you should be ashamed of yourself for spreading lies like this, you are no better than a CCP shill. if you had any integrity you would delete this video and issue an apology, but you are clearly just an unscrupulous hack with no concern for the truth.

God gurl who dresses you your mother?

I never knew you carried mail. I've been carrying mail for more than a decade now. Thank you for your service. 😁🖤

Oh yeah, 'Triad' 😂 That song always felt pretentious to me. I like 'Happy Guy' by Devo. Similar theme, better lyrics. 🖤 Jefferson Airplane covered Triad, and it sounds a little better when Grace Slick sings it.

My first live concert was the WHO in 88 at age 11 it changed my life and inspired me to learn how to play bass. Entwistle entwined me with the cosmic humm of Sunn.

Did you shave your legs for this videos???

My experience is that people nowadays are not willing to get together as a community. They live a kind of busy hurry and virtual lifestyle. Sangha practice I like very much, for me it is really supporting the practice.

Hey just an idea for videos: maybe could go through all the sects of Zen and how they differ. Obake, or Sanbyo Kyodan. I think it would be fun and very interesting. For example I practiced in The Soto style first, now I go to the only active Zen center here, and it's Sanbyo Kyodan. And there are quite a lot of differences.

Is Buddhism more based on third-dimensional reality or is there any kind of mysticism to it?

I really liked that song, nice cover!

So, interesting tidbit. Raised nominally Christian, became Buddhist, now have been Muslim for over 20 years. While it is true that we believe the Quran to be the literal Word of God, we believe it is preserved in the hearts of people, not in the written book. People memorize the entire text, but unless you've done it with a teacher, then it isn't considered actual memorization. This goes for our entire tradition. You can read books, but unless you have sat with a teacher, developed a relationship, and received knowledge from a teacher, then it's just gathering information. We even have an entire science that grades the chains of transmission that go back to the Prophet, God's Grace and Benedictions be upon him. These chains of transmission are called isnad in Arabic. There's a saying that, without isnad, anyone could say whatever they wanted.

In Buddhism there is the Shentong and Rangtong. Shentong Buddhists believe the Buddha Nature is the true self/atman/soul. We follow the Mahaparinirvana Sutra where the Buddha explicitly teaches the Atman. Rangtong Buddhists believe that there is nothing permanent or eternal outside the 5 skandas. No soul. The Buddha Nature is some kind of happy mental state or smth. And the goal of Buddhism is to essentially eternally delete yourself. Because once you escape from rebirth, since there is nothing outside the 5 skandas that survives forever, you just go into an endless void of nothingness after you die. Dogen is a part of the Rangtong. And for some reason the Rangtong Buddhists refuse to acknowledge our existence. Even though we are the majority of the Buddhist world lol.

My dad used to listen to The Who constantly.

Any opinions about how important the historicity of the famous Flower Sermon is for Zen Buddhists?

One thing I noticed about hanging around the Kent Zendo is that it got tiring after awhile. They got tired of me, and I got kind of tired of them.

OMG! I love you more, now

look what you did to your knees

Sometimes man-boobs can be convenient! Yay!

Praying for your safety at the time of the LA fires 🙏

Clothes have no gender. You wear a dress well.

Brad, love the “Live at Leeds” reference and the importance of “Mind to Mind” transmission. There are actual parallels to traditional Rabbinic Jewish teaching. The emphasis is on the teacher to student transmission from “Moses to the present day”. Traditional Rabbinic Jew call it the Oral Torah, which was passed down “At Sinai” teacher to student. Without this, the written word was seen as an incomplete instruction. The practice of the law was supposed to be alive and “not in heaven”. This “oral Torah” was not supposed to be written but memorized. In the 2nd century the outline was written down due to persecution. Rabbis in Judea and Babylonia/Persia spent the next few hundred years arguing about discrepancies from other memorized sources along with general discussion of the laws until it was all compiled in a book called the Talmud. The Talmud is a cryptic mashup of different generations of teachers discussing and arguing. There was actually a formal mode Rabbinic ordination called Semicha (the “Ch” is almost like a hard H) where the teacher would lay hands on the student. The interrupted practice “from Moses” was disrupted in the 4th century CE due to persecution. However, it continued in different forms less formally and sometimes academically. It’s interesting how the written word has limitations when it is devoid of aliveness. There is a reason why some of the nastier bits of the written parts of the 5 Books of Moses are not implemented at all. Times change even if the practitioner refuses to fully acknowledge that they are ignoring the “inerrant word of God”. The ability to interpret and reinterpret and not be stuck was the only way that the tiny middle eastern culture could be made portable when Jews were dispersed all over the place. Impermanence is not something spoken about, but everything is always changing. The traditional structures including the writing and canonization of scripture and other writings is an attempt to preserve something ancient and carry it into the modern era because some ancestor / teacher and the people really felt it was worth preserving. It seems recitation of lineage in Zen is doing a similar thing. However, your point here is that it that the reliance on authority or scripture is weaker than having the genuine experience. The map is not the territory. This adherence to the old has ancient roots. In antiquity, being ancient was revered. It is why The Greeks and Romans had reverence for Egypt, which was already an aging and ancient civilization. This is the push and pull of all forms of tradition. I understand the appeal to authority and scripture despite making a practice stale. I’m glad all old traditions including Buddhism have the same tensions and very human squabbles. I think the danger is when the “heresy” in certain religions can get you killed or tortured. Zen seems to try and avoid that. Thank you Brad for being on this planet and sharing your thoughts with us. Future Question: as someone who lives in LA near a Korean Zen temple, can you talk about their traditions?

