The Rubin offers us the opportunity to “learn more about how prevailing perceptions of Tibet and the visual narrative evolved over time.” Their exhibit, Hero, Villain, Yeti: Tibet in Comics opens December 9, 2011. Click here for details. You’ll see comics discussed here on the Horse, like the Green Lama, plus much more like, Milarepa and Dalai Lama comics(!).

PS: Comics or not, The Rubin would be a must-see anyway!

It comes from his blog (and of course is published in a bazillion papers, etc) along with Piraro’s personal comments about meditation: Sample: “This cartoon was the brainchild of a friend of mine from my previous life back in Texas. It immediately made me chuckle because I hate contest shows and love meditation.”

Visit Bizarro online here. And see also: “Ya Gotta Love this Zen Comic.”

What happens in the T&P cartoon? Well, suffice it to say that Phillip turns to Terrance and says, “Take that, Dalai Terrance.” And if you can’t guess what happens next, perhaps we should just leave it unsaid.

And then the show veered off in a total ‘nother direction, as it does. That was it for Buddhist Terrance and Phillip.

Mike was just enjoying attention surrounding his new one-man show, and he and I were hoping to talk about that soon for SunSpace. How sad to lose him; he had so much to give and really was committed to it. Condolences to all of his many friends and family.

More: Punchline on Mike’s death | Shambhala Sun Audio: A foul-mouthed bodhisattva from the Bronx: An interview with “Last Comic Standing” audience favorite Mike DeStefano (Text and audio) | Mike DeStefano: Last Comic Standing’s Buddhist voice

Today comes video from Japan of a 16th century Buddhist temple trying to hip up its image by going after the otaku. They’ve created an anime character mascot, and even hire a girl to cosplay ["costume play"] her in public to do recruiting. In fact the monks actually PRAY to a statue of the character, who is modeled after the Shinto goddess of art and wisdom. And they’ve created some kind of hideous video gamey jingle that I suppose appeals to the part-cyborg youth of modern cyberpunk Tokyo.

See video of all this here.

Really. You’ve GOT to see this. It’s apparently quite real. (Funny thing is I had a photo of the temple’s exterior as desktop photo for a while, having no idea what was in the inside, until now.)

And here’s some video of the exterior:

(Tip of the hat to Scott Mitchell.)

This month [Japan's Ryohoji] Temple unveiled its new “moe Buddhist [signboard],” [rendered in an animation-based style] combining modern and ancient art. [This development came about after the temple's chief priest, Shoko Nakazato] displayed a picture of “moe” outside the temple to welcome passers by. Moe is a traditional Japanese slang word often for a young girl, and associated with innocence, love and caring.

According to Shoko Nakazato, young people and the media have been flocking to the temple ever since. (The temple’s website takes a similar approach, also depicting and blending moe and Buddhist imagery.) But as one visitor told The Japan Times, “I’m afraid that the temple will end up being just a mecca for fans of manga and anime, which is probably not the temple’s intention.” As for the artist behind the sign? She says that while she “was initially worried she might be doing something ‘indiscreet,’” [she] concluded that even if the sign was controversial, it might lead people to visit the temple and think about religion.”

“Liquid Comics announced today that it is collaborating with New York Times bestselling author, Deepak Chopra (The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, The Book of Secrets), and publishing partner Dynamite Entertainment, on a graphic novel adaptation of Chopra’s, New York Times bestselling novel entitled, “Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment.” The 160-page, hardcover graphic novel will be available in bookstores nationwide on Dec 14th with a digital Apple iPad version also available before the end of the year.”

Only a few volumes of Chopra’s “Buddha” comic were originally released; looking forward to see the rest. For more, see previous coverage of the comic here.

Well, you heard the man: You have GOT to watch it. (Not really, but I enjoyed it and you might too.)

Thanks, as always, Konchog.

Read The Revealer’s review here.