“This shirt is a reminder of the preciousness of being human, and the capacity we have to love ourselves, our friends, our family and our enemies with unconditional attention and kindness.”

The shirt is responsibly made and, if you order by Feb 3, you’ll have it by Valentine’s Day. (US orders only.) Nice gift, right? And for a very worthy cause. Check it out here.

What’s the story here? Well, as the IDP site says, “Wearing this tee is a reminder to stay in touch with the reality of impermanence as well as a way to support the efforts of the Interdependence Project.” To do so, click here.

If the IDP ever makes one with the same slogan in small reverse type, a la Memento, I’m all over it.

Update: after expressing some of my developing reservations about the shirt to the IDP’s Ethan Nichtern, I was invited to share said comments on the IDP blog. See this post: Sure, “This Body Will Be a Corpse”… but should I wear a shirt that says so?

Of course there’s the near-obligatory weed reference, this one on a t-shirt, via herspiral: “Here’s something we found online…yikes…”

…and another bit of faux-dharmic financial marketing, via reader Michael D:

“I love your site, and so I have a ‘Dharma-Burger’ I just found for you. Their cringe-worthy commercial came on TV yesterday, and so I looked up their site– pretty interesting way to market this!”

Other readers also sent in word of Zendough’s existence. Arielle K, for her part, describes Zendough as:

…More Dharma Burger in one place than I have ever seen:

“By offering you insight and wisdom about your credit reports and score, debt standing, and identity theft risk, the path to achieve your goals and master your finances will be smoother…  gain wisdom and confidence and proactively manage your finances… zendough.com can …help you achieve financial peace of mind. …Learn more about taking the first steps down the path to financial enlightenment at www.achievezendough.com“

Reader Jim B wrote of Zendough: “I actually had to look twice to make sure it wasn’t a parody — sadly, I think it’s real.”

…But reader Guttorm G writes with some darker stuff:

“Thanks for your wonderful site. Of course I’ve heard of socially engaged Buddhism, but it’s normally on the activists’ side. The Copenhagen police, known for their brutality, used this uniform when imprisoning activists during the climate cop15.”

[Though clearly not Buddhist, the emblem here does resemble the Wheel of Dharma.]

Guttorm goes on to write: “I was [recently] studying in Kyoto and I went to one of the 5 main Rinzai Zen temples (as well as a world heritage site), Tenryu-Ji. I’m attaching a picture of what I saw. I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry, but its certainly not what i expected”:

Laugh or cry? I don’t know. But if, somehow, Tenryu-Ji is seeing at least a little bit of money from this, that would help. …Nescafe ads at Zen temples — a sign of something terrible, or just a sign of the times?

More to come, and thanks.

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!

“this is a good thing, right? The more mainstream yoga and Buddhist imagery gets, the more peaceful the world becomes …right?”

The answer, for some, seems to be, wrong. Some samples:

Alas, I would not buy it, mainly because I am unable to see past my preconception of great dislike for the whole Old Navy/Gap/Banana Republic conglomerate.

and:

a t-shirt that cost only $14.50 is definately made by someone who is not receiving proper wage, health care, living conditions…. etc.

I don’t know if that’s quite so automatically true, but there does seem to be a reason my circle of friends refers to this particular purveyor as “Old Slavey.”

On the flip, OC author gzza writes: The downsides of Buddhist merch are as noted. The plus side is, it helps Buddhist images (and therefore Buddhism in general) penetrate the general population’s consciousness. There are still many people in the West to whom Buddhism is still extremely foreign.

Check out the dialogue here.

“While looking around for a graphic novel to buy for my one of my nephews, I spied this book on the bottom shelf.

“I had no idea what it was, but a quick Google function brought up this tidbit:

“‘We work tremendously hard to ensure that Degrassi is relevant to the lives of teens,’ said Degrassi creator Linda Schuyler, president of Epitome Pictures. That’s why being at the forefront of the English-language manga movement is incredibly exciting – it’s an art form that kids everywhere are embracing.’ Adds Christopher Jackson of Madison Press Books, DEGRASSI: EXTRA CREDIT titles will be must-haves, for fans of the show and fans of graphic fiction alike. ”

“Also,” Sam writes, “while running around shopping for the relatives (by far my most favorite thing to do!), I came across a street vendor selling his own t-shirt designs, and had to buy 2. Here are the front and back images.

“The artist’s website is http://www.iteetoo.com/”

Thanks, as always, Sam…!

“Hi Mate,

“Was looking for an ethical T-Shirt printer and came across this, which fits your site perfectly
http://www.zazzle.com/mk/welcome/first/ourpromise
Look down on the left

“Gassho, Peace.”

Thanks and same to you, Wade. …by the way, it might be worth noting that Zazzle seems to have a bit of a… um… Jesus-Burger there on that page, as well.

MacDuff kindly asks that we include this comment from her: “For the record, I’m completely against the idea of promoting Obama as a theocratic ideal, Buddhist or not.”

Fair enough, and probably not a bad idea. But then again, this wouldn’t be the first time.

Thanks MacDuff. You rock.

Here’s the first:

Konchog comments that he “knows they’re funnin’ and all,” but really: duh. And as he says about the shirt below: “I don’t even get this one.”

That makes two of us, Konchog. (Two at the very least.*)

If, for some reason, you want to order these shirts, you can do that here.
* See the comments for this post for an explanation of this shirt.

It depicts Barack Obama, the Dalai Lama, and George Bush (the “Ding Dong”), each decked out in the muu-muu that Zippy himself made famous.

You can see it (and other stuff) here.