From Doctor Who to The Who. Pretty good KZbin day.

I was disappointed at first when I got "Brad Warner in a dress" on my 2025 bingo card, but now the year is shaping up!

If knowing someone else is more enlightened than you, you have a problem.

interesting and insightful. thx to the questioner and thx to Bra❤

I think this is a useful talk and many points you make resonated with me. I took refuge when I was 20 years old and was advised to get involved with a particular Buddhist centre that was fortunately in a city only 40 miles from my home town. I attended regularly ( and soon moved) and remained part of that sangha for 40 years. Having a job, family and friends outside the sangha had a grounding effect. Certainly things changed as the organisation grew and for various reasons it became clear to me that it was time to disengage. It was not 'abandoning the dharma' but there was a sense of loss. I am only really in touch with two friends from that sangha who I first met in 1982 and 1985. Now retired and think of my neighbours as a kind of sangha as this rather elderly community tries to cope with problems including alcohol and drug abuse.

❤

Refreshing to hear this, mirrors exactly my own experience!

Hope you and friends are ok there in So Cal...

My original Buddhist Community were the guys at the Homeless Shelter who saw me meditating and wondered if it was keeping me sober, employed and reasonably sane while I was living there. I'd sit on my rack at night facing the wall in half lotus position after lights out. Some of them starting doing this too. Our only talks of Zen came from my copy of Hardcore Zen and what we could do with that information while we owned only the clothes on our backs. I/we did not organize a Sanga, there was little talk of Buddha but lots of chat about anger management, self discipline and control, and of ''dealing with now'' instead of constantly hoping for a better future, better jobs, better food, and a car and all that stuff. 20 years ago now, I'm just grateful for that book and the ''how to'' section on Zazen.

NOPE! ... If you truly want to understand, read the Book : The Buddha Before Buddhism by Gil Fransdal a Stanford University PhD and excellent Zen Buddhist teacher. Best Wishes

Walpola Rahula was Sri Lankan. He had a famous debate with Krishnamurti. 😇

Do you have videos about who wrote the Mahayana sutras?

The reason they didn't write the teachings down was likely because there was a huge oral tradition in India already, oral recitation error corrects in large groups chanting, it was difficult to store written teachings anyway in the tropics and store them and yes maybe the possibility of changing texts. Pali is really close to Sanskrit. Given that the texts were memorised quickly after the Buddha died Pali is probably close enough and closer than the Sanskrit versions. "Hinayana" is an insulting term btw "hino" in Pali means low, coarse, shit so that's very disrespectful to refer to Theravada like that and speaks volumes about a person using that term. As a layperson without much expertise on Early Buddhism you over-simplify things and leave yourself open to a lot of correction in what you are saying. You can then take some YT viewer comments and twist them as Theravada fundamentalism but it is simply a by-product of promoting your own simplistic opinions publicly. There is a serious academic scholarly effort to understand what we can reasonably say what the historical Buddha actually said. Look up Ajahn Sujato and Ajahn Brahmali's Early Buddhism Workshops on YT for example. That's a reasonable intellectual undertaking and that series is intelligent and well researched. A person like the Buddha who understands the Dharma is actually "incapable of error" in describing the Dharma as they understand it. The understanding of somebody like this is called "Right View" for a reason. You clearly don't understand Dharma correctly as you would then understand this point ("Samma-Ditthi" in Pali). That's not at all complicated btw, one doesn't need to be an Arahant to see this. But only a total amateur would not understand that point. So when u are only at best a beginner without understanding Dharma more than superficially and then put yourself out there as a Dharma teacher without "Right View" (as you think the Buddha could make a mistake describing Dharma) that is a reflection of your own shortcomings not the error of the Buddha or of other enlightened beings, (Ariyans(. Once a person has Right View they are then an Ariyan. So they will not make mistakes regarding their understanding of the Dharma, that's the whole point. The do not misunderstand the world any more leading to an ending of rebirth, ignorance being the driver of the process of rebirth, Dependent Origination. It is not wise to put yourself forward as a Dharma teacher IMO and you will likely make a lot of bad Karma for yourself leading others astray and diluting skilful teachings leading to Nirvana. Go to work on your sense of self rather than promoting your sense of self on YT if you have anY humility at all or actually wish to see things as they are. Having spent a lot of time in monasteries it is always the most disfunctional laypeople who write books and want to teach rather than follow the Noble Eightfold Path. The old expression rings true here, "those who can't do, teach"

