{"id":2022,"date":"2006-09-14T07:26:00","date_gmt":"2006-09-14T07:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2006\/09\/cool-buddhism\/"},"modified":"2011-11-01T15:16:25","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T19:16:25","slug":"cool-buddhism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2006\/09\/cool-buddhism.html","title":{"rendered":"Cool Buddhism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I recall a couple of years ago when I shaved my head for a Zen retreat where an ordination was going to take place. After the retreat while walking down the hall at the Unitarian Society where I serve, one of the late adolescents did a nicely understated doubletake then said, \u201cHey, James, you almost look cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that seemed to be the deal on my coolness. Almost, but never quite\u2026<\/p>\n

Until, that is, I found the Worst Horse<\/a>. This has to be the ultimate source of Buddhist<\/a> cool.<\/p>\n

The Worst Horse<\/em> is where I learned that a comic book I really like is at the heart of cool. Herge\u2019s Tintin in Tibet<\/a> had been voted the greatest French language graphic novel ever. Or that it has been given the Dalai Lama\u2019s \u201cTruth of Light\u201d award. Or, how it has become a bit of a political football when the Chinese attempted to publish a Chinese language edition re-titling it Tintin in China\u2019s Tibet<\/em>. Fortunately, this small (but one of tens of thousands, small and large) part of China\u2019s Tibetan genocide* project was blocked by Herge\u2019s estate.<\/p>\n

Anyway, want a peek into Buddhist cool?<\/p>\n

You have a pointer.<\/p>\n

* A term never to be used lightly. I\u2019ll explore this in greater depth at some future date.<\/p>\n

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I recall a couple of years ago when I shaved my head for a Zen retreat where an ordination was going to take place. After the retreat while walking down the hall at the Unitarian Society where I serve, one of the late adolescents did a nicely understated doubletake then said, \u201cHey, James, you almost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nCool Buddhism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I recall a couple of years ago when I shaved my head for a Zen retreat where an ordination was going to take place. 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