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Brad Warner Biography

Brad Warner (born March 5, 1964) is an American Sōtō Zen monk, author, blogger, documentarian and punk rock bass guitarist.

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Brad Warner Quotes

I guess that all figures into my approach because once I start hearing the imagination land stuff (that's my new phrase now I guess) I tend to tune out or start laughing at it like, "Haha, you guys really believe there is a heaven. "

Believe, Guys, Haha, Heaven, Imagination, Land

One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it, is contraception. I came across someone who articulated very clearly that one of the things which makes our approach to Buddhist practice in regards to sex different these days than it was in Buddhist times, is the simple existence of reliable contraception, which is a no brainer but I missed really addressing it in the book.

Articulated, Buddhist, Elaborate, Putting, Regret, Sex

The thinking brain influences the body’s responses and it makes a neat little loop.

Body, Brain, Influences, Neat, Thinking

The problem is the way we let our desires stand in the way of our enjoyment of what we already have.

Desire, Desires, Enjoyment, Problem, Way

As for enlightenment, that's just for people who can't face reality.

Enlightenment, Face, People, Reality

There's also an aspect which I tried to express yesterday by saying the same "something" that looks out through Curlys eyes is also the same exact thing which looks out of Moe's eyes, and that's harder for people to grasp. So the thing is, you have to find a way to ultimately embrace both sides or else you can't function. If you only embrace the side of pure oneness then you end up sort of spacing out and sitting under a blanket.

Blanket, Curlys, Eye, Eyes, Oneness, Yesterday

We always imagine that there's got to be somewhere else better than where we are right now; this is the Great Somewhere Else we all carry around in our heads. We believe Somewhere Else is out there for us if only we could find it. But there's no Somewhere Else. Everything is right here. . . Make this your paradise or make this your hell. The choice is entirely yours. Really.

Believe, Carry, Choices, Heads, Imagine, Somewhere Else

I was very attracted to the way that Zen did not go into the imagination land. And now I've forgotten what your first question was and how we were going to tie this together.

Land, Ties, Imagination, Zen, Attracted, Way

Morality is a personal matter.

Matter, Morality, Personal, Personal Matter

People will come and give you sandwiches every six hours but you're really of no use. A lot of people get excited about guys like that but I can't get too excited about it because I think he's sorta useless. He's just sitting there in India under a blanket looking beautiful, so what.

Beautiful, Hours, People, Sorta, Think, Thinking

The state of ambiguity - that messy, greasy, mixed-up, confused, and awful situation you're living through right now - is enlightenment itself.

Awful, Confused, Enlightenment, Greasy

The real goal of Zen is to find a way of life that's easy and undramatic. Strong attachments lead to upset and drama.

Attachments, Drama, Real, Strong, Way, Zen

You can always improve your situation. But you do so by facing it, not by running away.

Away, Facing, Improve, Running, Running Away, Situation

The truth comes when you can see that your self-image is just a convenient reference point and nothing more, and that you as you had imagined yourself do not exist.

Convenient, Reference, See, Self, Truth

If you come across an insane person who's talking gibberish, you can't make any sense of it at all and that would be one way that enlightenment is different. If you read Dogen, a lot of his stuff is very strange and is coming from a different place than what we're used to, but at the same time, it's not senseless ramblings and that's part of what attracted me to Dogen. I didn't get it, but it was sane. It's not some guy raving about UFO's or Moses living in his bathtub, it's was actually something sane that I just didn't get, if that makes sense?

Guy, Insane Person, Ramblings, Talking, Time

I'm not sure that Eastern culture does either, but I've never lived in India etc so I couldn't tell you. I can say we definitely don't. So people will sometimes come in contact with something strange and think, "Oh, it must be like this" and have a lot of fantasies about it, and somebody who sort of looks like our fantasy version of what enlightenment is can be very convincing in seeming like they've got something and then play that role.

Etc, India, People, Play, Tell, Thinking

There's fantasies about what heaven is like and who Satan is and why you shouldn't masturbate or why you should vote Republican. It's funny because it's an election year and their news broadcasts are constantly talking about "Vote Republican". I think that they think they're being subtle about it, but that's definitely not the case. So I'm like, "What does this have anything to do with the nice advice you were giving about how to live your life, how to get along with your spouse etc?"

Election Years, Etc, Life, Nice, Thinking, Vote

You know that for sure because Godzilla was killed by an ordinary missile. He spends most of that film dodging them but then the Army finally gets a bead on him and they shoot a missile at him and he blows up and dies, and that's not what Godzilla is. Godzilla is supposed to be a thing that you can't possibly kill, no matter how hard you try.

Army, Blow, Blows, Dies, Thing, Trying

Those who hope for purity and righteousness always try and destroy that which disturbs them. They think the disturbance comes from outside themselves. This is a serious problem. Wars, suicide bombings, and all sorts of other nasty things start from the premise that we can destroy 'evil' outside ourselves without dealing with the evil within.

Destroy, Hope, Suicide, Think, War

Do what you do as well as you possibly can. That's Buddhist morality.

Buddhist, Morality, Possibly, Wells

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