The Universe Isn't What You Think It Is

[@TonyLecosia]

Hey Brad. I’m a new viewer (and listener to your Audiobooks) and I have to say I really love the way you convey information. So glad you popped up in my KZbin feed! Keep up the good work!

[@HardcoreZen]

Thank you!

[@JamesLahey-l6w]

I also just started watching your videos, today as a matter of fact, and Tony said everything i was about to say. Thanks Brad and Tony.

[@papayamangerry8843]

Thanks Brad, hope to meet you one day. By the way I never would have known about Zen Buddhism if my locker buddy back in high school 15 years ago didn't leave a copy of Hardcore Zen in the locker collecting dust. Best book ever.

[@HardcoreZen]

Thanks!

[@elvinblanco3428]

Thanks for your teachings Brad. I recently bought your book "Sit Down and Shut Up". I practice zazen in a soto zen center here in the island of Puerto Rico. We have a wonderfull teacher Sandra Laureano and a friendly sangha. I'm moving to Austin, Tx in August, so hopefully I can participate in a retreat in Mt. Baldy some day. Thanks again for your teachings.

[@HardcoreZen]

Thank you. The Austin Zen Center is really nice. I've spoken there a few times.

[@robertyorga]

Don’t apologize for being weird.

[@blackbird5634]

'The map is not the territory.'

[@joshuaschachterle703]

Just read an article about George Harrison. His first wife says that he would sometimes meditate for hours, but then would go out and get coked up and party for days. I don't know much about his meditation (all related to Hinduism, I think) but I thought this was a good illustration of how even meditating too much can throw you out of balance. Maybe this is why Nishijima recommended limiting zazen a bit?

[@HardcoreZen]

Yeah... I've heard that kind of stuff about George Harrison too. I think he was conflicted. It may be a matter of keeping some kind of balance.

[@dallasdandigitalproduction393]

Lol. You think meditation was throwing him off balance? Perhaps it was the cocaine and partying

[@dallasdandigitalproduction393]

Love this vid Brad. Very ' Doctor Strange' feel to it. I agree about humans lacking the ability to perceive other entities or dimensions. We are extremely limited by our 5 senses. The worst problem is we dont see ourselves as limited, so we continue about our lives.Similar to a line in the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. " you don't believe you're captive, bc you can't find the bars of the cage". Its a question of perception I suppose. Namaste and Aloha 🙏

[@JB-kn2zh]

Never heard of John Lilly before. What a neat character lol.

[@ghy518]

Brad, have you talked at all, either in blog or video form, about zazen and creativity/making art? As somewhat of an artist, I’d like to hear what you have to say about those two things-in particular, how the former may influence/interact w/ the latter as well as with individuality. Sometimes I actually worry that some vital creative juice will dry up as a result of sitting zazen. Though I have reason to believe that this way of thinking is misguided, I’m still paranoid about losing a part of myself that I presuppose is linked to art and creativeness. I know you’ve created (or contributed to creative things) like music, novels, Ultraman(?), etc. all while practicing and thinking about Buddhism, so I thought maybe you’ve encountered this hold up either in yourself or somewhere else. Thanks!

[@HardcoreZen]

Your creativity won't dry up as a result of sitting zazen. I know I've written about this before but I don't know where. But it's really nothing to worry about.

[@robertdomergue1946]

Thoughts on neem karoli baba?

[@gra6649]

A simple way of looking at it is, one is not a being in a universe. The universe is within one. Whatever separation one imagines is an illusion, like differences within a dream. One does not wake up from the dream, one wakes up to the dream.

[@JustFortheRecord66]

“Genius is Pain”

[@ou-rb2gv]

I think there's a lot of value in the idea that ppl "let go of Zen too" when Avalokiteshvara crosses over all suffering and difficulty. suddenly king yama let's go of the bhavacakra , and all beings are instantly reborn in the heaven realm, like a lotus blooming above the water line.

[@ou-rb2gv]

goo.gl/images/UufhgU *sometimes Zen gets to simplistic* sometimes it gets too complicated goo.gl/images/q1Vh2H

[@ou-rb2gv]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIWQl5aqp5hlpqc

[@DELFamilyvideos]

Hey Brad I’m a long time reader of yours and I love these videos. Have you ever considered making the audio of these KZbin videos available via podcast? It’d be great to listen to on my commute. Thanks!

[@HardcoreZen]

Thanks. Hmmmm... I'd have to figure out how...

[@DELFamilyvideos]

Hardcore Zen This is a pretty good tutorial I found kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4W0f4eja5KnfKs

[@HardcoreZen]

Thank you!

[@alexlawrence5141]

Thanks for the vid *sidenote: dig those frames!

[@HardcoreZen]

Thank you. I just got them.

[@frankvanmeter3408]

I ,whoever that is, really enjoy your stuff. You make want to do more zazen, if I wasn't so lazy, HaHa thank you.

[@Mangafandan]

brad. im from akron ohio too brother.

[@HardcoreZen]

We all are.

[@BigBunnyLove]

bark bark bark

[@KDBTANMAY]

The BG is not the most mystical book the HKs have produced. That one is called The Krsna Book, or Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead. Have you read that one, Brad?

[@HardcoreZen]

Not all the way through. But I did own a copy for a long time that I looked at. It didn't seem especially mystical to me.

[@KDBTANMAY]

@@HardcoreZen Not necessarily the entire book. But I'd like to highlight briefly those parts that indeed are, and highly revered as mystical in world literature. Chapter 21-The Song of the Flute, Chapters 29-32-The Rāsa Dance (Similar to Bridal Mysticism but more intensely expressed). Also-Chap 8. And a few others. Those all teach Non-Dualism with amazing Panentheistic symbolism. If you have read those, perhaps you would know.

[@danthompson1m]

All this here’s just a bunch of crazy talk. Thanks.

[@HardcoreZen]

Maybe so!

[@anatureperson5551]

Zen master file tax return. Lol

[@landedzentry]

Spiritual bs Natures way of telling you some people have some fascinating and complicated ideas. Life is simple. So simple that some people cant handle it and have to invent all this stuff. Eckhart Tolle is the master of this type of invention with his "painbody" nonsense and...add-ons, various. ...What is your experience? Be true to that , only.