Brad Warner's book Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies, and the Truth About Reality, starts out by giving a little background information on the author. He talks about his life as a punk rocker for the band Zero Defex.
In the earlier chapters, Warner also discusses how he was introduced to Buddhism and Zazen, the meditative practice of Zen. After a short autobiographical sketch, Warner starts explaining basic tenants of Zen Buddhism by filtering the ideas through his own experiences.
The Heart Sutra
Warner provides an interpretation of the famous Buddhist Heart Sutra in his book. He goes on to explain some major concepts from the sutra, including deeper focus on many unfamiliar terms such as prajnas (intuitive wisdom) and skandhas (human essence). This part of the book is actually dealing with a very complex text, and although Warner sheds some light on the sutra, it's a very complex topic that may remain unclear to the reader; multiple readings of this section may be required to obtain a firm grasp of the concepts at hand.
Warner does not claim that learning the sutra will be easy, and perhaps this is why his explanation may leave some readers puzzled. But this may be more a philosophical dilemma rather than a writer's confusion, as the whole Buddhist concept of "form is emptiness" is not the easiest concept to grasp.
Warner manages to shed some light on the subject, but readers without solid understanding of Eastern practices may need to conduct a bit of independent research in order to really understand some of the more complex concepts discussed in this book.
The Dharma and Meditative Journeys
Warner provides a good outline of a few basic tenants of the Dharma, or "the way things are." Dharma is seen as the truth of reality, but can also refer to central Buddhist texts.
Warner offers ten basic concepts of the Dharma, all focusing on the profound mystery of self-nature. He then successfully applies these concepts (in a didactic manner) to everyday life and situations. He manages to be both harsh and direct, while also presenting the material in a manner that's funny and insightful. His stories and comparisons will leave the reader thinking hard about deep concepts.
One of the most interesting aspects in the books was the description of a "vision" that Warner experienced while meditating. In it, he saw that "the universe was lonely. There was no one to talk to. No one to share its experience with. No other. And with no other to contrast to, no self. To cure its loneliness, it split into two again, then four, six, eight, and on and on until, over periods of billions upon billions of millennia it was back to being countless individual beings."
As in other parts of the book, Warner admits the seductiveness of this so-called "enlightenment" and then goes on to explain about how, although there may be valuable information in such a vision, it is actually contrary to the true nature of reality to pursue it.
All in all, Warner explains with ease and detail some major Buddhist ideas: there is no self, the past and present are illusions, this moment is all there is, and causation.
Hardcore Zen is a Fun and Informative Book
All in all, Warner's book is both a fun and interesting introduction to the concepts of Buddhism and more specifically Zen. It is a good place to start looking for more information and to start a meditation routine. His cut and dried approach lets even the most novice reader understand profound concepts with ease, and even laugh a bit along the way.
A reader may not find himself any more enlightened after reading this book, but what is comes down to is that that is part of the point. It is a very good book for anyone who is interested in learning more about the self and the world as a whole.
Brad Warner has written two sequels: Hardcore Zen: Sit Down and Shut Up! and Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate.
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