Customer Reviews

Sit Down and Shut Up: Punk Rock Commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex, Death, and Dogen's Treasury of the Right Dharma Eye

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I like most of what Warner has to say. Lord knows we need more Buddhist authors who don't seem totally clueless about contemporary culture. Warner has a lot of good insights about zen, spirituality, and how to deal with yourself. The only thing that makes his work less than ideal is that he has too many childish asides that come across as unnecessary schtick. He is also a pretty divisive voice in that he keeps talking about all these "fake teachers" and "wannabe Buddhists." He needs to learn how to inspire people to practice, instead of trying to be the one "keeping-it-real" voice in a supposed sea of "posers." I hope his writing matures this way in future pieces. If it does, he will be a rare and beneficial voice in the desert of not-so-relevant, not-so-fun-to-read buddhist writing.

For all you Dogen fans who are fascinated by what the guy writes but never have any clue what he is saying, you have found the right book. I liked Brad Warner's first book, but I read it once and did not want to read it again. This book, however, is very different. He is attempting to explain, in simple language, one of the most profound books of time, and he does a really good job. It is not a book to read on the beach, but one you carry with you, to read a few chapters at a time and ponder.

How much do I envy Brad Warner? Hard core punk rocker. Japanese monster movie work. Lived in Tokyo. A Zen Buddhist master. One hot book already ("HardCore Zen" and now this one.) A column in Suicide Girls. And in one of his recent Suicide Girl columns he reveals that his well-known master Gudo Nishijima has asked him to be his sucessor ... and Brad has accepted. This from a guy who reveals in this book he hates being a Zen master, hates the challenges, the assumptions of his authority. Yes, I shouldn't envy him, I don't know his actual condition or what awaits him (or me) but it's hard not to envy a guy whose accomplished so much...yet is telling me to just go and sit facing a blank wall. Here's a guy who I expect might next show up on Entertainment Tonight having been spotted clubbing with Paris Hilton (could that be, Brad? Probably not) and yet he's the successor to Gudo Nishijima, who along with Chudo Cross, translated Dogen's masterwork Shobogenzo into English. So impressive it is distracting. Rather than sit down and shut up, I want to fly to Tokyo, I want to enter a cool-sounding rap into my word processor. Did Nishijima have sales of the translations of Shobogenzo in mind when he asked Brad to be his successor? No, I'm too cynical. And Brad's power to explain Zen, to the extent it can be explained, shouldn't be slighted.

Remember the Fuller Brush Man? One used to come lugging a suitcase to our neighborhood periodically when I was young. My Mom would always be glad to see him and he's spend time showing her his latest products. She's always buy at least one. He was well-trained, could explain each product convincingly and was polite with her. The Fuller Brush Company (which still exists today although it may have abandoned door-to-door sales which never seemed cost-effective anyway) prepared him. But its an identity one can be proud of and something to keep one busy. Is it perhaps a roughly similar way that Brad Warner was prepared by his Zen teachers, trained using the entire Zen tradition? For a Soto (at least) Zen practitioner, Dogen's Shobogenzo is one element of that training. Another is the sitting method zazen. But Brad is one exceptional Fuller Brush Man. Must be to be selected to be a successor of Nishijima (or so it would seem). Or to hang out with the Suicide Girls. Any can be trained but not all have a gift to teach. I suppose I should be asking myself whether I have the gift to learn.

I confess I did zazen for 5 years every day but wasn't "making progress" and stopped and having been searching around in other ways the past 10 years. Recently I wondered if Zen might be worth a second try, which is why I read this book.

Shobogenzo is long and almost every page of it can be baffling. All four volumes of Nishijima and Cross's translation are available (at the time I write this review), new or used, via Amazon. If you enjoy this book by Brad, you may want to dive into them but don't expect it to be easy. Brad's gifted rap helps. He shares explanatory powers that Baba Ram Dass, who he expressed admiration for, also has.