Hello! Is this the Brad Warner that wrote the other side of nothing? I’m listening to it now. It’s wonderful. You did an excellent job. Assuming I have the right person. I study the Tibetan traditions of Buddhism. I am a student of Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo and Ven. Yönten. However, I also love Zen. I love Buddhism. I got into it during the pandemic and it completely changed my life. I have a traumatic brain injury. I also have PTSD stemming from my time in the military. However, I no longer review these conditions as afflictions. Solutions in disguise. ~Study, contemplation and meditation. Wisdom and repeat. Anyways, I hope I have the right person. I look forward to learning more. May you be blessed. 🙏🙏🙏

I thought this was a great video Brad. I've been practicing for quite some time and at times have felt frustrated that there is no Zen center or community in the town I live in. For myself I've just had to come to accept that it is still worthwhile to practice alone if that's the situation. In the New Year here I am going to try to sit with online groups so we will see how that goes. Thank you for your channel.

thats true: zazen brings deep understanding of all that..

😂 just getting into dogen and his zen. Absolutely mind blowing but he says so much just to say “dude sit down lol”

I did not know of Nishijima's travels to and his interest in Israel. Have you given any thought into writing down stories of your teacher's life and interests for posterity? I would be interested in a Brad Warner biography of Nishijima..

I hope the fires in California don't bring disaster to your area.

Basically another type of satanism.

Brad, there is a group of Zenndies hanging out at the airport preaching that your teaching videos are infallible and without error....I had to disagree, and remind them that only your music is. 😁🎸

Yearly Indian Buddhist were very non violent ahimsa... but in Zen culture you find Zen Abbots (even today) teaching the art of violent sword attacks to chop up your enemies!👹🥷

Early commentaries of Theravada tradition contains extra details of fundamental Theravada teachings.

The Prajnaparamita Sutra may actually predate the Pali Canon

Teachings is a big word. I would call it a burden for seekers. The Bible for example was at the beginning no religious book. It was a testimony of time, but the "church" changed it in their favour to rise their position in the world and to hide some truth and ways of holy people. At the end it does not matter, which teaching you take, the truth will just be found, if you compare different teachings and you find similarities. Sometimes not easy because of different language and own words. For example Holy, Saint, Ascended Master or Buddha which is at the end the same (here I am not completely correct, but most people will not be able to see a difference). Today even Dakini. Dimensions, heavens or spiritual planes are same too. More interesting is the comparison of deadly sins and virtues, which are the key to open the mind or door to connect to all that is. Unfortunately, it is not mentioned that you can connect not only with God, but also with aliens who like to pretend something in order to influence humanity and beliefs. For this reason it was a big mistake to remove the "Book of Ennoch" from the Bible. This is why meditation is often demonized, but it is nothing more than a deep prayer. But in the end, words are not relevant and not the true language. My expirience is, that the virtues or deadly sins is all you need to know and understand for Meditation and Prayer and it is important on what you focus your mind (hopefully the Son of God or God himself). The remaining is just documentation of a talk, in which someone said something to someone, who wanted or needed to hear it. History or Structure of Spiritual planes is nice to know, but not relevant too.

"No reliance on words and phrases" - but make the coolest words and phrases anyway

I think we're hapless apes cursed woth language and we don't know what to do

Isn't triloterapy is the real teaching of the budah according to master amon

This makes a lot of sense to me and I really appreciate it. I think it’s more important to eliminate or lessen desire than to focus on the desire. In my experience LOA has been like Monkey’s Paw.