American musician and Buddhist priest
Brad Warner (born March 5, 1964) is an American
Sōtō Zen monk, author,
blogger ,
documentarian and
punk rock
bass guitarist .
Biography
Brad Warner was born in
Hamilton, Ohio ,
[1] in 1964. His family traveled for his father's job and Warner spent some time in
Nairobi, Kenya ,
[2] but grew up mainly near
Akron, Ohio ,
[3] and attended
Kent State University . As a teenager Warner got into the music of the 1980s and
hardcore punk ,
[4] and a friend of his took him to a show by
Zero Defex . He auditioned for and joined the band
[5] after finding out they needed a
bass guitarist . He agreed to write articles for
SuicideGirls , an online
soft porn site but stopped after a few years.
[6]
Warner has played with Dimentia 13. After the financial failure of his Dimentia 13 albums, Warner got a job in
Japan with the
JET Programme , and then later in 1994 with
Tsuburaya Productions , the company behind
Ultraman .
[4] Warner played the roles of various foreigners in their programs.
In 2007 he directed the
documentary film Cleveland’s Screaming , which depicts the punk rock scene in
Akron and
Cleveland in the 1980s.
[7]
[8]
In 2008 Warner lost his job with the Japanese company he had been working for in the States and as of January 2009 he was self-employed.
Zen Buddhism
Warner began practicing
Zen Buddhism under his first teacher, Tim McCarthy.
[3]
[9] Warner later studied with
Gyomay Kubose .
[4] While in Japan, he met and trained with
Gudo Wafu Nishijima , a student of
Rempo Niwa Zenji , who ordained him as a priest and named him as his dharma heir in 2000.
[9]
[10]
[11]
In 2007, Gudo Wafu Nishijima named Warner the leader of Dogen Sangha International which Nishijima had founded.
[9]
[12] Warner dissolved the organization in April 2012.
[13]
[14]
In 2012, Warner moved to California
[15]
[16] and started Dogen Sangha Los Angeles.
[17]
In 2013, Pirooz Kalayeh directed a film about Warner entitled Brad Warner's Hardcore Zen
[18]
[19] The film premiered on October 5, 2013 in Amsterdam at the Buddhist Film Festival of Europe.
[18]
Bibliography
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Warner, Brad (2003).
Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies & the Truth About Reality . Wisdom Publications.
ISBN
0-86171-380-X .
Warner, Brad (2007).
Sit Down and Shut Up: Punk Rock Commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex, Death, and Dogen's Treasury of the Right Dharma Eye . New World Library.
ISBN
978-1-57731-559-9 .
Warner, Brad (2009).
Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate: A Trip Through Death, Sex, Divorce, and Spiritual Celebrity in Search of the True Dharma . New World Library.
ISBN
978-1-57731-654-1 .
Warner, Brad (2010).
Sex, Sin, and Zen: A Buddhist Exploration of Sex from Celibacy to Polyamory and Everything in Between . New World Library.
ISBN
978-1-57731-910-8 .
Nishijima, Gudo Wafu ; Brad Warner (2011).
Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika . Monkfish Book Publishing.
ISBN
978-0-9833589-0-9 .
Warner, Brad (2012). Hardcore Zen Strikes Again! . Cooperative Press.
ISBN
9781937513078 .
Warner, Brad (2013). There Is No God and He Is Always With You: A Search for God in Odd Places . New World Library.
ISBN
9781608681839 .
Warner, Brad (2016). Don't Be a Jerk: And Other Practical Advice from Dogen, Japan's Greatest Zen Master . New World Library.
ISBN
9781608683888 .
Warner, Brad (2017). It Came from Beyond Zen!: More Practical Advice from Dogen, Japan's Greatest Zen Master: 2 . New World Library.
ISBN
9781608685110 .
Warner, Brad (2019). Letters to a Dead Friend about Zen . New World Library.
ISBN
9781608686018 .
Warner, Brad (2022). The Other Side of Nothing: The Zen Ethics of Time, Space, and Being . New World Library.
ISBN
9781608688043 .
Discography
Compilations
Dimentia 13
Dimentia 13 . Midnight Records. 1985.
Mirror Mind . Midnight Records. 1987.
Disturb the Air . Midnight Records. 1989.
T.V. Screen Head . Midnight Records. 1990.
Flat Earth Society . Midnight Records. 1991.
Guest appearances
0DFx
drop the A-bomb . Get Revenge Records. 2007. (1982 demo reissue)
Discography . Get Revenge Records. 2007. (1982 demo and 1983 debut, 2 CD)
War Hero . Get Revenge Records. 2007. (1983 debut reissue)
Zero Defex . 0DFx Records. 2008. (New recordings 2007/2008)
See also
References
^ Warner, Brad (2007).
Sit Down and Shut Up: Punk Rock Commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex, Death, and Dogen's Treasury of the Right Dharma Eye . New World Library. p.
248 .
ISBN
978-1-57731-559-9 .
^ Walters, Sarah (November 18, 2011). "Zen and the art of punk rock . . ". Manchester Evening News .
^
a
b
Sit Down and Shut Up: Punk Rock Commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex, Death, and Dogen's Treasury of the Right Dharma Eye . New World Library. 2007. pp.
254 .
ISBN
978-1-57731-559-9 .
^
a
b
c
"'Question of Authority' ...?" Interviewed by
Gary Gach in The Buddhist Channel, Sep. 6, 2007
^
Hynes, Mary (2007-08-14).
"Interview with Brad Warner" .
Tapestry . Archived from
the original on 2007-11-12. Retrieved 2008-02-11 .
^
Brad Warner's articles for
Suicide Girls
^
"Cleveland's Screaming!" . Distrify. 31 July 2023. [
permanent dead link ]
^ Tone, Joe (October 3, 2007).
"Cleveland's Screaming: New Doc Looks at 80s Punk Scenes" .
Cleveland Scene . Retrieved September 10, 2019 .
^
a
b
c
"Sex, Sin & Zen: Brad Warner and the Lust for Enlightenment" .
The Huffington Post .
^ Clarke, Liam (June 15, 2010).
"Meet Brad, the bad boy of Zen Buddhism" .
Belfast Telegraph . Retrieved September 10, 2019 .
^
"Brad Warner: 07-10-2013: There Is No God and He Is Always With You - Upaya Zen Center" . Upaya Zen Center . 2013-07-15. Retrieved 2016-12-11 .
^
"Hardcore Zen (Interview)" .
Here and Now . 2003-09-26. Archived from
the original on 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-02-11 .
^
"Dogen Sangha International is No More" . Hardcorezen.blogspot.com.
^
"Dogen Sangha International Post Mortem" . Hardcorezen.blogspot.com. Archived from
the original on July 17, 2012.
^
"Going to California" . Hardcorezen. April 28, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2013 .
^
"I Love L.A." Hardcorezen. July 6, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2013 .
^
"Dogen Sangha Los Angeles" . Retrieved April 14, 2013 .
^
a
b
"Hardcore Zen: The Movie" . Hardcorezen. Retrieved November 26, 2013 .
^ Quinn, Megan (January 11, 2014).
"Zen's bad boy Brad Warner translates to film" .
Daily Camera . Retrieved September 10, 2019 .
Further reading
External links
Non-Fiction Novels
Death To All Monsters! (2011)
Gill Women of the Prehistoric Planet (2013)
International National Other