Brad Warner on Religion vs. Practice

A few months ago I happened upon this excerpt from Brad Warner's latest book, Letters to a Dead Friend about Zen. I haven't read it, or any of his books save the first. But Brad and I are the same age, from very similar backgrounds, and have come to comparable conclusions on many points. So it's perhaps not surprising that his work often speaks to me.

Nor that he catches a lot of blowback. From people like me, for starters, because he has okesa and makes money off it. (In case it matters, I care frak-all about the first charge. As for the second, yeah, that's dangerous. But as long as he's not claiming a patent on enlightenment, or declaring by word or implication to be the only authorised dealer, I'm listening.)

The linked text starts with a lot of throat-clearing, but beginning with this passage:

It’s like there’s a little Enlightened Beings Club. […] Some guy says he’s got enlightenment. He has a story to back him up about the wonderful day when he finally understood everything about everything. Another guy, his teacher, certified him as a member of the Enlightened Beings Club. And now he’s ready to help you learn to be just like him.

… the pace picks up briskly.

Essentially, Brad uses the book's introduction to address the difference between religion, which serves our craving for temporal power, and practice ("faith", in Christian terms), which rejects human authority and aspiration. The two have always been at each other's throats, as they always must be.

He doesn't delve into the matter in this excerpt; I suspect that's the rest of the book. But in good Zen form, the unanswered questions he poses might serve as a rudder for your own exploration.