An oldie but a goody from the Horse archives:
And for more Separated at Re-birth from The Worst Horse archives, click here, here, and here. (Links will open in new windows.)
And click here for more about the Marchesa Casati, and here for more about Avalokitesvara.
Have a good, safe Halloween, folks.
I’ve got to hand it to Lady Gaga. Not only is she, when it comes to fashion, rather like the Honey Badger — but she really goes out there to find and create harmony for those among us who feel a bit more “on our own” than others. Her song, “Born This Way,” is all about accepting people despite, and because of, their differences, and now she’s guest-edited the ubiquitous free newspaper, The Metro, with an eye towards acting “as a nurturing and compassionate force to those in need.”
As a Buddhist, it’s really refreshing to see a pop-star so outwardly embodying these values. But I also have to say that — again, just as a Buddhist — it’s also disconcerting to see her quote on the of cover her Metro issue: “Let identity be your religion.” I understand that Gaga’s not a Buddhist, and we’re all of course allowed to have different views, but I thought it was worth exploring some of what the Buddha had to say about identity.
New York City’s The Interdependence Project has made a head-turner of a new T-shirt:
What’s the story here? Well, as the IDP site says, “Wearing this tee is a reminder to stay in touch with the reality of impermanence as well as a way to support the efforts of the Interdependence Project.” To do so, click here.
If the IDP ever makes one with the same slogan in small reverse type, a la Memento, I’m all over it.
Update: after expressing some of my developing reservations about the shirt to the IDP’s Ethan Nichtern, I was invited to share said comments on the IDP blog. See this post: Sure, “This Body Will Be a Corpse”… but should I wear a shirt that says so?
Okay, this one might be more an accidental Dharma-Burger, but…: readers and fans of John Daido Loori may recall that the late Zen Roshi was fond of using the phrase “skin-bag” to refer to our bodies. More than just another way to say “this mortal coil,” this phrase (which seems to be adapted from a previous Zen master’s usage or two) was meant to instead to aid us in shuffling off our attachments to our bodies in the here and now.
And now, there’s “SkinBag” — the product (as found on the Vice website), which seems timely given Lady Gaga’s already infamous “meat dress“:
From the SkinBag website:
SkinBag is a material created by Olivier Goulet, a french transmedia artist whose vision is in the crossroads of activism and human design.
The SkinBag family is made up of synthetic skin, bags, accessories and overgarments with distinctive folded texture, flexible material, and seamless organic appearance. You can view the SkinBags as bodily extensions; external organs which serve as holdalls for items we have around us.
A carrier of mutation, SkinBag symbolizes the ambivalence between the natural and the artificial, the instinctive and the optimized, and foresee the fusion between the digital and the organic.
and, from elsewhere on the site…
The SkinBag material distinguishes itself by its pleated aspects, its wrinkles, pimples, and its ocacasionel [sic] spots. Its texture provokes attraction and turmoil, it prompts one to touch and caress.
Whether or not SkinBag is informed by Daido’s usage is unclear, but in ways — “You can view the SkinBags as bodily extensions; external organs which serve as holdalls for items we have around us” — there’s some conceptual resonance here, not just with Daido’s usage of the word, but also, for example, the Theravadin Buddhist practice of working with awareness of the body in all its beautiful, mysterious, and putrid manifestations.
For more about SkinBag, see their website. I think it’s safe to say you’ll be surprised by the breadth of their offerings.
Via Phayul.com:
Recently Keds — a unit of Kansas-based Collective Brands, Inc. and a mass-marketer of canvas-top — sneakers came out with a new line of sneakers called ‘Tibetan Buddhist Shoes’. These bear images of the Dalai Lama, the Buddha, holy mantras and other sacred images that Buddhist all over the world revere. Buddhists generally keep these images and scripts in temples, monasteries and on altars in their homes.
Keds’ commercial trumpets:
“Gorgeous shoes! They’re Keds, so they’re sturdy and comfy, yet they’re beautiful because of the images on them. How unique is this! A Tibetan Buddhist image in brilliant pinks, yellows, oranges and blues. Colorful and Beautiful!”The last three words should read — Shameful and Disrespectful!
What do you think? More here.
Update: There’s a possibility these are an urban myth of sorts. If you have a pair — of these shoes, I mean! — send a photo so we know they’re real. They currently don’t seem to be on the Keds site and one diligent dharma-friend is looking into it for us all….
Hey, Buddhists, and yogis! Sure, you know about Nike’s appalling contributions to human suffering.
But now they have Dharma-clothing.
What’s so “dharma” about it? Well, nothing. Just the name.
But doesn’t that name just speak to you?
Tiger Woods is now wearing one, as he told ESPN:
“It’s Buddhist, it’s for protection and strength and I certainly need that,” he said, adding that he began wearing the bracelet before he went into rehabilitation and that he intends to wear it forever.
Via a press release:
Steve Madden, a leading designer and marketer of fashion footwear and accessories for women, men and children, today announced that it has completed its acquisition of privately held Big Buddha, Inc., a designer and marketer of fashion-forward handbags. Founded by Jeremy Bassan in 2003, Big Buddha sells its trend-right handbags to specialty retailers, better department stores and online retailers. Big Buddha had net sales in 2009 of approximately $13 million (unaudited).
That’s one expensive Dharma-Burger.
This woman does not kid around. I first made contact with her a short while ago on Shambhala SunSpace and now she’s written her first guest post there.
Lots more to come – thanks to the many of you who’ve emailed and commented lately. You’ll be seeing your contributions here soon, once I dig out from the current workload.
Via the Bhutan Observer:
Sight-seeing in Switzerland does not leave a vacationer horrified, but Prabhat Choudhary, his wife and daughter were shocked to see a Lord Buddha statue garlanded with a pair of shoes at a footwear shop in Geneva.
“We were strolling on shopping street when my 15-year-old daughter insisted that we got into ‘Anne Fontaine’, a designer footwear shop. There in the shop, we saw a 4-ft statue of Lord Buddha on the shelf displaying shoes and slippers, garlanded with a pair of shoes,” Prabhat, a realtor, recalled.
The family was shocked. Prabhat’s daughter, was furious. Though her parents were a bit frightened, she persuaded them to let her shoot the sight with her videocam. The girl, a student of Patna’s prestigious Notre Dame Academy, accomplished her mission without anyone – the shop staff or the crowd of customers – knowing about it.
Back home, Prabhat has sent a letter to the ministry of external affairs, requesting it to take up the matter with Swiss authorities.
