Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 090779162X ISBN 13: 9780907791621

Publisher: Synergetic Press, 2015

Synopsis

More than ever, people are in pursuit of greater fulfillment in their lives, seeking a deeper spiritual truth and strategies for liberation from suffering. Both Buddhism and psychedelics are subjects that one encounters in such spiritual pursuit. Edited by Tricycle contributing editor Allan Badiner and art edited by renowned visionary artist Alex Grey, Zig Zag Zen features a foreword by Buddhist scholar Stephen Batchelor, a preface by historian of religion Huston Smith and numerous essays, interviews, and art that lie outside the scope of mainstream anthologies. This new edition of the classic work on Buddhism and psychedelics includes a recent interview with Rick Doblin, founder of MAPS, contributions from Ralph Metzner, James Fadiman and Kokyo Henkel, and a discussion of ayahuasca’s unique influence on Zen Buddhism. Packed with enlightening entries offering eye-opening insights into alternate methods of inner exploration.

About this title

Review:

The use of psychedelic drugs is that dark little secret behind the popular origins of Eastern spirituality in America, but if they really open the mind in the same ways meditative experiences do, why shouldn't they be legitimated and brought out into the open? In Allan Hunt Badiner and Alex Grey's Zig Zag Zen authors, artists, priests, and scientists are brought together to discuss this question. Opinions fall on all sides. Ram Dass, for instance, discusses the benefits as well as the limitations. Rick Strassman outlines his work in the first federally funded psychedelic study in two-and-a-half decades. Rick Fields sets the historical scene. China Galland offers a wrenching personal experience. Robert Jesse introduces the varieties of entheogens, drugs that engender mystical states. Lama Surya Das tells of his early drug years. And a roundtable discussion with Ram Dass, Robert Aitken, Richard Baker, and Joan Halifax caps it all.

Interspersed throughout are stunning full-page, full-color images of spiritual art by the likes of Robert Beer, Bernard Maisner, and, of course, Alex Gray. A fascinating look at a complex topic, Zig Zag Zen is worth appreciating and pondering. --Brian Bruya

About the Author:

Allan Badiner served as the editor of Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics (Chronicle Books, 2002), as well as two other books of collected essays, Dharma Gaia: A Harvest in Buddhism and Ecology (Parallax Press, 19901) and Mindfulness in the Marketplace: Compassionate Responses to Consumerism (Parallax, 2002). Allan is a contributing editor of Tricycle Magazine, and serves on the board of directors of Rainforest Action Network, Threshold Foundation and Project CBD. He has been a student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh for more than 25 years.

Alex Grey is a renowned American artist specializing in spiritual and psychedelic (visionary) art. His work spans a variety of forms including performance art, sculpture and painting. He is a member of the Integral Institute, on the board of advisors for the Center of Cognitive Liberty and Ethics and is Chair of Wisdom University's Sacred Art Department. He and his wife Allyson Grey are co-founders of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, CoSM, a non-profit church supporting Visionary Culture in Wappinger, New York.

About this edition

• Publisher: Synergetic Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 090779162X
• ISBN 13: 9780907791621
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 304
• Editor: Badiner Allan, Grey Alex