Brad Warner

Brad Warner is an ordained Zen teacher and author of the books Letters to a Dead Friend About Zen (2019), It Came From Beyond Zen (2017), Don't Be a Jerk (2016), There is No God and He is Always With You (2014), Sex Sin and Zen (2010), Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate (2009), Sit Down and Shut Up (2007) and Hardcore Zen (2004). He maintains a blog at hardcorezen.info and a YouTube channel at youtube.com/hardcorezen

He’s also the bass player for the hardcore punk rock group 0DFx (aka Zero Defex), and former vice president of the US branch of the company founded by the man who created Godzilla.

While playing hardcore punk in the early 80s, Brad became involved in Zen Buddhism. The realistic, no BS philosophy reminded him of the punk attitude. He moved to Japan in 1993 where he began studying Zen with an iconoclastic rebel Zen Master named Gudo Nishijima. In 1999, Nishijima made Brad his successor as a teacher of Zen.

Brad has also published work in the Buddhist magazines Shambhala Sun, Buddhadharma, and Tricycle as well as rock magazines such as Alternative Press, Maximum Rocknroll and Razorcake.