{"id":715,"date":"2009-07-22T07:33:59","date_gmt":"2009-07-22T07:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onecity\/2009\/07\/buddhism-is-the-greatest-religion-in-the-world-if-it-was-a-religion.html"},"modified":"2009-07-22T07:33:59","modified_gmt":"2009-07-22T07:33:59","slug":"buddhism-is-the-greatest-religion-in-the-world-if-it-was-a-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/07\/buddhism-is-the-greatest-religion-in-the-world-if-it-was-a-religion.html","title":{"rendered":"Buddhism is The Greatest Religion in the World, If It Was A Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"

My post Freedom From Religion: Buddhism Wins Best Religion in the World Award<\/a> last week set off quite a stir around these here ‘nets. Over at Paramita<\/a> they offer to send an 11 month old girl to pick up the award.  Shambhala Sun<\/a> had a few things to say too. Today In Religion<\/a> weighed in, as did Thailand’s Thaivisa site<\/a>, which had the best comment thread. And finally Pipal Tree<\/a> ran the story from Singapore.  <\/p>\n

Either way, if it was a reliigon Buddhism would be the best religion in the world perhaps precisely because it lacks some of the key elements that make it a relgion (I’m speaking here of approaching it as a philosophy of life<\/a>, rather than the codified and cemented bureacuracy that it has become in some quarters).  Like practicing Jesus’s true teaching about living without glopping on all the rules and constrictions that basically say “practice true goodness or else”, Buddhism’s core teachings are just totally freakin’ awesome and are more a study of self than a giving up to a higher power.<\/p>\n

Speaking of giving up to a higher power, this past week I’ve developed a healthy new habit that I wanted to share. <\/p>\n

\"sitdownshutup.jpg\"<\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n


\n
My new habit? I’ve been reading as much of Jonathan Mead’s writing over at Illuminated Mind<\/a>
\nas possible.  Check out Jonathan’s story at “my story” on his about
\npage for one of the most intimate descriptions I’ve ever read online
\nabout how he came to a path of compassionate personal transformation. 
\nAs if on cue, Jonathan’s  article from yesterday The Death of Becoming Something <\/a>is a perfect linke from a Buddhist blog. Admission: I kind of have a crush on Jonathan’s brain and his writing.<\/p>\n

Speaking
\nof brain crushes, another brain crush that I’ve been wanting to share
\nfor a few months is on former monster movie maker, punk rocker, and
\nordained Zen Monk Brad Warner<\/a>. Brad’s book Hardcore Zen<\/a>
\nwas the first thing I’d ever read that made me think “hey wait a minute
\nthis Buddhist business IS relevant to young freaks like me.”   Brad’s
\nsecond book Sit Down and Shut Up: Punk Rock Commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex, Death, and Dogen’s Treasury of the Right Dharma Eye<\/a>
\nwas just as awesome full of holy-crapifying ideas. I’ve had the
\npleasure of hearing Brad speak at the Interdependence Project twice
\nnow; one of those times actually makes it into a chunk of his new book Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate<\/a>.  
\nI read the book while on a trip with my father in the Grand Canyon,
\ntotally disconnected from electricity, phones, internets, and
\ntelevision – and all other people save those on the trip with us. <\/p>\n

His hilarious story about his relationship with a cat involving fellow IDP blogger Ellen and his shoutout to the Interdependence Project<\/a>
\nmid-way through the book (of his gigs in NYC he says “The best was
\ndefinitely my talk at the Interdependence Project” and goes on to say a
\nfew very nice things about us and our communal practice) was really odd
\nto read while isolated in the Grand Canyon with my father Cliff (himself a fantastic nature photographer<\/a>) yet gave me this nice,
\nunexpected sense of connection to things back home.<\/p>\n

Brad’s
\nexcruciatingly intimiate and honest description of how his Zen practice
\nactually worked when his job, career, and family were disintegrating
\naround him is funny, touching, and helpful to the max.  If you want to
\nhear the real deal of what it means to put practice into action when
\nfaced with big neon displays of impermanence, check out the book. In
\nfact, I’d suggest reading all three of his books in order because you
\nwill literally see how his practice, and his thinking about and
\napplication of his practice, evolve before your eyes.<\/p>\n

I quote at
\nlength here from Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate:<\/p>\n

“The universe is yours, and all you want to do with
\nit is write your name in spray paint on the wall.  You’re like a dog
\npissing on a fence. No one who sees the mark you left behind on the
\nworld could give a shit. You’re just exactly like me.<\/p>\n

But sit
\nquietly, and even a piece of gibbon’s dung like you can see it.  
\nThere’s no one in the universe but you.  You spread all the way out
\npast the farthest galaxies, and that’s just the beginning. Your
\nthoughts are all stupid. Your perceptions are completely wrong. There’s
\nnowhere you can be but here. There’s nothing you can know that’s worth
\nknowing. You have no future or past, yet you’ll always be here. And
\nbecause of this you are God’s eyes and ears on this world. You are God
\nhimself.<\/p>\n

So pay a little attention, butt-wipe.”<\/p>\n

For another refreshingly honest look at meditation practice, check out Julia May Jones article HeyJhana HoJhana<\/a> here at our blog. Hilarious awesome and full of insight as usual. <\/p>\n

Finally a bit of self-promotion which I won’t bother dignifying
\nwith the term “shameless”.  Over at my own site I’ve got a little piece
\ncalled Five Reasons to Turn off the Internet<\/a> that has been brewing around in my brain since my trip to the canyon.<\/p>\n

My biggest brain\/talent\/body crush ever happens to be performing in NYC this weekend and lucky for me he is also my boyfriend. If you want to hear the kind of amazing music you might make if you
\nlived with someone with a daily meditation practice,  check out Tater’s new project Allies<\/a>
\n(how’s that for a clever way to work in more promotion?)  Allies is
\ndancey, fun, occassionally dark and always luxurious.  He’ll be DJ’ing
\nItalo and Freestyle and making the debut Allies performance this
\nSaturday night July 25 at The Hose<\/a> so if you happen to be in East Village NYC check it out, I’ll be there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My post Freedom From Religion: Buddhism Wins Best Religion in the World Award last week set off quite a stir around these here ‘nets. Over at Paramita they offer to send an 11 month old girl to pick up the award.  Shambhala Sun had a few things to say too. Today In Religion weighed in,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-and-media","category-buddhism","category-talking-dharma"],"yoast_head":"\nBuddhism is The Greatest Religion in the World, If It Was A Religion - One City<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/07\/buddhism-is-the-greatest-religion-in-the-world-if-it-was-a-religion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Buddhism is The Greatest Religion in the World, If It Was A Religion - One City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My post Freedom From Religion: Buddhism Wins Best Religion in the World Award last week set off quite a stir around these here ‘nets. 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