List Price: $14.95You Pay Only: $10.17 You Save: $4.78 (32%)Prices subject to change.
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 294.3927
EAN: 9780861713806
ISBN: 086171380X
Label: Wisdom Publications
Manufacturer: Wisdom Publications
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: 2003-10
Publisher: Wisdom Publications
Sales Rank: 28674
Studio: Wisdom Publications
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Hardcore Zen is not your typical 'Zen' book. Brad Warner, the young punk who grew up to be a Zen master, spares no one — just like Reality itself. This bold new approach to the Why of Zen Buddhism is as strongly grounded in the tradition of Zen as it is utterly revolutionary: Warner's voice is hilarious, and he calls on the wisdom of everyone from punk and pop culture icons to the Buddha himself to make sure his points come through loud and clear. The subtitle (and the cover!) say it all: there has never been a book like this one.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A Light Intro to Zen
I just finished this book and I wasn't overly impressed by the information. So what was with the 4 stars? Well, I think it served its purpose and I liked its Western style.
I have been lightly involved with Zen for 20+ years. There was really nothing new here. It does demystify Zen to the uninitiated which, along with being a marketing term which drives me crazy because it reduces Zen to "calm", does get misconstrued as something from The Matrix.
This was also very easy to understand. If you've ever read even Alan Watts, you know that Zen can be a little confusing to understand if you're just starting out. It is because Zen certainly goes against the Western way of thinking. This book was in plain language as plain language can be concerning Zen.
If you want to get an understanding of Zen, this is a pretty good book to start with. Maybe not as good as a book to start with as, say, Sacred Hoops, which is Zen wrapped inside professional basketball, but certainly find some other books as well.
Rating:  - Mosh-Pit Roshi
"Hardcore Zen" is quite simply the single worst book on Zen I've ever read (and that's saying a great deal.) The aging "punk" author seems to understand Zen as well as my niece, who thinks it's a perfume.
Punk, a youth fashion/subculture created as a marketing strategy, is as remote from the spirit of Buddhism as anything could be, with the possible exception of bullfighting and vivisection.
Why did Bodhidharma come from the West? If he'd known that his journey would eventually result in this book, he would have stayed home, married a Bollywood movie-star and raised a large family with luxuriant eyebrows.
A towering pile now exists of good or readable translations of the Sutras, Zen classics and serious, credible books on Zen. Even if you lived for kalpas more numerous than the sands of the River Ganges, you would never need to read this book.
What's next? Emo Zen? Death-Metal Zen? Connoisseurs of junk culture may enjoy this, but anyone serious about Zen will avoid it like the plague.
Rating: - Very interesting to a non-Buddhist
I, like someone else here, saw this at Barnes and Noble, and like them, was interested by the title. I've had some interest in buddhism as I have grown older and so this seemed a good introduction for me. I was right.
It's about the author, kind of a biography. It's about his journey in Zen and Buddhism. It's about what he thinks is right and wrong. It's enough about Zen to interest me further. I'm not buying his second book, but instead I'm going to get a book by one of the guys he talks about throughout his book.
One of the things I liked is how he described how he got into the life and his path along it. Also, how he didn't go into to, until the end, the actual practice techniques. I even liked that he did give a quick intro into the practice at the end.
One thing: Brad never makes bones about the ideas and beliefs are HIS ideas and beliefs. It's very Brad-centered. I'm not saying that's a bad thing - it just it what it is and you should be aware of that. He does say 'question everything' a lot in the beginning, but he does state his opinions very clearly.
All in all, very worth while. After I have a chance to practice zazen myself, maybe I'll update this review.
Rating:  - No Core Zen
This book is a mass of narcissism, pontification, and muddled thinking - sort of like life, come to think of it - but hidden in it, like a diamond in a manure pile, is the essence of Zen: chop wood, carry water.
Rating: - Highly entertaining,a honest portrait of a spiritual seeker
It was a good surprise to read this book. In the beginning I found his writing style rough and slightly rude, but I continued, giving him the benefit of doubt. The book kept growing. This is a guy well traveled, that dared to immerse in a foreign country and culture, who has worked a non conventional profession. He assures he's not enlightened, which is something good to know. He never portraits himself as a wise guy, which is a very important and kind of rare sympton in the authors of the spiritual world. I hope he keeps it like that.
Don't read this if youre searching for a guru or a way to improve your meditation. I sensed hes like too fond of this zen meditation technique and wants the world to learn it. At least I know its not for me.
If youre interested in a some way to zen budhism, or hesitant to embrace it, it could be a good investment.
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