Really? (I wonder if you can play it if you use it as an adjective, like so many marketers do — “I totally beat all of my Scrabble opponents, because I get all zen in my approach.”)

Swedish death metal band Inevitable End has made “Zen,” a new track from their forthcoming album The Oculus (pictured here), available for you to hear. Click here to listen to it via Noisecreep.com.

The band tells Noisecreep that the song is about being “about finding truth by looking within one’s self.”

Cool, but you may find, as I did, that you’ll have to take their word for it.

Turns out San Francisco Zen Center is running an event called The Worst Horse. Being that the name of this site comes from Suzuki Roshi’s book (as explained here), seems only fair. ; )

See details on the May 27 event, which features readings and performances by Rhodessa Jones, Bucky Sinister, Ali Liebegott, and Philip Huang, and a screening of the film, “Dream of the Wild Horses” here.

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.

How do you render something so decidedly “downmarket” as Costco appealing to twenty-first-century, “mind/body/spirit”-friendly Yuppies like (presumably) me? Easy: just throw a little “Zen” in there.

CNN.com understands this, selling one writer’s gushing “I love Costco” screed (actually titled “Bulking Up at Costco”; yecch) in its Featured box today with this highlighted tease:

And now, that Same Old Question: What does this have to do with “Zen”? The answer, of course, is: Not A Danged Thing.

Perhaps the most striking contrast with Zen here — which emphasizes the concept of taking and eating “just enough” in its formal and beautiful ritualized meal ceremony, oryoki — is found at the end of the CNN article: “I’m full and my shopping cart is full. Mission accomplished.”

Here’s a link to the piece, in case you want to bulk-shop your way to enlightenment or what have you.

CBS News online actually found a way today to cover the book — and classic Dharma-Burger — The Zen of Farting.

Well, not “Zen” as in Zen Buddhism, but as in that co-opted, “relaxy” meaning. But hey, at least it’s for a worthy cause. KETV in Omaha reports:

The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that more than 760,000 former service members have been diagnosed with [tinnitus, which] is typically grounds for a partial disability payment. A small device called Zen is being used to help. Through a hearing aid, patients listen to soothing music.

More, with video here.

The Hollywood Reporter reviews the new film Abraxas — which just played the Sundance festival. Here’s the opening paragraph:

The idea of a Buddhist monk who is a punk rocker seems impossibly incongruous, and that’s how his parishioners in a small Japanese town feel about it. But Jonen is no ordinary monk. He is a sensitive and troubled soul trying to silence the noise within. Abraxas, Naoki Kato’s exquisitely crafted debut feature, is that rare spiritual film that is funny and moving without being stuffy. Years ago, it would have been the kind of film that played well in art houses, but today, like Jonen, it will have to search to find its place.

Despite the Reporter‘s “Punk Rock Meets Buddhism” headline, punk and Buddhism are actually pretty well acquainted. But that’s cool. Anyway, read the whole review here. And check out the trailer at Sweeping Zen.

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 tabloids are abuzz with the news that the young Hollywood star Zac Efron is into “ZEN.”

Notice the scare-quotes there? That’s because Efron’s not into the practice of Zen meditation, or anything to do with Buddhism, but rather, ZEN Foods. (Zen here stands for “Zero Effort Nutrition.”) According to The Daily Mail: “The 23-year-old star has been pictured carrying a Z.E.N.  Foods cooler bag as he left a Hollywood studio. Z.E.N. is a diet delivery service that helps stars eat calorie-controlled meals.”

And according to the Z.E.N. Foods website, Vanessa Hudgens (actress and supposed former flame of Zac) is into the diet, too.

Hey, why make Right Effort,* when you can instead make Zero Effort — and indulge in a big, heaping Dharma-Burger while you’re at it?

(*Link opens up a Dhamma talk on Right Effort by teacher and friend of the Horse Thanissaro Bhikkhu.)