{"id":1780,"date":"2012-11-11T19:05:16","date_gmt":"2012-11-11T19:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?p=1780"},"modified":"2014-02-13T00:09:12","modified_gmt":"2014-02-13T00:09:12","slug":"buddhism-in-pop-culture-namaste-portlandias-meditation-crush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2012\/11\/buddhism-in-pop-culture-namaste-portlandias-meditation-crush.html","title":{"rendered":"Buddhism in pop-culture? Namaste. Portlandia’s Meditation Crush."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(if this doesn\u2019t work, click here:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hulu.com\/watch\/442586\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.hulu.com\/watch\/442586<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Of course it\u2019s funny because it\u2019s true. But like many things, that truth is only partial.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Much of meditation is\u00a0<em>what you bring to it<\/em>. If you come neurotic, whiny, and selfish, then your meditations are often going to be spent dealing with these things. If you\u2019re dealing with bad relationships or past trauma, these will consume your meditations. If your own ethics are poor, this will show up in meditation (see the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2012\/11\/toward-a-good-buddhist-fundamentalism.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">video in my last post<\/a> for some discussion of this by John Peacock).<\/p>\n<p>But, just like going to the gym, or therapy, or taking certain drugs (pick your analogy), the initial difficulties are soon overcome. While new ones develop, there develops a certain momentum and confidence that allows you to keep going. It\u2019s a wonderful thing.<\/p>\n<p>And soon enough you can laugh at your (old) self for being so very _____ (fill in the blank) in the early days of meditation. And you can show kindness and compassion to people like the characters here, who are just beginning on that journey.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/83\/2012\/11\/portlandia-meditation-crush.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1784\" title=\"portlandia-meditation crush\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/83\/2012\/11\/portlandia-meditation-crush.jpg\" alt=\"portlandia-meditation crush\" width=\"502\" height=\"287\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While direct, in-person teachings are always optimal, here are a couple good links via <a href=\"http:\/\/www.audiodharma.org\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Audiodhamma.org<\/a>:<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Historical Roots of Western Vipassana<\/td>\n<td><a title=\"Gil Fronsdal\" href=\"http:\/\/www.audiodharma.org\/teacher\/1\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Gil Fronsdal<\/a><\/td>\n<td>2010-08-29<\/td>\n<td>49:22<\/td>\n<td><a title=\"Download 'Historical Roots of Western Vipassana'\" href=\"http:\/\/www.audiodharma.org\/teacher\/1\/talk\/2006\/venue\/IMC\/20100829-Gil_Fronsdal-IMC-historical_roots_of_western_vipassana.mp3\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Download<\/a> <a title=\"Stream Audio of 'Historical Roots of Western Vipassana'\" href=\"http:\/\/www.audiodharma.org\/talks\/audio_player\/2006.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Stream<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Guided Vipassana Meditation<\/td>\n<td><a title=\"Daniel Bowling\" href=\"http:\/\/www.audiodharma.org\/teacher\/22\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Daniel Bowling<\/a><\/td>\n<td>2008-12-04<\/td>\n<td>29:25<\/td>\n<td><a title=\"Download 'Guided Vipassana Meditation'\" href=\"http:\/\/www.audiodharma.org\/teacher\/22\/talk\/1424\/venue\/IMC\/20081204-Daniel_Bowling-IMC-guided_vipassana_meditation.mp3\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Download<\/a> <a title=\"Stream Audio of 'Guided Vipassana Meditation'\" href=\"http:\/\/www.audiodharma.org\/talks\/audio_player\/1424.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Stream<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The popular sitcom\u00a0Portlandia\u00a0has released a sneak-peek into next season, including this humorous clip showing characters portrayed by \u00a0Fred Armisen\u00a0and\u00a0Carrie Brownstein\u00a0at what is presumably their first time at\u00a0Vipassana\u00a0meditation. (if this doesn\u2019t work, click here:\u00a0http:\/\/www.hulu.com\/watch\/442586) Of course it\u2019s funny because it\u2019s true. But like many things, that truth is only partial. Much of meditation is\u00a0what you bring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,23,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhism","category-humor","category-video"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Buddhism in pop-culture? Namaste. Portlandia's Meditation Crush.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The popular sitcom\u00a0Portlandia\u00a0has released a sneak-peek into next season, including this humorous clip showing characters portrayed by \u00a0Fred\" \/>\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.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2012\/11\/buddhism-in-pop-culture-namaste-portlandias-meditation-crush.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Buddhism in pop-culture? Namaste. 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