Michael

A Zen classic?

Revisado: 08-17-22

I have mixed feelings about this book, considered a classic in western Zen. There were times when I loved the directness, and times when I wanted to quit listening to it altogether. I'll list what I considered to be the pros and cons.

Pros:
I am a big fan of the narrator, Sean Runnette. A lot of people either love him or hate him. I originally thought I would hate him based on the sample recording on audible, but after finally getting his recording of Alan Watt's, The Way of Zen, I could not get enough of Sean. I was also a big fan of how direct Roshi Philip Kapleau was. It was refreshing to hear a Zen teacher be so plain. What I consider to be the biggest pro of this book is the section on dokusan. Dokusan is private meetings between teacher and master in most Zen traditions. I found this section to be extremely insightful; it was a glimpse behind the curtain.

Cons:
The biggest problem I had with this book is it's glorification of the enlightenment experience. I found myself wanting very badly to experience or aim for enlightenment while listening. A student of Zen either needs a teacher to help guide them to enlightenment, or they need not have any goals. I would suggest having no goals; just sitting.

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Dogen's masterpiece brought to life

Revisado: 08-17-22

Although not the ideal version of Shobogenzo in my opinion, I am grateful that Dogen's masterpiece has finally been brought to audible. Brian Nishii doe a phenomenal job of delivering Dogen's words as if they were lectures (as many of them were). It does not matter which version of Shobogenzo you may prefer, you should not miss out on this recording!

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Not for recovering sex addicts.

Revisado: 05-25-22

I am a huge fan of Brad Warner. He was one of the major reasons I got into Zen. I just love his fresh, modern voice. I have always been apprehensive about listening to this book however based on his previous comments about sex. I got the sense that he was largely "sex positive," or at the very least, neutral about most sexual activities.

I was hoping that he was going to do one of his (and Zen in generals) bait and switches; that is to say something like, "It's all good, just consider X, Y, and Z." To a point, he does kind of do this, but it leans too neutral. Around the same time I got into Zen, I became sober from pornography addiction. An addiction that utterly destroyed my life, and was heading towards something I probably would not have been able to come back from.

Warner's main conclusion is that it is in fact, all good. As long as we remain thankful for how lucky we are to even experience sex, and obviously make sure no one is being harmed. Warner is very lucky to not have a sex addiction. I can tell because he able to live a productive life. He mentions that on occasion, he looks at some pictures of naked woman.

He claims that sometimes it's okay to watch porn in order to relieve sexual desire. I hate to jump on this train of reviews that say that Warner did not educate himself before writing this book, but you don't even have to spend too much time on Google to learn that watching porn makes you want to watch more porn. It is similar to gambling; winning makes you want to keep playing.

I am not saying that porn is evil and no one should ever watch it, I actually agree with Warner in that for most people (good studies haven't been published on this) can enjoy some porn every once in a while, and walk away without thinking much about it. But for an unaccounted amount of us who are prone to addiction, watching a bit a of porn can be like smoking some crack to relieve stress.

I am not really sure who Warner wrote this book for. Buddhists? People who are into polyamory? Definitely not gay people. In any of these cases, it is not a good book. In fact, I think it would be "best" for people who are into Zen and are wondering if their desire to watch porn 24/7 or spend all night scrolling through dating apps is ok or not.

I tend to agree with Thich Nhat Hanh (who Warner does mention) about the 3rd precept. You need to consider if anyone is being harmed in the process, this includes future events that can unfold. There are plenty of sexual activities that may not directly hurt anyone, but they do end up having negative consequences. Whether it's the person who is about to get fired from their job for taking extra long lunches to watch porn in their car, or the person who can't stop having affairs even though they are married.

I know Buddhism is pretty vague when it comes to the topic of sex, but I would strongly advise people who may think they have a sexual addiction to steer clear of this book. Listen to books written by researched professionals (Robert Weiss, Patrick Carnes, and George Collins to name a few). If you really want an addiction book that has a Zen perspective, I recommend The Zen of Recovery by Mel Ash.

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Could not get enough!

