Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate

I freaking love Brad Warner. Not because he's a totally serene Zen Master, but because he isn't. The whole point of this book is that despite teaching Zen, being involved with Zen for close to twenty years, Brad Warner's just a guy.

And, as a guy, he screws up, occasionally sits around doing nothing, makes bad decisions, and gets nervous talking to people. He's clear about this. He hides nothing. He's writing his own expose about his life.

And yet; Brad is sane. He's clear about how he feels. He does his best every day to be humble and avoid hurting people, and when he feels pain himself, he tries to deal with it in a healthy way. Even when he's dealing with his mother dying of Huntington's, he's compassionate. The only thing he has a problem with is people who aren't compassionate, who are thoughtless and cruel. In short, Brad hates assholes.

And yet, at the same time, Brad has to deal with being an asshole himself. And decide that at times, an asshole is exactly the right thing to be.

So. You should read this book. Maybe you won't like it. You may not. But if you do like it, the odds are high that you will freaking love it.