Roy S.

Sharing the Good News about Emptiness

Revisado: 07-24-22

If you are new to Zen Buddhism or Buddhism in general, come back to this book later. Instead, read Letters to a Dead Friend about Zen, also by Brad Warner. It is one of the best introductory books on the subject currently in print.

If you are new to Brad Warner’s books, you may want to start at the beginning with Hardcore Zen. The Other Side of Nothing has references to some of his earlier works, though reading his earlier books is not essential.

Reading his books in order, as I have, you can see Warner’s development both as a teacher and as an author. This book is his best yet and has a multi-layered complexity that reflects an understanding of Buddhism that has grown richer with time.

This is an excellent book on Buddhist ethics, it takes the explicit elements of the topic, such as the Vows and Precepts, and how they form the basis for correct behavior for Buddhist practitioners and then uses the subject as a pathway into examining the basis of all Buddhist thought- emptiness.

As with all of his audio books, the author not only reads his work he also handles all aspects of the production. It has a rough, lightly polished feel that is the exact opposite of a full cast, highly engineered production like The Sandman. It is just as good a listen because it is the exact opposite.

I highly recommend this book. It will help your practice.

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Sociobiology in Action

Revisado: 06-04-22

An interesting and entertaining study of the effects of Toxoplasma gondii infections on humans and bears.

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An Introduction and and Extension to Earlier Works

Revisado: 01-14-20

Letters to a Dead Friend about Zen succeeds on two levels.

On one level it serves as a great introduction to Zen Buddhism for someone who is new to the subject. On another level, for long time readers of Brad's books it works as a synthesis and expansion of concepts that he has deals with elsewhere.

This is his best book to date. It is the work of someone who is a mature author with deep wisdom.

As an audio, it has the same rough at the edges personal feel that make his books unique in a medium that is increasingly dominated by fully mounted multi-actor plays.

Reading the chapters in front of live audiences adds to this effect. It is the natural extension of what he does given his background as a performer.

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The B Movie Path to Enlightenment

Revisado: 08-04-19

I really enjoyed this novel. It was the first bit of fiction I have listened to in over a year and it was a fun way to get back to novels.

Unlike Brad Warner's other books, which are excellent, accessible works on Zen Buddhism, this book builds Zen concepts into the narrative structure and lets surface here and there.

It reminded me of Robert Anton Wilson's "Illuminatus" trilogy. Perhaps it is what would have happened if Roger Corman had produced a film adaptation of "The Alexandria Quartet" in the Philippines back in the 1970's.

Like Warner's other books, the narration has enough polish to be good and enough rough to feel personal.

This book is clearly a labor of love. It is great for fans of bad science fiction movies and post-punk SF novels. Just remember that there is something interesting and subtle built into all the fun.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas