You may have seen this photo (or others like it) going around, posted on Facebook, etc, with a note that it’s of Burmese monks praying for world peace. That’s not quite accurate.

The actual story is that this is from a photoset of what some call a cult, based out of Thailand, whose “mass ceremonies are inspired by the head abbot’s fascination with the Muslim hajj gatherings and Nazi parades…” That description and the photoset itself — called “Close Encounters of the Buddhist Kind” — come from Foreign Policy. These photos really do beg to be seen. Only, in context.

If you have 19 minutes to spare, you’ll likely love “Altered Focus: Burma.” Its makers describe this sweet little film as a look at “three filmmakers and skateboarders, including rider Ali Drummond, as they travel across Yangon and Mandalay. The film explores the reaction to this activity whilst touching on the political situation there.” Watch it here:

Altered Focus: Burma from Hot Knees Media on Vimeo.

After the news yesterday that she’s a fan of the Grateful Dead and of Bob Marley, maybe this is little surprise. Still cool, though:

Visit the festival here, and read more about The Lady’s involvement here.

Esquire magazine — which for years entertained readers with year-end wrap-ups of “Dubious Achievements,” or pop-culture missteps — has just named Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi one of the magazine’s “Sexiest Women Alive.”

My first reaction was that this was in itself a dubious achievement, pure and simple. But then, I read the magazine’s short write-up about Suu Kyi:

This is what a rebel does: meets violent suppression from freedom with words (“It is not power that corrupts but fear”), risks her life for democracy, gets elected prime minister only to have Myanmar’s military force her out, wins a Nobel Peace Prize for it, gets imprisoned for twenty years for it, and begins her release fighting for one thing and one thing only: the right to vote. Amen. [Via]

Toldja about this on The Worst Horse the other day. Here’s the actual video:

So. Thoughts?

Remember this ad?

Well, the Detroit News is now reporting that it has a sequel.

The Dalai Lama is in a hastily shot commercial for Fiat SpA, partner of Chrysler Group LLC in a follow-up to a controversial Chrysler ad from a year ago.

The commercial was shot in Hiroshima where the Buddhist leader is addressing the 11th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates this weekend.

It was quickly edited and is already airing, Olivier Francois, head of marketing for both Chrysler and Fiat, told The Detroit News at a Chrysler drive event in San Francisco Saturday.

The Horse hopes to have it to you soon. UPDATE: Here it is:

It’s been a long time coming. Here’s the story.

I rarely look at Bing; for better or for worse I’m generally a Google guy. But today, the Bing homepage‘s cover star again hails from the Buddhist world.

It’s the stunning Thousand Temples of Bagan in Burma. You may have seen them in filmmaker John Bush’s also-stunning film, Journey into Buddhism: Dharma River, part of his three-part trilogy of films that reveals ancient Buddhist lands.

The Thousand Temples are really worth knowing about. Thankfully, Bing links to a short video, which you can see here. (But also, don’t miss the Bush films!)

Via the TimesOnline: “Burma’s military government is contemplating the release of the country’s democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, at the end of the year, but only after the anticipated date of national elections, according to reports from Rangoon.”

Meanwhile, as the Times writes, “Supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi are unconvinced. They say they will be ordering the flying pigs.” (And with good reason; the Burmese junta is quite skilled at saying one thing and doing another.) At any rate, this will be one to watch; more here!

This 30-second spot was initially created as part of the Lancia auto brand’s sponsorship of the 10th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Berlin Nov. 10-11, 2009, for which the theme was “Knocking down new walls and building bridges for a world without violence.” How nice to see Chrysler, a major US automaker, joining in.