“Dharma-Burgers,” as I’ve said, aren’t some new fast-food sandwich — though they can be every bit as dubious as a Mc-DLT and a super-sized “New Coke.” A “Dharma-Burger” is, actually, any example of Buddhist ideas or imagery employed in the marketing or production of (usually non-Buddhist) services and consumables. Sometimes they’re okay. Sometimes, they’re beyond the pale. What do you make of this one?
That’s right. It’s the sign for a Portuguese strip club called the Buda Bar. (more…)
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.
Sleeping Beauty actress Emily Browning has told CBS News Entertainment that she dealt with possible discomfort while filming nude scenes for that film via the practice of meditation. Her words:
“I taught myself to meditate in those scenes. I wasn’t present in those scenes at all, so they didn’t really have as much effect on me.”
That’s cool that she found a way to deal, but does that sound like meditation to you? She may not have been sleeping, but she doesn’t seem to have really been awake, either.
Following up on the story of “Sex and Zen” — a 3D porn film the Horse first told you about way back in January of ’09: that film has now, according to AFP, “broken [Hong Kong's] first-day box office record previously set by Hollywood blockbuster Avatar.” Not sure how I feel about this Dharma-Burger’s massive success. But then, I like sex, I like Zen, and I hated Avatar. So hey.
Here‘s the story. Thanks to dharma-bruddha Josh Bartok for the tip. Josh is a respected teacher and a maker of Buddhist books (as an editor at Wisdom Publications). Check out his Boston-based sangha here.
“Western Buddhism has a long path to travel before becoming something that resists, rather than supplements, consumerism,” argues a new article from The Guardian. That’s sort what The Worst Horse is about, so I have no beef with that contention. The article raises some good points. Which isn’t to say it doesn’t sweep through things and oversimplify, etc, but hey, I’m short on time.*
Though not so short on time that I can’t have a good laugh. Which I definitely did.
What I don’t understand about the article — besides the headline, “Buddhism is the new opium of the people” — is the choice of accompanying imagery. The Guardian, to my mind, often does things right. So why the paper chose a cross-legged, shirtless, hair-gelled Bro-Dude to illustrate the article is beyond me.
But, again, it sure did make me laugh. That really is about the silliest thing I’ve ever seen.
* And following up: the article really does have some notable weaknesses. For example: it says that “There is no word for meditation in the early Buddhist lexicon” — which is simply untrue. As my friend Joshua Easton of Dana Wiki writes: “Sure there is: jhāna [dhyana]. Bam! That took two second on Wikipedia.” And the ending contention is so needlessly black and white in a way that The Worst Horse has been trying to undo here for some six years now: “This is the choice: genuine reform, or a tawdry golden statue in the corner of your living room.”
Pink Mountain Travels and Tours is, the company says, “the first and only travel and tour agency for/by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) in Nepal.” And as Sify News reports, Pink Mountain’s first group bookings “are not from bridal pairs or honeymooning couples but from gay Buddhists who want to follow in the Buddha’s footsteps and meditate in his birthplace.”
Many of Pink Mountain’s customers are members of Europe’s Gay Buddhist Sangh (GBS), whose charter reads that the organization seeks “to introduce the teachings of the Buddha to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) folk in such a way that we honour and respect all beings and where they are in their lives, and help them to preserve a healthy and positive self-image, particularly about their sexuality.”
For more on Pink Mountain, visit them online here.
Sri Lanka is considering banning miniskirts.
Why? Because of Akon’s 2010 video — you know, the one that included scantily clad women dancing around a pool overlooked by a big ol’ Buddha statue? (More on that here. Though, sadly, the actual video is now offline.) And so the pendulum swings…
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.
…just typically lame? See this (unfortunately typo-laden) report.
I’ll spare you the Buddhism/Booty-ism jokes. Besides, the Buddha only appears in a flash or two in this video. Is it insulting to Buddhism? Maybe. But that’s probably the least of its problems.
“Trying to find the words… without being disrespectful.” I think it’s safe to say you’d better try again, Akon. Just as I’m trying to find the words to describe the way you portray women without being disrespectful. And failing.
I like hip-hop. I like R&B. I like sex. And I’d like to think I have a sense of humor. But this is just vapid, tired, mimbo, bullshit. Buddha or not.
03/22/2010 UPDATE: Akon says he doesn’t mean to dis. Well, not Buddhism, at least.
Really. This post is not about Tiger Woods.
If you saw Real Time With Bill Maher Friday night, or read the written version of his closing “New Rules” segment — which is more what this post is about — you might think this is about Tiger Woods, just like you might have thought it was just Woods (and, “sex addiction”) that Maher was talking about. But this is about Buddhism, and it’s about how people perceive and talk about it.