Brad may seem like he has an answer for everything but he is wise enough to point out firmly that he won't take your own responsibility for yourself from you. And can't. He's strict about zazen posture (a position he clarifies, outside this book, by noting that if he made it easy for people to believe they could do zazen seiza style or sitting in a chair they may well lose the important body-and-mind benefit of correct posture. He has helpful positions, much learned from Nishijima but delivered in his cool punk rocker way, of enlightenment, the will to truth, reincarnation, boredom, and why we aren't happy (or hopefuly sad) all the time.

As in Hard Core Zen, I find his explanations of how I am the universe wanting. For an explanation that connected better with me, I suggest some from the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition (e.g. You Are the Eyes of the World, New Edition. And, as with other Buddhist teachers, the teaching that self is an illusion isn't so reassuring: my boss still expect ME to have my assignment done by the deadline whatever I make of my "self". But as to just what is meant by that Buddhist teaching, more explanation would have been helpful to reduce its mysteriousness (unless somehow I missed that elaboration in this book. The illusion, as I understand it feebly, being that the self exists independently, whereas actually its a dynamic process always dependent on other phenomena). One place the elaboration can be found well-stated is in Master Sheng-Yen's There Is No Suffering: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra But overall, Brad's explanatory powers seem much improved since Hard Core Zen. Grounding his explanations in passages from the Shobogenzo may be part of the reason why.

One thing that hasn't changed from Hard Core Zen to this book seems to be Brad's apparently strong interest in Lucy Lui. I suppose that is just a reflection of his honesty [Or, guys, how do you want to be reborn? ]

So do I go sit? For 15 years, influenced by Krishnamurti, I avoided methods as best I could. I was, unfortunately, heavily influenced by Krishnamurti as an authority. When I finally threw in the towel on Krishnamurti, I decided to give the minimalist method of zazen a try. Can I now go back to zazen ... and not be heavily influenced by Brad as an authority? Will I see him on Entertainment tonite? Brad suggested seeking out a local zendo. There is one near me. There are also contemporary masters less cool but impressive, such as Zen master and former IBM executive Les Kaye Zen at Work and Chan master Sheng-yen Faith in Mind: A Commentary on Seng Ts'an's Classic. Is it written anywhere a Zen master can't be as cool as Brad? I'll have to ask Lucy Lui.

One of the most insightful books I have read on a classic buddhist text. Dogen Zenji one of the greatest Zen Masters to come out of Japan is extemely difficult to read and comprehend. Brad Warner delves into the work of Dogen Zenji and with Brad Warner's sometimes particular language style clarifies the teachings of Dogen. The book deals with issues that confront all of us in this extremely hectic world. The book is useful for all Zen and other Buddhist students and practitioners whether they are beginners or more advanced.

Like author Brad Warner, I practice a form of Buddhism which has its roots in Japan. Unfortunately, the school with which I have been associated for the past 20-some years has ZERO ability to laugh at itself, even when the group or its leader says or does something absurd. We in the SGI (soka gakkai international) take our mission for world peace VERY SERIOUSLY and although we can make jokes about others, we never, ever joke about our sect or its leader. Never. Ever. We can only strive joyfully together and warmly encourage each other to unite with the heart of our leader in Japan. A recipe for boring prose if ever there was one.

What a huge relief it was, then, to encounter this book, where Warner actually uses his own, clear, funny, insightful voice to discuss Buddhist perspectives on life, death, compassion and consciousness. He interweaves these topics into a sort of travelogue of his return to Akron, Ohio to appear with a reunion show of punk-rock bands from the 80's. This helps to "ground" the concepts being addressed, but in a day-to-day way which is more interesting than a typical corporate cube experience.

I and a few friends have been on a bit of a Dogen "kick" for awhile, and "Sit Down and Shut Up" is an extremely valuable commentary to support that effort. All the other commentaries I have read have been earnest but plodding, and I have had about all the earnest, plodding prose I can handle for the next fifty lifetimes. Warner takes his subject seriously, but he doesn't take himself too seriously, and that is a huge relief.

