Recently in Buddhism Category
Advertising "for a less painful world."
It's summer break time here at the BofG, which means intense pre-semester work for me but for normal folks, fun! If you have the time, I recommend hopping on a plane to Viet Nam to check out the Suoi Tien Cultural Theme Park:
Suoi Tien, or "the fairy stream," is the world's first water park devoted to Buddhism, specifically the Southeast Asian animistic form of Buddhism. The animism works well for the theme park; instead of Mickey and Daffy, Suoi Tien has chosen the Dragon, Unicorn, Tortoise, and Phoenix as its sacred animals, used thematically throughout the massive water park. Furthermore, workers in golden monkey outfits roam the park taking pictures with visitors and causing "mischief."
The park focuses on Vietnamese history, folklore, and of course on the Buddha himself. Among the parks many features are an oversized golden dragon whose mouth contains a neon haloed shrine to Buddha, avenues lined with pillars in the shape of giant elephant tusks, a swimming pool surrounded by a massive concrete facade of dragons and a giant rotating frog sculpture at the entrance. Particularly delightful are the twelve story face's of the Buddhist sages - with water slides emerging from their beards.
Thanks Michelle!
(For what may have been the first Christian water part, check out this retrospective of Jim Bakker's Heritage USA. I went on a research trip there after the Jessica Hahn scandal--it truly was a sight to behold.)
From 1953.
Pictured above is the logo for Buddha Bling, a UK fashion line worn by "socialites and celebrities." The secret to BB's success? Perhaps it's the "words of wisdom" on the back of each t-shirt--scroll down to the bottom of the BB home page for examples.
Faithful BofG contributor Jennifer Rose Emick offers this iconic charitable enterprise: a figure of Jesus composed of 30,000 Lego pieces assembled by 40 volunteers over 18 months.
This statue is part of a rich tradition of Christian Lego art. There's even an entire Christian music video composed of Lego figures. Watch carefully the multicolor Lego tao t-shirt bearing the label "sinner"!
The internet solves the mystery:
I'm sure others will have pointed this out by now, but [these graffiti pictures] refer to a book by an Austrian mysticist named Guido von List, according to Wikipedia. The book, Das Geheimnis der Runen (ie, the graffiti in the first picture) continues to influence and inspire neo-Nazis, from which they derive the phrase "Sal und Sig" (the graffiti in the second photo) which I think means "Salvation and Victory."
If you enjoy the BofG, you'll likely enjoy this story. Read the whole thing, including the photo of the letter--it's wonderful.
Via kottke.org.
More about performer and activist Kirk Read at his personal site & Madison Young:
This is the Thing is Kirk Read's multi media performance which explores his apocalyptic fantasies and sex work. Kirk's performances are always innovative, compelling and keep me captivated from the moment he walks onto stage to the moment he exits. His gentleness and honesty and ability to love and open his self up to the audience with in his stories is truly beautiful. He delves into his history as an evangelist and goes into a story regarding a protest outside of the Sex Workers Art Show. Crowds of press and mobs surrounding the venue in which they were about to perform. Evangelists were singing and lighting candles and Kirk decides to join them in song. It was really touching and beautiful.
