This might not be a popular notion to a lot of readers of The Worst Horse, but I listen to Howard Stern. Yes, I know all the many arguments people have against the show; I won’t recount them here. The fact is, I always used to have a love/hate relationship with the show — I loved it but wish I didn’t.

But Howard makes me laugh, is a brilliant interviewer, and since he’s moved from the wasteland that is terrestrial radio to Sirius satellite radio, he’s become a lot more loose, happy, and fun. Particularly interesting is how much he’s talked about his practice of Transcendental Meditation, and how it’s contributed to his happiness. I may do Buddhist meditation, but a lot of creative people I respect/enjoy do TM (Howard, David Lynch, Jerry Seinfeld, etc), so I’ve come to appreciate that it must work for them.

Anyway: Today Howard talked about Tiger Woods — something I was waiting all weekend for him to do. Now, Howard’s a satirist (among other things), so I can’t get too mad about the silly (and wrong) things he said in criticizing Wood’s evocation of Buddhism in his now-infamous media event on Friday.

For example: “Buddha? There’s only seven Buddhists in America. [...] But Tiger had to whip out some kind of god.” He also identified the Buddha as being “fat,” and criticized Siddhartha Gautama for leaving his home and family to pursue his path and teach it to those who found it useful.

Like I said, I’m, not willing to get mad at that — some of it’s understandable on some level — but I did figure I could try and address it. I tried and tried to call, but didn’t get thru. After about 400 rings of the phone (at least!), it was clear I should abandon speaking to him. So I wrote a letter to the show. For those who might care, that letter follows.

Hey now, Howard..! Regarding Tiger Woods and Buddhism — I’m the Digital Editor for the leading publisher of Buddhist magazines (the Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma) and wanted to just set a couple of things straight:

1) There are actually about 5 or 6 million Buddhists in the US. [This is Robert Thurman's estimate.]

2) The “fat Buddha” statue is see is really not the actual Buddha, but Hotei, a famous Buddhist figure that many consider to be good luck and  mistake to be the Buddha — probably because he seems to pop up in so many places.

3) Yes, the Buddha left his wife and children, but it’s been recorded that this was done with his wife’s support, because she understood he was going to be doing something of undeniable importance (figuring out a system of meditation and way of life that will make life better for people everywhere). Think of it like this: if the Maharishi had had to leave a family to do what he did, it would have been “worth it,” right?

…As for how Buddhists feel about Tiger: they’re mixed. There are lots of reasons to be cynical about it — it seemed SO staged — but it brings a lot of attention to a good thing, and hey, maybe he IS sincere. We’ll see.

Thanks, Howard. You rule.

I’m hoping he’ll share this on the air tomorrow. We’ll see.