I’ve been getting some guff from people for covering the Tiger Woods/Buddhism affair on Shambhala SunSpace, here, and elsewhere. People think it’s “tabloidy” to cover it, that it’s all about celebrity. My argument, though, is that if the Buddhist media isn’t covering it, other media, who don’t necessarily understand Buddhism very well, will be framing the discussion of Buddhism. And that’s what Maher did with his “New Rule.”
And, as with the whole “Tiger Woods and/or Brit Hume” discussion, the reason it’s important to talk about such things is because, if we don’t, then the mistaken ideas that are put forth by media figures (well-meaning or not) are sure to remain out there, and to then be mistaken as not-incorrect by others.
I should say: I have a lot of admiration for Maher. I feel like his politics often represent my own, I think he’s uncommonly inventive and funny, I think he’s generally well-informed, and I admire his bravery; the man comes out and says things that people often just aren’t brave enough to say. (He’s also a damned good stand-up.) But some of the things he’s now said/wrote about Buddhism — much like what Howard Stern said the other day — are just plain off, satire or not, and should be addressed.
Or at least that’s how I see it. My question is, what about you?
Here are some excerpts of what Maher said. To be fair, you should really read all of what he said, for complete context, but here’s the ending, the part I wanted to address, for reference:
[Buddhism] really is outdated in some ways — the “Life sucks, and then you die” philosophy was useful when Buddha came up with it around 500 B.C., because back then life pretty much sucked, and then you died – but now we have medicine, and plenty of food, and iPhones, and James Cameron movies – our life isn’t all about suffering anymore. And when we do suffer, instead of accepting it we try to alleviate it.
Tiger said, “Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves” makes us unhappy, which confirms something I’ve long suspected about Eastern religions: they’re a crock, too.
Craving for things outside ourselves is what makes life life — I don’t want to learn to not want, that’s what people in prison have to do. Buddhism teaches suffering is inevitable. The only thing that’s inevitable is that if you have fake boobs and hair extensions, Tiger Woods will try to fuck you.
And reincarnation? Really? If that were real, wouldn’t there be some proof by now? A raccoon spelling out in acorns, “My name is Herb Zoller and I’m an accountant.” …something?
People are always debating, is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy: it’s a religion. You’re a religion if you do something as weird as when the Buddhist monks scrutinize two-year-olds to find the reincarnation of the dude who just died, and then choose one of the toddlers as the sacred Lama: “His poop is royal!” Sorry, but thinking you can look at a babbling, barely-housebroken, uneducated being and say, “That’s our leader” doesn’t make you enlightened. It makes you a Sarah Palin supporter.
Again, as with what Stern said the other day — beyond also being the work of a professional humorist-slash-curmudgeon — there’s some fair reasoning to what Maher is saying here. On paper, from a non-Buddhist’s point of view, these are valid questions and points. But if you’re a Buddhist — and I’m not talking about being “offended” here — you just know that a lot of what Maher’s talking about is off the mark.
I won’t address it all here, but for example: whatever you do or don’t think about reincarnation, many Buddhists would agree that the more important hallmark of Buddhism is its capacity to help us to discover our capacity for re-birth, to help us wake to the way the world is in this moment, with an enhanced — less conditioned, more connected — clarity. Some Buddhists might place a strong emphasis on literal reincarnation, but all, I’d venture to say, are much more concerned with this very life we have now.
That’s a much more important point. Isn’t it?
And yes, the “medicine, food, iPhones, and James Cameron movies” that Maher holds up as examples of how we suffer less these days are very much part of many of our lives these days. Sounds like progress, for sure. But honestly, aren’t the latter two items in this list (as examples) more emblematic of how we escape from the down and dirty — but incredibly valuable — business of looking reality in the face? Don’t get me wrong; I love my gadgets and I love a good film. But how often do we dive into interfacing with these as ways to distant ourselves from others — and from the unsatisfactoriness we perceive in ourselves?
What Maher is missing, to my mind, is that what the Buddha — and so many who have learned from his example — discovered is that there is much to be gained from appreciating all of the aspects of life: the medicine, the movies, the difficult times, the quiet times. Because when the power goes out and you’re left without your iPhone or a movie-world to escape to, it’s a fine, fine thing to be able to be just as happy as you were before everything went black.
It’s not about “Life sucks and then you die.” It’s about, in the Buddha’s words, “suffering and the end of suffering.” And that’s always worth talking about.
Right?
Or am I losing my sense of humor?
Let me know. Thanks.
[By the way: as with many posts here on The Worst Horse, you'll also find this post on Shambhala SunSpace, where a bunch of other comments have come in.]
