Fri, 01 May 2009
Zen Wrapped in Karma
I don't read as many books as I used to. But I did finally get around to reading Brad Warner's new book, Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate. If you don't know who Brad Warner is, he's a Soto Zen teacher who has authored three books which combine autobiographical material with teachings on Zen. Like many Zen teachers he takes an un-supernatural approach to Zen, what I like to call "Zen Agnosticism." This most recent book covers one hellacious year where his mother died, he broke up with his wife, and lost his job. The outline of the material will be familiar to those who have followed his blog, Hardcore Zen, though he fills in the details and understandably he didn't blog about his problems with his wife or his other sexual relations.
So how does a Zen Buddhist priest face life's problems? Like most anyone, by muddling through as best he could. His book talks about his problems and mistakes and what Zen has to say about them. The most notable quality of the book is its honesty. There's often a phoniness about religious writing even when written by good, sincere people. First there's a long list of things that are too impolite to talk about and then there's a sing song cant that even the best writers fall into. Brad's writing has improved in his third book. It's more relaxed and self assured. He's not a great prose stylist, but his writing does not get in the way of what he's trying to say. My biggest complaint is that once again he makes a few mistakes in Buddhist history and philosophy. None of these affect the point of the book, but his publisher should find an editor to double check him. I liked the book but I can't say it was awesome or life changing. Though I'm sure that some who pick up this book will find a mirror for their own problems in Brad's and some inspiration in how Zen can help you deal with them.
