Back story, etc, via Gawker.

Trailer here.

Yes, the “Don’t Tread on Me”-government-hating government worker did go to a meditation center, in a rare moment of deference to his health-nut pseudo-boss Chris (Rob Lowe), who sometimes goes in for spiritual or even New Agey stuff. But Ron’s only along to get chummy enough with Chris that he can keep his plum job of being paid to do as little as possible.

So what did Ron do in there if he wasn’t meditating? Chris may think that a post-sit Ron “radiates mindfulness” but as Ron himself puts it:

All told, we were in there about six hours. And no, I was not meditating. I just stood there quietly breathing. There were no thoughts in my head whatsoever; my mind was blank.* I don’t know what those crackpots [in there] were doing.

Of course, Ron has been warned. When he asks Anne (Rashida Jones) what to expect from meditation, she answers right away: “It’s crazy boring, it lasts forever, you’re going to wish you were dead.”

Chris (Rob Lowe) meditates; Ron prefers to stand

When the obsessively individualistic Ron tells us that meditation does nothing for him, there’s reason to believe him. But then, the important thing is that he’s tried it. Even if he didn’t get anything out of it. The enthusiastic and impulsive (and often wrong) Chris agrees: Ron’s willingness to try meditation (even if he tells us that he hasn’t tried it) is impressive. He assures Ron that his plum-job security will be extended.

Later — there are plenty more meditation jokes in the episode, by the way, and other storylines, too — Ron does revisit meditation, even bringing it into the workplace… but just as a cover for work avoidance.

So maybe Ron Swanson and meditation weren’t a natural pair. Again: The important thing is that he tried it — even if he didn’t get anything out of it.

And even if he really did.

* Note: Yes, some of that ironic stuff Ron is saying about meditation, like about having a blank mind, etc, isn’t quite representative of many meditation experiences, not least Buddhist meditation experiences. And so it could be said that some of the jokes, which are about the fact that Ron actually was meditating, when he thinks he wasn’t, don’t totally work. But then, it’s Nick Offerman delivering the jokes, so it all balances out.  

Related: Watch Steven Colbert challenge the Dalai Lama in a competition to be the more influential of TIME’s “100 Most Influential List”

Does she stick with it? Well… maybe.

But that’s almost beside the point. Why? Well… why not read about the whole episode in this writeup I’ve just published on Shambhala SunSpace?

Here’s the story. 

Niiice. And why not? The Dude has many Buddhist fans. Are you among them? I am.

(Hat tip to the mighty Ben Hutchison.)

Learn more about both via this Metro story about comedy and spirituality and when they do and don’t mix so well.

PS: It at least has to be better than “Rude Buddha.”

Don’t know who to credit, but it wasn’t me!

That’s right. It’s the sign for a Portuguese strip club called the Buda Bar. It came to my attention by way of Bruno Fernandes, who knows a thing or two about deftly blending Buddhist thought with modern approaches; Bruno is the vocalist and lyricist for the excellent metal band, The Firstborn, whose lyrical content is very much informed by Bruno’s Buddhist practice. (I’ve covered The Firstborn, who describe their music as “Extreme Metal with Oriental influences and a concept dealing with Buddhist philosophy” a few times before on The Worst Horse and in the Shambhala Sun magazine, too.)

Bruno sent me the above photo with a note: “Recently opened, right next door to our rehearsal room… Talk about karma!” So I asked him if it really is a strip club, and he answered, “That and much more, or so I’m told… I’ve never gone inside so I don’t know if there’s some sort of Buddhist theme in regards to interior design and decoration, but I can assure you the people don’t seem to come out enlightened, only lighter on their wallets!”

Like Bruno, I try to have a sense of humor about these things. Still, I’m left wondering: Why would they do this? It’s not even that it’s offensive — which, to many, it certainly is — it’s more that there’s nothing “sexy” about this at all. Just who are they trying to attract with this unusual signage?

And how do you react when you see this kind of thing?

(PS: The Firstborn have a new album coming out, called “Lions Among Men.” Check them out online, here.)

I got to speak to him a couple of times, one of which was for an audio interview for Shambhala SunSpace. It’s good stuff and I do recommend you checking it out. But if you really want a concise taste of who Mike was, check out this new piece, “Uneasy Rider,” culled from the WTF Podcast for “These American Lives,” a NYT piece curated by Ira Glass about people who died in 2011.

Mike was hilarious, and a beautiful, fearless guy.

(Thanks to the great Sam DeWitt for the heads-up on this one.)