Starting Off Lightly

Thought I'd begin a real return to blogging with some interesting tidbits.

First off, did you know that k.d. lang is Buddhist? I've known for quite a while, but it's only recently that I've seen a lot of press on the matter. As a matter of fact, Shambala Sun has a recent (03/08) interview with her:

Melvin McLeod: What type of Buddhism do you practice?

k.d.lang: About eight years ago I met a teacher here in Los Angeles from the Nyingma lineage of Tibet, Lama Chödak Gyatso Nubpa. The great teacher Chagdud Tulku asked him to come here and work on stabilizing dharma in the West. Lama Gyatso quickly became my teacher. I have been practicing and studying with him since.

She and her partner (Jamie Price) are on the board of directors of Ari Bödh, the American Foundation for Tibetan Cultural Preservation. Also amongst their small sangha's current projects is "a children’s camp called Tools for Peace."

(Please note - image is from her website - no infringement is intended, but it seemed highly appropriate for the entry.)

Also, I was reading in last month's Shambala Sun that the 17th Karmapa* has a love of comic books, especially the X-men:

In your talk earlier today, you mentioned that you used to read X-Men and other comics. Is that something you still do?

I would continue reading comic books, but not many people give them to me anymore! When I was young, all kinds of people would give me comic books, but now they don't. As you know, they made a movie of the X-Men, and I enjoyed that very much. When I went to Universal Studios, I thought about buying some X-Men comics while I was there. But it was very crowded and I thought, "Well, maybe it wouldn't be so appropriate for an adult to purchase such things."

I am totally thinking about putting back a stash of comic books to send to him, when I can. ^_^

* I am not going to weigh in on this, but there is some controversy as to who the 17th Karmapa is - see this article for more. I see no reason, regardless of one's position on this controversy, to not refer to him by his appropriate title.

And last, but not least, via Venerable Konchog of Dreaming of Danzan Ravjaa, comes a fun invitation to provide a caption to this fab image:


You know you wanna. Rev. Danny Fisher has weighed in already. ^_- Drop by and weigh in!