remember to come see the talks I'm doing in Canada and Minnesota. All the info you need is at this link.

More Ranting About "Cyber Sanghas"

My God! Someone else noticed how intensely weird that recent Marmaduke strip was. Thank you Colin for sending this to me!

I'm about to leave for my mini-tour of British Columbia and Minnesota. Click here for details about where I'll be and when. And remember severe punishment awaits anyone who is anywhere near these gigs and fails to show up. I wouldn't risk it if I were you!

I just finished reading Chuck Klosterman's new book Eating The Dinosaur. Towards the end of the book he puts forth an i...

ST. PAUL DATES ADDED and (nothing about) JUKAI

Got some new info about the upcoming tour. As always, the full schedule is over there to your left at the top of the LINKS section at the link titled Brad's Book Tour Dates.

I'll be in St. Paul the following dates:
• December 4, 2009 (Fri) 4:45pm Macalester College, 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105 at JBD Lecture Hall
Buddhism and Sex (lecture)

• December 5, 2009 (Sat) 9am - 1 pm Macalester College, 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105 USA
Half-day Zazen sitting at the Macalester College Ch...

Vanouver? Didn't Even KNOW Her!

OK. I got the skinny on the Vancouver gigs and here it is:

• November 13, 2009 7 PM, Vancouver, BC, Centre for Peace, 1825 West 16
Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. contact kyira@diydharma.org for more info

• November 14, 2009 1 PM Meditation with Brad Warner, Vancouver, BC, Dharmalab, 202-1814 Pandora St., Vancouver, B.C.
$15-$25 sliding scale but no one will be turned away solely for lack of funds
contact kyira@diydharma.org or 604-505-7547 for more info

And in nearby Victoria, BC:

•November 17, 2009 7pm, V...