Revisado: 05-09-22

It's an impossible task to say whether or not Brad Warner will satisfy any one group with this book, but I will say that this is the fastest that I have ever finished an audiobook. I find it hard at times to listen to his 2 books about Dogen's Shobogenzo (Don't Be a Jerk & It Came from Beyond Zen!) because there is a lot of stops to clarify meanings of words, ideas, and context. Not to mention the constant sighting of the different versions of Shobogenzo there is.

This book felt a lot more like listening to his YouTube videos/ talks; it was pure Brad Warner. The only complaint I can think of is that the audio quality isn't great. Warner apologizes for this at the beginning of the book, and states that he is recording it in his kitchen. He may not have the money to rent a fancy studio, but there are very nice microphones out there that he can buy for not too much.

That said, I actually think it works for this book. It sounds like he's talking to you on the phone, especially if you're using earbuds. It adds to the personal nature of the book.

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It pains me to say it...

Revisado: 10-05-21

Like many people, I grew up listening to the Rob Inglis version of this book. A month ago, I would have said that no one would ever read this book better than Rob Inglis. The truth is that Andy Serkis reads this book better in every way. Rob Inglis always gave me the vibe of someone reading me a bedtime story, which is what I loved, mostly. Andy Serkis makes this book come to life. He's so animated, and does such a good job switching between voices, and scenes.

Obviously, he is the voice of Gollum, of which he does an absolutely phenomenal performance; I would argue, even better than the movies. But I also love the way he voices Bilbo. His Bilbo sounds exactly like Martin Freeman (from the movies), and I love Martin Freeman's version of Bilbo. He also does the Dwarves much better than Inglis. It helps you to distinguish them, and sounds like real accents. His Thorin is very intimidating, and his Smaug actually scared me awake haha.

The only character that took me a while to warm up to was his version of Gandalf. It is growing on me, especially as I'm going through Serkis' LOTR readings, but I still think that Inglis has the superior Gandalf. Maybe it's because Inglis was older when he read this book. Serkis' version just sounds like someone young doing an older man's voice.

The main thing that I didn't like about Inglis' reading was his singing. His singing made me stop listening a lot, and even turned me off of his LOTR readings (including other problems I had with them). I know Serkis had the benefit of having the movies to go off of, but it is what it is, and his singing parts are much more bearable. Not to mention, they are how you would think dwarves would probably sing.

As I was listening to this version of The Hobbit, it was sinking in more and more in that this is the superior version. And not by a little bit, but by a lot. Not only do I think that this is going to quickly become the fan favorite, but I honestly believe that the Inglis version is going to be forgotten after some time. It pains me to say it, because I always thought that this would be the essential version, but after about 30 years, it has been knocked off it's throne.

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It is what it says!

Revisado: 03-09-21

THE BOOK:

I was a a bit apprehensive about getting this book at first. I was not sure exactly what it was going to entail. I was curious because I am a Zen Buddhist in the Soto tradition, and not much is written about our First Patriarch. Bodhidharma is very much apart of Chinese culture and history, so I didn't exactly want a Chinese history lesson (at this point), I wanted to know more about Bodhidharma's life.

THE AUTHOR:

What I got was a great mix of both. Bodhidharma and Chinese culture are inseparable; you can't tell one without the other. This book is about a journey within a journey. Andy Ferguson goes to China to track the historical Bodhidharma. He constantly switches back and forth between his trip, and Bodhidharma's life according to people he meets mostly. That way you never get too much dry history.

I was surprised with how much new information I learned about Bodhidharma and the History of Zen in this book. Zen is a tradition that has a lot of the same stories being told over and over again. Ferguson sheds some new light on them, making for an entertaining story about Zen and Ferguson. I highly recommend this book to any Zen practitioner.

THE NARRORATOR:

I had mixed feelings about the narrator. George Backman does a very capable reading of this book. He pronounces all the Chinese words extremely well (it sounds like he speaks Mandarin fluently). He does however tend to be on the robotic side. He just has a very plain, monotone voice. Not the worst I've heard, but I feel like this story could of used more charisma.

