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Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics Paperback – May 5, 2015
Enhance your purchase
- Print length304 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSynergetic Press
- Publication dateMay 5, 2015
- Reading age16 years and up
- Dimensions7 x 1 x 9 inches
- ISBN-10090779162X
- ISBN-13978-0907791621
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Editorial Reviews
Review
--Mark Epstein, M.D., author of Thoughts Without a Thinker, Going to Pieces without Falling Apart, and Going on Being
Zig Zag Zen shines by its fairness: its authors squarely face the Zig as well as the Zag. That's Zen at its best.
--David Steindl-Rast, OSB, author of Gratefulness: The Heart of Prayer
Zig Zag Zen is a must read for anyone who is concerned about the future of Buddhist practice.
--Tenzin Bob Thurman, chair of Indo-Tibetan studies at Columbia University
About the Author
Alex Grey is a renowned American artist specializing in spiritual and psychedelic (visionary) art. His work spans a variety of forms including performance art, sculpture and painting. He is a member of the Integral Institute, on the board of advisors for the Center of Cognitive Liberty and Ethics and is Chair of Wisdom University's Sacred Art Department. He and his wife Allyson Grey are co-founders of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, CoSM, a non-profit church supporting Visionary Culture in Wappinger, New York.
Product details
- Publisher : Synergetic Press; 2nd edition (May 5, 2015)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 090779162X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0907791621
- Reading age : 16 years and up
- Item Weight : 0.035 ounces
- Dimensions : 7 x 1 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #196,652 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #192 in Buddhist Rituals & Practice (Books)
- #526 in Spiritualism
- #1,252 in Mental & Spiritual Healing
- Customer Reviews:
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Thank you Allan. It's profoundly informative. It's a must read for anyone who is seriously looking to understand the role of entheogens, spiritual practice and integration of these experiences into the larger picture. -Jesse
and turned to meditation and Buddhism. Beautiful art work by various artists and Alex Grey was the art director.
Well worth reading and having in your library.
This review is based solely on the quality of the book itself. NOT the content.
Following a foreword written by Stephen Batchelor, a preface written by religious studies scholar Huston Smith, and an introduction written by the book's editor Allan Badiner, Zig Zag Zen is broken into three main sections: "Intersection", which explores the points common to both topics, "Concrescence?", which discusses the coalescence or "growing together" of Buddhism and psychedelics, and "Lessons", which offers advice from the elders in both movements for a beginning psychonaut or Buddhist.
The "Intersection" section covers topics like the Tibetan Book of the Dead and a 1964 psychedelicized version of it called The Psychedelic Experience, the concept of suffering, America's relationship with Buddhism, shamanism, spiritually-influenced artwork, and other various spiritual practices. The authors featured in this section include psychedelic researcher Ralph Metzner, professor Roger Walsh, anthropologist/writer Christian Rätsch, and Allan Badiner, among others.
The "Concrescence?" section begins with a thorough explanation of Buddhist and psychedelic artwork by visionary artist Alex Grey, followed by an explanation by Rick Strassman concerning his groundbreaking DMT research, and then features several chapters on various topics such as "psychoactivism", "leaning into rawness", ayahuasca, cannabis as a harm reduction practice, and a fantastic analysis of psychedelics' potential role in Buddhist practice by writer Erik Davis.
The final section, "Lessons", includes several discussions concerning whether psychedelics are a help or a hindrance on the Buddhist path, features an interview with the well-known psychedelic bard Terence McKenna, the work of Rick Doblin with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), Lama Surya Das' "zen commandments", and more.
The book is extremely well-written and edited, and offers an honest look at whether psychedelics can play a valid role in a Buddhist practice. The authors (and speakers) in the book do not all agree on a conclusion, and so it is up to the reader to decide whether psychedelics would truly assist them in their spiritual path or not. Featured throughout the book are a plethora of breathtaking art pieces in full color. I would advise this book to anyone who has an interest in either Buddhism or psychedelics.
Allan Badiner wanted to know what happened to the research with psychedelics by bright, spiritually-minded people so he decided to ask a wide spectrum of seekers what their experiences exploring the relationship between Buddhism and psychedelics was.
Firstly, as all Buddhists will tell you, the Buddha was very specifically against intoxicants (although Robert Thurman says that in the original Pali language, the 5th precept clearly refers to alcohol). So most of the writers and interviewees in "Zig Zag Zen" have to weigh in on whether psychedelics constitute intoxicants or not. Some argue that they are intoxicants, some argue that they aren't intoxicants, some argue that they are intoxicants but get a pass, and some argue that they aren't intoxicants but still should be avoided.
What Mister Badiner has assembled is a captivating array of diverse perspectives and personal experiences wherein many gifted writers and thinkers try to use language to convey the ineffable. In addition, Alex Grey, who is widely regarded as the leading progenitor of the increasingly popular 'visionary art' movement, is the art editor of "Zig Zag Zen" and has compiled a lush and visually stunning assortment of artworks that bring the discussion to life in a visceral and concrete manner.
"Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics" is a fun, historical exploration of the divergent viewpoints and experiences of many extremely bright people who - like the Buddha - carry the intention of exploring human consciousness with the goal of allaying suffering. As Robert Thurman observed, "Zig Zag Zen is a must read for anyone who is concerned about the future of Buddhist practice."






