Wednesday, May 18, 2016

So read Brad's latest book - Don't Be A Jerk

It's Mr. Warner's attempt to re-phrase and summarize some of the major writings by Dogen Zenji. Dozen was a famous (in Zen Buddhist circles at least) Zen monk who founded the Soto sect. I'm finding I like the Soto's sect point of view more and more. It's very no nonsense and practical... no focus on big revelations or mysteries, just a shut up, sit down, and meditate sort of attitude. Brad does a good job, I think, in taking what can be some rather heavy language and explaining it in modern ways. If you're a big time scholar I'm sure you'll find various flaws in the text. On the other hand this is really meant to be an intro, as it were, so some concepts are dumbed down. I did appreciated that Brad provides links in the end to translations he likes and used, as well as other texts. Also he did a nice job showing how hard it can be to translate Dogen's writings due to time, linguistic choice, etc. So if you're really into Zen and like reading about the philosophy I highly suggest the good.

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