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.

Big thanks to reader Derek, who sends notice that you can now put Dainichi Nyorai — a.k.a. the Buddha of Cosmic Light and Truth, a.k.a. Mahavairocana — on your butt, thanks to these jeans.

As Derek notes, they even come “complete with seed syllable!”

For a little more on Dainichi Nyorai (including a truly beautiful rendering), check out this page from the artist Yasutaka Horie. His work is incredible.

So many Dharma-Burgers, so little time. So let’s just jump in and see some of what’s come into the Horse’s in-box over the past few days:

The ever eagle-eyed Sam DeWitt sends this shot from the current Snickers campaign, and writes:

“Really? Nutvana™? With a trademark and everything? Will I get sued if I try to start being hip and dropping ‘nutvana’ in casual conversation?… As the kids say – Whatever!”

Alice of the great NOT2W0 blog writes to share two new Burgers
1) Seat Karma: Live entertainment ticketing search engine and broker.

Company Profile:
http://seatkarma.com/company.php

2) Zendals: Sandals with massage balls at the sole. I saw this on someone yesterday in the locker room at the gym. Link here.

And here’s one from the always mighty (and often moving) blogger, monk, and relentless friend of the Horse, Konchog Norbu:

“Oy gevalt. It’s endless. You could have a separate blog just for Zen-Burgers. Latest arising. I think I’m supposed to know who Tara Stiles is, but I really don’t.”

Lastly — for now, that is; there are still plenty more in the ol’ in-box to get to — Clint B. sends a link to the “Birdvana” shirt, (main graphic picture here; not picture is some writing that says “The duck seeks only bread.”) writing, simply, “Rod, I just don’t know what to make of this one.”

Me neither. I was about to say I kinda liked it, actually, until I just started thinking: “Oh, gee, a graphic of a cartoon animal, meditating? That’s pretty goofy.”

(Whatever you do, readers, please don’t scroll to the top of this page right now.) ; )

Thanks, everyone. Keep ‘em coming, and I’ll do my best to keep up!

Via FashionMagazine.us:

“This Meditation Pod Chair from PlushPod.com looks fresh, inviting and if it helps you on your path to Enlightment, hey, what more could you ask for?”

The designer says it’s intended to be “a sacred space for one or two people.” Huh.

We’ve featured the store True Religion before (Sam DeWitt once sent a photo of their sign, which featured Hotei playing a guitar (for some reason or other)), but now reader Lee D. sends this window shot and write-up:

“I stumbled on Buddha here in the Columbus Circle mall in NYC. Not sure which was more weird, using Buddha to hawk jeans or his image with the words ‘TRUE RELIGION’ on the window!

Plus, jeans can’t be the most comfortable pant for zazen out there.”

Nice catch, Lee. Thanks for sending.

By the way, Lee’s email also included this post-script:

“HA! one of the spelling correction words Gmail suggests for zazen is ‘ignore’.”

How’m I not gonna point this one out?

After reading this article about Hardihood Clothing Company — and I’ll admit, I was pretty dubious — I had to check out the company’s site.

I gotta say: that’s one beautiful sweatshirt. And even better is this one (though you have to click on the detail on the site to really tell).

And from what one can tell from the article, the dudes there at Hardihood seem like they’re awright. They sure have a good eye (collectively speaking).

Well, cool. (See? There’s no shame, automatically, in making Dharma-Burgers. It’s all in the intention. And the execution. I know I’m sure about the execution here.)

HUGE thanks to reader Alice K. for this crazy-ass ‘Burger. She writes:

“I found this last night and thought I’d send it your way. It’s a computer game called Zen Fashion. There’s a free demo you can download too.”

[From the game's website:] “Zen Fashion is a whirlwind match-3 adventure through the fashion cultures of the Orient. In Zen Fashion, you take the role of a young Japanese fashion designer ready to break out on her own. But before she can truly succeed, she must journey to the fashion capitals of Asia to learn the Zen Fashion secrets of her ancestors.”

The site goes on to describe the game as “as beautiful as it is addictive,” and lists the “Zen powers” that players can accumulate, which include “the Eye for Fashion.”

There are even “Zen breaks at the end of every level allow the player to relax and enjoy the scenery.” Well, that’s nice, I suppose.

Sometimes Dharma-Burgers are so weird they’re almost cool. This is one of them, so thanks, Alice.

Sorry for the relative quiet, y’all. Between a cold and the realities of working in the new economy, it’s been a tough buncha days. To try and make it up to you, here’s a big bag of Dharma-Burgers.

First up is one from stalwart reader Jordan F. This little item is the “Scarpa Zen Approach” sneaker. Dig the ‘Burgery flavor of the copy they’re using to try and sell this thing: “Reach the summit of calm in the Scarpa Zen Approach Shoe. The supple all leather upper balances the burly Vibram Spyder sole, forming an unparalleled equilibrium of foot comfort and confidence. Reinforced arches and EVA heel cushioning comfort your steps on the path of one-pointedness. When you lose focus, molded toecaps protect you from meditation-disturbing stubs against inert rocks and roots. Sure you could sit in lotus position all day trying to achieve Samadhi while stern Japanese monks whack your back with a stick. You can also lace up the Scarpa Zen Approach Shoe and reach peace hiking through Aspen groves.”

Yeah, okay. Whatever.

Next up: the unstoppable Sam DeWitt points us to this New York Times review of the NBC show, Life, commenting, simply, “That all-purpose word crops up again.” That “all-purpose word,” of course, is Zen, but at least Life actually has something to do with Zen, as the main character studied Buddhism in prison. For more, read the review, or check out the Horse’s previous coverage (including a pretty interesting little link).

The Mighty Sam also sends on web-ad for FRS energy drink, with this notation: “just a random web advert luring unsuspecting consumers with the power of the lotus position (or some such thinking, I am sure).” That sounds about right to me! Nothing says “cure-all” like a sexually ambiguous meditator in silhouette. Am I right, people?

But does Sam stop there? No! Because he’s SAM DeWITT!

He also sends on this cover of The Economist from the issue on sale from the end of January, into the beginning of February. Here, a Buddha’s eye is meant to not only register “shock” at the grand sweep of the global economic crisis, but serves as a stand-in for, apparently, the entirety of Asia.

They used to call this sort of exoticized cultural shorthand “Orientalism,” didn’t they? Well, I call it a Dharma-Burger.

Next up, Marnie from The Enlightenment Blog points us to the “Buddha Board,” writing,  “Here is a Dharma-Burger tidbit. Seems to be some kind of painting easel wherein the painting vanishes after a certain amount of time. I haven’t tried the product but the flash introduction lets you paint with your mouse in an interesting way.” Frankly, I can’t believe I haven’t covered this thing before, as I have played with it, and think it’s just great. Try it out online.

And how about a “24-carat gold, 7.5mm-tall statue of Buddha”? Need one of those? Well, good thing it exists, right? The market has spoken! (Via AP.) As our friend Miriam writes, “Wow. Man. What an insult (?) to the concept and to Vajra Regent Ozel Tendzin’s book title?!”

Lastly, I would be absolutely remiss if I didn’t point you to this ad — and the (typically) excellent commentary about it — found over at NOT2WO.

Thanks, everyone, for your contributions. And for reading — hope you’ve enjoyed gnawing on these ‘Burgers.