If you’re a Buddhist, the idea that Karma = Santa Claus might seem like a pretty false analogy. And yet Scientific American (!) blogger John Horgan writes that,

Buddhism, at least in its traditional forms, is functionally theistic, even if it doesn’t invoke a supreme deity. The doctrines of karma and reincarnation imply the existence of some sort of cosmic moral judge who, like Santa Claus, tallies up our naughtiness and niceness before rewarding us with nirvana or rebirth as a cockroach.

I did not know that. Huh. Huzzah, Science!

Horgan writes lots of other things, too. I wonder what you’ll think of them.

Did you know Bugs Bunny traveled to Tibet? It’s true, NYC’s Rubin Museum of Art tells us by way of its Facebook feed, providing this classic comic book cover as proof…

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!

In addition to an extensive (and really good) interview with the Dalai Lama, the new (July 21, 2011) issue of Rolling Stone features Larry David on the cover. So what’s the “Buddhist connection” there? It’s slight, but check the headline:

“The Neurotic Zen of Larry David.” (Preview the article here.)

…Zen, Zen, Zen, Zen, Zen! Like it or not, it’s a “sell” word. (Though, as someone who works as a professional copywriter, you’ll never see me pulling one of these.)

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]

Love this shot of the Dalai Lama, getting in some treadmill time…

…from the new (Oct 4, 2010) issue of the New Yorker.

Here, via TIME. Enjoy.

What on Earth does that mean, you might ask?

Don’t worry — Richard Corliss, who wrote that headline for TIME, doesn’t seem to know either.

So, this is the new issue of the National Review, depicting Sonia Sotomayor on its cover as a pseudo-cartoon Buddha.

Um… why?

And the Horse is not the only one asking. See here. And here.

Do the Old Boys at the NR not know the difference between an Hispanic and an Asian? Or is this like the treatment that Obama’s gotten in the past? (One example, here.)

Either way… No one’s put her on such a pedestal. It’s just weird.

Sheesh.

As a certifiable MAD magazine nut — I took the office tour back when they were at 485 “MADison” Avenue, and even had a letter published in issue # 315 — I was thrilled to see this painting, from a new exhibition in Atlanta called “The Mad Generation.” Said exhibition is a tribute to the art and artists of MAD, something that I personally think couldn’t ever happen enough.

The painting is by Vinnie Blanco, and is called “The Enlightened Fool.”

For more details and to inquire about ordering it — if I don’t beat you to it — visit the exhibition’s website, here.

From Cuernavaca, Mexico, comes this new Dharma-Burger from repeat contributor Luz, who writes:

“Hello my dear Horses!

“Here’s a Dharma-burger scanned from a Mexican magazine. I couldn’t find this kind of image in the product’s website, it seems they only use this approach for printed and TV ads.

“The product has been around for a couple of years. It is an herbal-based sleep and stress aid, produced by a mainstream lab. And yes, the guy is intended to resemble a Tibetan monk, and the product’s name is pronounced ‘dalai’ in Spanish, so the connection with His Holiness seems to be immediate, or at least that is what the marketing wizards pretend.
Even the package’s colors kind of resemble an actual monk’s robes. The model’s pose, however, is pure Dharma-burger material.

“Too bad the so-called sleep aid does not even work! (At least not for me).”

That is too bad, Luz. Get some rest, and thanks!