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Not for beginners

Revisado: 11-11-20

THE AUTHOR:
I'm really glad that I waited to listen to this book. I was really tempted to get it as soon as I got interested in Zen, but read in the reviews that it was pretty advanced. I now see that this book is an easy trap for people new to Zen to fall into. Alan Watts is a big reason a lot of people become interested in Zen, and he has great talks that are enlightening and funny. There is a treasure trove of Alan Watts talks on YouTube, as well as on Audible. Instead of diving straight into this book, I got compilations of his talks; Out of Your Mind and You're It! He can get a bit in the weeds during some of the talks, but his charisma and rhetoric make it easy to listen to.

THE BOOK:
This book is one of the classics in Western Zen; it came out before Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, and the Three Pillars of Zen. If you're not well versed in Zen vernacular and history however, this is not the book for you, yet! I became a Zen Buddhist over a year ago, and have read/ listened to a lot on the history and philosophy as well as joined a local Sangha, and have been practicing zazen (meditation) every day since before I even got into Zen. There were some definite moments during the book that I thought to myself 'I would be so lost a year ago.' So I can see why some people say, they get lost easily. For those who are well versed, you're in for a treat. Watts has a gift for stringing together a lot of complicated concepts and delivering them in a way that makes them extremely clear, even if you're already familiar with what he's talking about.

THE NARRATOR:
Another big reason why I was so apprehensive about getting this particular audiobook was because of my mixed feelings about what the narrator sounded like on the sample, as well as a few people in the reviews saying that he ruins an otherwise good book. I am here to say that the sample is not a very good sample of Sean Runnette's performance. Runnette has a very clear, and delicate voice. He does a great job performing Watts' words. There were many times where I felt like I was in a relaxing trance, but still paying attention. I ended up enjoying Runnette so much that I got The Three Pillars of Zen by Roshi Philip Kapleau which was also narrated by Runnette, as well as Watts' Wisdom of Insecurity, and The Book also narrated by Runnettee. I guess you either love him or hate him haha.

CONCLUSION:
If you are just getting in to Zen, first of all, welcome! Do not be intimidated by some of the books and talks you may encounter. The ocean of Zen may be extremely deep and vast, but the water on the surface is no different than the water at the very bottom. Take your time with it. I would suggest a few books before you get to this one. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki (you may wanna buy the actual book or the kindle version since the Audible one isn't very good), The Heart of The Buddha's Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh, The Tao Te Ching by Stephen Mitchell, and the Dhammapada narrated by Robin Homer.

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Rob Inglis is audio gold

Revisado: 10-22-20

Rob Inglis brings this tale to life! I've been listening to his reading of The Hobbit since I was a child, and just found his entire reading of The Lord of The Rings here on Audible. Rob Inglis reading this series is a match made in heaven. It is worth mentioning that there is a forward written by Tolkien after the story. It is pretty interesting to hear Tolkien discuss how the story came together, as well as how people took it at the time it was published.

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Tao te Ching of Buddhism

Revisado: 09-24-20

Although I agree with Eknath's comparison of the Dhammapada with Jesus' sermon on the mount, to me it felt more akin to the Tao te Ching for Buddhists. It's broken up into bitesize chapters that are very easy to take in, and are extremely quotable. It's almost as if Buddhists got a hold of the Tao te Ching, and felt they needed to make their own for Buddhists. At any rate, The Dhammapada is an excellent example of a Buddhist text; it never gets too philosophical, and never gets too repetitive like you see in the rest of the Pali texts. I think anyone from any back round can take something away from this. It is dense with wisdom in every line.

I have a few minor critiques that didn't effect my overall score, but I feel that I need to let people who aren't new to Buddhism know. First of all, Eknath opens on the book with a very lengthy intro to Buddhism (and the Buddha); It takes up at least the first half of this recording. This is great for people who are new to Buddhism, but not for someone who just wants to listen to The Dhammapada; you would have to go in and find when the actual text starts. Another very minor annoyance was the music intro, and outro to each chapter. The chapters are too short to have these breaks constantly. If anything I would have preferred a light bell sound once in between chapters.

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Best version of The Hobbit, period.

Revisado: 09-01-20

Rob Inglis brings this classic "children's story" to life. This is by far the best version of this story ever; that includes the movies.

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