The Ultimate Unity of All Beings
The realization that everything in the universe forms a single, integrated whole can be difficult to grasp. Author and Zen priest Brad Warner shares, in a light-hearted way, how a true understanding of Reality, the ultimate unity of all things instills in us a sense of responsibility for the welfare of all life.
Brad Warner is the author of numerous books including the book being discussed in this podcast, The Other Side of Nothing: The Zen Ethics of Time, Space, and Being. A Soto Zen teacher, he is also a punk bassist, filmmaker, and popular blogger who leads workshops and retreats around the world. In addition to his books, his writing appears in Lion’s Roar, Tricycle and Buddhadharma. He hosts the Hardcore Zen podcast and presents frequently on his YouTube channel, Hard Core Zen.
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: I really enjoyed the program with Brad Warner, the author of The Other Side of Nothing: The Zen Ethics of Time, Space, and Being. As a Zen priest and punk guitarist he offers a fresh and easy approach to teaching about nondualism and meditation. I especially appreciated the discussion about the importance of meditation. He said at first he found it boring and couldn't wait until the 20 minutes were over. He said that he had read about enlightenment experiences and expected that right away and was disappointed, but he kept at it and finally after a few years had some deep experiences as well as an understanding of how much better his life was when he meditated daily. He noticed how, when he missed days, life was more "wonky", not as smooth as it was when he meditated. He has now been practicing regularly for over 40 years. In his final comments, he encouraged the listeners to keep at it, even on days when we don't feel like it because it is worth it. This is something that Yogacharya O'Brian has also taught us many times. I also really appreciated how Dr. Trujillo pointed out how many of the practices of Zen Buddhism and our practices of Kriya Yoga overlap.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I enjoyed our discussion of the Zen and Kriya Yoga perspectives on non-duality, and I appreciated talking about some of the similarities between Zen and Kriya Yoga ethics. In Brad Warner’s book, The Other Side of Nothing, he writes "This philosophical outlook is what they call nondualism. There is no you. There is no me. There is just one undivided nondual something of which you and I are aspects.” He further writes: “the fact that you and I don’t exist is a good reason to stop treating each other as badly as we humans tend to do.” It was great to explore these statements further with him. I particularly appreciated his perspective on the seemingly contradictory nature of some Zen teachings, as well as our discussion of harmlessness (ahimsa) from the yoga perspective, and the Buddhist Precept “I vow not to kill.”