Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate: A Trip Through Death, Sex, Divorce, and Spiritual Celebrity in Search of the True Dharma

Brad Warner does his best to make you not like him. He appears egotistical, critical, snarky, and worse. The thing is he knows this and I think he does it on purpose. He never lets the reader fool themselves into thinking that he is better then them, and gives important teachings through this. The whole theme of the book is that no teacher is the collection of ideals that we project upon them. That they are also just people. Through this he gives his deeper and more important lesson that we often have a false projection of what is real. He illustrates wonderfully that every broken relationship, sick mother, death, and so on, are what is real. They are what happens in reality and are beautiful moments just the same, if you can stop and pay attention to them. Mr. Warner gives you his worst, but by the very act of doing it, shows the reader that he has identified this part of himself. And this is what he teaches that zen is about, self analysis and self discovery, knowing that these are just your thoughts and you can believe them or not. A wonderful insight into zen hidden in a funny dark book. Highly recommended.

This book clears out many old assumptions about how a good Buddhist practitioner should live his/her life. If you want somebody to tell you how, don't read this book. If you want to find an answer yourself, than maybe you can give it a try. It's a fun book to read, and it's about real life, with its moments of joy and sadness. Overall, I strongly recommend this title, both as a good reading and as an antidote to the unfortunately widespread unconditioned acceptance of zen tradition as a whole.

One question I've often wondered about is how someone who deeply practices Zen but doesn't live in a monastery deals with the problems of everyday life. Leaving aside mostly irrelevant questions of whether or not one is "enlightenment" etc., what does it mean to be a Zen practitioner facing with the death of your mother? Or the dissolution of your marriage? What does it mean, really, to be free from attachment while your mother is terminally ill? Can such a thing happen, and are the reactions and emotions of a Zen practitioner in this situation any different from what a non-practitioner feels? I can't say this book answers those questions - no book can, because every person's experience is different - but this book does delve into these subjects (and others) and gives meaningful insights into what Zen is about in "everyday life" (as if there were a difference between "everyday life" and anything else). Anyone looking for a one-size fits all approach to life, anyone hoping for a list of 10 things to do when your mother is dying should go buy another book. Some people, including other reviews of this book, like to bash Brad for holding himself out as some kind of spiritual leader, but they miss the point. He is a writer, and supports himself through his writing, which must be promoted. As far as I know, and as he makes explicit, he does not make a dime from his efforts to help others through Zen outside of offsetting any direct costs he incurs through room rentals, etc. He does not tell you what to do with your life, he does not sell you an "Instant Enlightenment Experience" and he does not demand anyone call him Zen Master Mucky-muck. What he does do is tell you that Zen is not about reading, or about an abstract philosophy, but about the practice of Zazen. Books about Zen can only point you the way and give you the outlines of what Zen is about. He will also freely give his opinions on a number of subjects which you are free to accept or reject. I think a lot of the problem is that we in the US have an image of Zen practitioners based on Kung Fu reruns, and we don't want to hear Master Po saying things like the newest Kiss album kicks ass. People are always shocked when so-called spiritual leaders fall from grace because they are revealed to be human. That's because we in the public make them spiritual leaders first, human second. Brad tries to be human, above anything else, and if we pick up some spiritual insights from reading his books or practicing with him, so much the better. To me, this is much healthier approach in that it is more likely to lead to insights based on reality rather than insights based on ideas in your head

Brad Warner may be unconventional (whatever that means), but his zen is about as straight-up Dogen as you're likely to find. I for one enjoy my dharma with some chocolate sprinkles!

Brad has certainly made Soto Zen approachable for a new, younger, generation. I thought his second book came across as "Angry in Akron" but this one reveals Brads willingness to just candidly report what happened and how he dealt with it - from an often Zen (in your face) prospective. Life is sometimes suffering - fact. I happened to be very pleased with Brad - not because he writes to my generation (which he does not) but because he has stepped in after the Les Kaye (Zen at Work) generation and introduced Zen Meditation to a younger generation - with experiences that they can often easily identify with. Please, don't just take my word for it. Buy the book. Read it for yourself.