With all this praise, I must point out that Warner does make a few errors. For example, in his discussion of the Lotus Sutra's parable of the Burning House, he does not mention the super-dooper-cool prize (i.e., the great white ox cart, i.e.,"Buddhahood") that all the children get when they leave the burning house.

Another massive blunder (and I can proof your next book for this kind of stuff if you want, Brad) is his shocking claim that "be excellent to each other" is what Bill and Ted said to the future people in "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey". Everyone knows this scene occurred in the "Excellent Adventure". You have to be more mindful of stuff like that, Brad - don't forget to wind your watch.

All in all, I have recommended this book to a number of people and will continue to do so. I hope that Brad continues to write and I look forward to visiting his zendo one of these weekends.

I started reading this book with a strong dose of skepticism as to Brad Warner's understanding of Zen and Buddhism, and I came away impressed and a little wiser. Brad, despite the rebellious, punk persona he likes to wear about himself, is a serious student of Zen, and knows his stuff well. My own background, is Shin Buddhism (Jodo Shinshu), so my understanding of Zen was weak, and Brad helped fill the void better than some books I've read. I appreciate his critical eye toward the current Zen community which turns me off, but I don't he does it just to act cool, I think he expresses some legitimate concerns about some of the hypocrisy you seen in Zen circles now.

The Shobogenzo, which the book revolves around, is indeed a very, very difficult Buddhist text by Dogen, founder of Soto Zen. Soto Zen is one of three branches in Japan, along with Rinzai and Pure Land+Zen mix of Obaku, and stands on its own with some unusual assumptions and beliefs, but Dogen comes across as a sincere seeker of the truth. I may not agree with all things he teaches (nor do all his teachings accord with what you see in other Buddhist sects), but I have a much deeper respect for him, and learned a lot in the process.

The book breaks down in two areas, unfortunately. First, Brad's anecdotes about the punk revival in Ohio seem pretty forced. I am not sure if he wanted to really do them, or was compelled by editors to do it. The anecdotes seemed to only have a tenuous relevancy in some chapters.

The second issue is when Brad talks about the Life of the Buddha, and other basic Buddhist topics. Brad seems to mis-state a few things that could have have been researched better. I gather that he's passed along some things he's heard, but didn't necessarily verify, unlike the hard work he did for the Shobogenzo. I would hope in a later edition, such things are cited from the Pali Canon or other basic Buddhist texts, again as he did with the Shobogenzo. This can be a problem when people really rely on his teachings as an introduction to Buddhism, and misinformation is passed along.

All in all though, I am really glad to have read this book, and appreciate his independent insights into Zen.

At first taste, I - as another reviewer - felt that the punk attitude was a little over the top and over done.. Also, while the punk storyline and return to Akron is moderately entertaining and serves as a break from the dharma, it isn't exactly riveting. That said, there are a few chapters in this book that make it worth twice the money it costs by themselves alone (for me, Ch. 16 and others). Poignant, insightful and able to explain things in terms that let people like me "get it" - all the while reminding me that I'm kidding myself about getting it and that I should be staring at a wall in the lotus position... so if you have the cash, drop it on this book and you won't be let down. I'd rate it 4.5 stars if it were available... check out this book or "Buddhism Is Not What You Think" by Steve Hagen - both worth it and good for lessons and learning but with different styles...

