Brad Warner: Buddhist meditation in a bunny suit

Taking on the very serious topic of “Why should we meditate” while dressed in a cosmic bunny suit might seem a bit strange and, well, it is. But that’s Brad Warner for you, the man who brings you hard core zen and a slew of books with titles like:

• Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies and the Truth About Reality
• Sit Down and Shut Up: Punk Rock Commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex, Death, and Dogen’s Treasury of the Right Dharma Eye
• Sex, Sin, and Zen: A Buddhist Exploration of Sex from Celibacy to Polyamory and Everything in Between, and, last but not least,
• Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate: A Trip Through Death, Sex, Divorce, and Spiritual Celebrity in Search of the True Dharma

And now he has put out his most recent book, There Is No God and He Is Always with You: A Search for God in Odd Places (due out June 11), which, according to the amazon page, tackles such questions as Can you be an atheist and still believe in God? – Can you be a true believer and still doubt? and – Can Zen give us a way past our constant fighting about God? 

His approach might not work for you, which is understandable – it’s not always really my thing, to be honest, but I do like the message of this video. And odds are, you know someone for whom Brad’s style will resonate very well.

Anyhow – on to the video. Watch it. Meditate. 

(Oh, and if the bunny suit doesn’t work for you, just close your eyes)

Warner has also posted an essay expanding on the video:

One of my top FAQs (that’s Frequently Asked Questions, grandpa!) is “Why should we meditate?” It’s a good, honest question. And lots of meditation teachers have good answers. A lot of times they’ll quote scientific surveys involving brain scans of meditating monks and things like that. Sometimes they’ll drag out that big doorstop of a book Zen and the Brain and show you some graphs in there. But I’ve never read that book. It’s too smart for me. Nor can I understand most of those graphs and charts — even though I’ve had my brain scanned at least three different times as part of those kinds of studies.

I meditate because I can feel for myself the huge difference it makes in my life. I wouldn’t waste an hour or more every day on some activity that wasn’t worthwhile. And I certainly wouldn’t have kept it up for close to thirty years if it didn’t seem to be doing anything for me!

(read the rest on his site!)