NICOLE BARRINGTON
News Writer

Brad Warner started practicing Buddhism in his hometown in Ohio while playing for a punk-rock band.

After deciding that music was not a fulfilling career choice, Warner moved to Japan to teach English and work for a major special effects company. While working in Japan, Warner learned about Soto Zen Buddhism and eventually became an ordained Zen Buddhist priest.

Earlier this month, Warner came to Saskatoon to promote his new book, Sex, Sin and Zen: A Buddhist Exploration of Sex from Celibacy to Polyamory and Everything in Between. The book contains information on the practice of Zen Buddhism from a Western point of view, as well as analysis of the relationship between sex and religion.

Warner’s interest in Buddhism was sparked by his curiosity in “life, death and the problems of the universe.” While attending Kent State University, he became the cliché student, “obsessed” with the importance or insignificance of his life. At the time, Warner was also a bass player for a band called Zero Defex.

“My interest in Buddhism stemmed from when I was a college student. I became obsessed with [questions such as] ”˜What is this life I’m living?’ ”

Warner started to meditate in private, mostly because of the spiritual climate of the punk rock scene of the ’80s. Eventually he learned the proper meditation process for Soto Zen Buddhism while in Japan, which is particularly structured and stresses correct posture (Warner is a self-described “posture-Nazi”). He notes that the “feeling of physical grounding allows the mind to settle.”

Meditation and controlling the mind are essential to Buddhism. Also referred to as “Samadhi,” these practices of concentration help one achieve liberation and lead productive lives.

Another special attribute of this Buddhist sect are the vows regarding intercourse. There are no vows discouraging nor condemning sex before marriage. Instead, sex is viewed as distracting and not “the best way” to get into a meditative state. For this reason, followers take a vow to not misuse sexuality. This sect appeals to those who want to follow Buddhist practice while leading relatively normal lives, like Warner who “wasn’t interested in joining a monastery.”

Warner notes that this sect does not condemn homosexuality either.

“The focus [of Soto Zen Buddhism] is the importance of what we’re doing, not what God says.

“[Buddhism] has a strong spiritual element, not spirituality. People feel as though they have to choose between being materialist and spiritual, and neither has the answer.”

Warner also wrote Sit Down And Shut Up and Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate.

Check out Brad Warner’s blog at hardcorezen.blogspot.com.

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image: Wikimedia Commons