enjoy

Previous reviewers of this book have highlighted just how clearly Brad Warner has rendered the language and teachings of Dogen, making them accessible in way that few previous commentators have. Given that Dogen's style - at least in English - manages to be simultaneously impenetrable, poetic and surreal, in other words a bit like, say, the Joyce of `Finnegans Wake', or the arcane lyrics of Mark E. Smith, this is a remarkable achievement. But I think Warner also deserves credit for the clarity with which he illuminates more mainstream Buddhist teachings. In particular, his chapter on the twelve-fold chain of causation made a lot more sense to me than any of the explanations I have come across in academic works on this topic, while his comments about anatta and the Heart Sutra nicely complement the more formal presentation of this kind of thing that you get in mainstream introductory textbooks. In other words, both this title and `Hardcore Zen' are great for teachers and students of Buddhism in high schools and universities, as well as those whose spiritual path is Zen. Finally, I loved the humour in this book and the frequent pop culture name-checking (the Ramones, Lucy Liu, Paris Hilton, Keith Richards etc), which reminds me that those who like the punk rock approach to religion should also check out Michael Muhammad Knight (author of Blue-eyed Devil and The Taqwacores: A Novel), who is currently inspiring a nascent Muslim punk movement through his writings.

Second in his series of now four titles mingling his "hardcore Zen" punk-monk experiences into his Japanese fluency in its culture and language, this comments on Dogen's 1234 A.D. Soto Zen teachings. Warner unlocks their compressed, intricate, enigmatic utterances and explains how the Japanese concepts unfold as he compares this wisdom to his own life during a chaotic few years of the past decade.

"Hardcore Zen" (see my review) told how he got to be a bassist-monster movie marketer-Zen priest, so "Sit" continues his own stint as a reunion player in the Akron scene, but this work concentrates more on Dogen and less on his own adventures. Therefore, being grounded in the founder of his tradition, Soto Zen, I think Warner succeeds in keeping this the most serious (with lots of room for his snarky humor and snide footnotes) of his works. He lets Dogen's practical insistence on the balance of zazen, the body-mind mix of the material and the mental, to dominate his pages. They may roam and suddenly veer off, as in a deftly told chapter on his shaved head that somehow winds up making the analogy of our life to a bubble on a stream. But, he keeps Dogen as the core of his message, and that helps him balance his own prose.

He sums it all up late on, expanding the "eternal now" focus: "Dogen's Buddhism is all about understanding what you really are right here and right now. And reality often includes the fact that you cannot see reality as it is. The ability to understand that you do not understand is what real enlightenment is all about." (239)

The book starts off confidently and never falters. He alternates his "punk rock commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex, Death, and Dogen's 'Treasury of the Great Dharma Eye" with his own life's lessons. (For more, go on to "Zen Dipped in Karma Wrapped in Chocolate" for the aftermath of what happened mid-decade, and then "Sex, Sin, and Zen" for his full-frontal look at Buddhist sexuality. ("Zen" and "Sex" reviewed by me.) The chapters may seem ramshackle if taken out of context or read at random, but there's a flow, speaking of the stream, that shows how Warner's decades of staring out reality in zazen and the rest of his life permeate these lively, raunchy, calm, and hard-headed reflections. He reminds us that punk and Zen share a distrust of pat answers, how ambiguity is the message of enlightenment, and how the Big Questions may never get solved.

His skepticism, as a punk philosopher, is welcome. He tells us to look at things and people as they are, to focus on the "eternal now" rather than the fled past or intangible future. This may sound like platitudes, but if you take these chapters slowly and with an open mind, you start to gain a sense of the long-fought and long-sought commonsense that Buddhism presents via Dogen as what we always knew deep down. He draws attention to the "Bodhi Mind" and the "it" that we cannot quite articulate but which we intuitively know as the direction to follow.

Without preaching, he shows us how to welcome each moment as a "once-in-a-lifetime" one, and not to let life pass by in delaying fulfillment. He does not promise ease from zazen, but boredom; he does not believe in easy insights, but in honest ethics. His practice equals a lifetime of hard work every day. He warns that if we seek Ultimate Truth, that it comes only at the present instant, as inescapable and as fleeting as that. This, he concludes, is the only reality we can find, and here, he tells us, we must work out our own encounter with a quiet truth deep down.

I thoroughly enjoyed Warner's writing style - direct, funny, profane, challenging and a bit irreverent. I think his books will appeal to a whole generation of younger people who don't want to read the stuffy, esoteric Buddhist books.