Hardcore Zen

The Heart Sutra in the Heartland

I didn't include a letter to Marky about the Heart Sutra in Letters to a Dead Friend About Zen because I had written a chapter about it in my first book, Hardcore Zen. But the Heart Sutra is probably the most important sutra for Zen Buddhists. So I wrote Marky a letter about the Heart Sutra for this episode and presented it in America's Heartland, Cleveland, Ohio.

"Zen Beginnings"

Recorded October 12, 2019 in Akron, Ohio. In this episode I write to Marky about how I got started in Zen. This talk was delivered before a group that included a number of people who knew the real people upon whom "Marky" in the book was based. I think the discussion after the letter was one of the best that I've had so far with an audience.

Beginner's Mind (aka Shoshin)

Recorded in London, England on July 4, 2019, Brad Warner introduces his book Letters to a Dead Friend About Zen. The book is a series of letters to Brad’s childhood friend Marky who died in 2014. Brad wants to tell his friend everything he never said, to explain Zen, “this crazy philosophy and weird meditation practice I do every day.” In this episode Brad read a new letter to Marky (not from the book) on the subject of "Beginner's Mind" in Zen Buddhist practice.