Photp by Kristin Dos Santos (w/permission)

Thanks to friend Konchog Norbu for the heads-up on this one — it’s hardly news, but it’s kinda cool when celebs go public with their interest in dharma. Seems David Duchovny (of Californication, X-Files, and Larry Sanders-crush fame) just did a retreat at what sounds to be Zen Mountain Monastery, and he’s told Perez Hilton’s pet-gossip site (yes, you read that right) TeddyHilton.com about the experience.

Again, not news, but at least Duchovny’s not looking for star treatment. “I’m a beginner,” he says, “I’ve only been meditating for a little while. You pay a fee to go for this weekend and what I didn’t know is that even though you pay a fee they put you to work immediately. You go there and first you bus some tables after you eat and they had me working in the garden everyday for an hour-and-a-half. It was fun, I was shoveling horse shit out there. You pay money and then you shovel horse shit!”

Zen, life…. Sounds like Duchovny is getting the basic gist of it.

More here.

I always wondered what happened to those guys. Well, now I have some answers, thanks to Marc Maron and the newest installation of his fantastic comedy-insider podcast, WTF, which features non-comedian Dr. Stephen Dansiger – psychotherapist, happy family man, and lifetime musician who’s played with some great bands, including Pianosaurus. So: why is this relevant to this blog? Well, Dansiger is also a Zen meditator now. (He’s friends, too, with Josh Korda of Dharma Punx.) And he talks about all of this, and how he’s gotten to the other side of some seriously rough times, on WTF. Click here to listen online. Or download via iTunes.

Warning: if you’re not comfortable with the word that the “F” in “WTF” represents, this won’t be easy listening for you. But it’s a good listen nonetheless.

“Basically,” Konchog told me, “it cited some guy saying that Jobs’ ‘Buddhist beliefs’ led him to dabble in kooky alternative treatments for his illness, thus hastening his demise.”

He was right to be dubious of the story. The story’s source was no “Harvard Report” but instead “Dr. Ramzi Amri, a researcher at Harvard Medical School.” The story itself is brought to you by the Christian Post, and titled “Steve Jobs Died Early as His Buddhist Beliefs Shunned Conventional Cancer Treatment. An excerpt:

According to a 2008 CNN Money article, Jobs decided to employ alternative methods to treat his pancreatic cancer, hoping to avoid the operation through a special diet.

These alternate methods were said to be an influence of Jobs’ Buddhist beliefs.

(The article goes on to say that Amri identifed this to be his personal opinion.)

For more (and, more legitimate) coverage of Jobs and his Buddhist connections, see our previous coverage, and especially Steve Silberman’s piece, “What Kind of Buddhist was Steve Jobs, Really?”

Sure, they caused Jobs to “think different.” But so did Zen Buddhism. But you don’t hear Maher, who made Religiulous, saying anything about that. And, I’ll wager, won’t. …Anyway, watch below.

“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!

Barn Owl from auraloptic on Vimeo.

Another act that played SFZC was Date Palms. Click here for that.

“Calm your mind,” reads the copy. They even dared to put the little “TM” next to the product name. Sorry, Zazen Sleep Formula, I think you’re the ones infringing here.

Another day, another lazy co-optation of Buddhism. I’m going to pass out from boredom just thinking about it.

Hey, that stuff really works!

“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.)

Zen

But goodness knows, in many other cases shown here on the Horse, “Zen” sells! Just look at all the “Zen” you can buy!

For real.