Update: The trailer for Samsara, detailed below, is now online via iTunes. Click here to watch it.
This is going to be good.
If you recall director Ron Fricke’s fantastic movie, Baraka, you’ll almost certainly want to see this, his new “guided meditation on the cycle of birth death and rebirth.” (more…)
Huge thanks to the eagle-eyed Sam DeWitt for giving me the heads-up about Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, a band which, according to Pitchfork, “blends philosophies of Buddhism, meditation, and mantra with the band’s love of extreme sounds like black metal, industrial, and noise. Their name, for example, pins a reference to the Buddhist deity Yamantaka with a song title from doom metal band Sleep’s Dopesmoker.” [A true classic, sez the Horse. And so far, YT//ST seems to be very much my cuppa tea, too.]
You can listen to the band’s whole new LP online here.
There’s a video, too:
YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN – COUNTING TRACK from LZKA on Vimeo.
More from Pitchfork:
Pitchfork: What‘s the narrative behind your new rock opera?
Alaska B: We’re Buddhists, so it’s about the Buddhist concept of struggle to enlightenment. The sound started out trying to approximate the energy of rock’n'roll — that strong psychic energy that’s been carried since the 50s. We had this idea that when you see Tantric Buddhists, it’s people making a lot of noise together; it’s this long journey where you start in one place and don’t know exactly where you end. We were trying to imagine the same vibe but in the rock’n'roll context– replacing those sounds with our sounds.
Ruby Kato Attwood: Our aim when we perform is to create an empty space– a sacred space– compared to what’s called the Samsaric world, which is ever-changing and full of chaos.
Check out the full Pitchfork piece, which has LOTS more to it, here. It also includes online streams of three songs. Whaddya think?
I often think about the luck I’ve had in getting to speak to the comedian, Mike DeStefano. Mike had been around a long time, then went on NBC’s Last Comic Standing — and almost won.
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.)
There’s been lots made of the Steve Jobs/Buddhism connection. Thanks to eagle-eyed friend and reader Sam DeWitt for sending on this latest example. Sam writes:
“Walter Isaacson, author of the new biography Steve Jobs, was interviewed on The Daily Show. He talks about Steve Job’s ‘Zen stare,’ in which he would not blink when staring down an opponent — or something like that. Buddhism is also mentioned a few times in the interview, and it is just all-around fun. (It is The Daily Show after all).”
See what Sam is talking about, watch here. (In Canada? Then go here, and watch the third segment of October 25th’s show.) Thanks as always, Sam!
Big thanks to the mighty Sam DeWitt for sending on this “Pop Heart Sutra” after finding it on the YouTubes.
(The little dude haunting around in the background is my favorite part. That, or maybe the key change. Though when the little dude walks into the foreground, a la Fred Armisen’s David Paterson impression, that’s pretty sweet too.)
The mighty Sam DeWitt writes to send this one on:
I saw a link for Daft Punk’s music video “Derezzed“, which comes from the new version of Tron (“Tron Legacy”), and also looked at one of the new trailers and saw a few overtly Buddhist references.
Interesting (well, maybe…), in that Jeff Bridges maintains a practice and in a recent interview said that he talked with the producers about perhaps bringing some Buddhist ideas to the project. So here is a frame from the music video with someone in full lotus, then 2 frames of Jeff Bridges’ character, one in a kneeling meditation pose, then a close-up of him rising where they seem to have made certain that you can catch his mala beads.
You have the true Dharma/Eagle Eye, Sam. Thanks for sending!
Thanks to my friend Sam DeWitt, who sent news of this video clip with the message “Here is Josh Korda (our teacher at NYC Dharma Punx) interviewed on CBS Doc Dot Com. America will never be the same!”
CBS’s own caption for the clip: “Dharma Punx in New York City mixes the tradition of Buddhism with the ideology of punk rock. Dr. Jon LaPook talks with teacher Josh Korda about how the seemingly different connect with the help of meditation.” Check out the video, after the jump. (more…)
Thanks to the eagle-eyed Sam DeWitt for sending this one on:
“[This is] from the trailer for Eat Pray Love, the book version of which I have not read. But lots of my friends have and they all really loved it, so lets hope it is spreading a good counter-message to the chaos and violence which seems so prevalent in our society at times.”
Sam also included a link to the film’s trailer.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s novel, now adapted to be a film, sure has made its cultural impact, even spawning a couple of Dharma-Burgers. As we said before, let’s hope she has a sense of humor. (She seems to like to laugh, if this Shambhala Sun Audio interview is any indication.)
The unstoppable Sam DeWitt writes to let fellow Worst Horses know:
“I have started a Dharma Punx NYC podcast site. Just getting it up now, but there are several talks, all by our teacher Josh Korda, up now.”
Be sure and check it out, and thanks as always Sam!
HUGE thanks to the unstoppable Sam DeWitt for pointing this one out. It may be a year old, but man is it gorgeous, and as Sam says, damn well done.
CRISIS IN BURMA from Scott Denton on Vimeo.
