I do not know if I do not pick up on things well, if I am naïve, or if I had never been exposed to any sort of Buddhist stereotype throughout my life. In my defense, I watch little television, which is obviously a huge media outlet. Of course, in daily life, I have heard and seen things that involve Buddhist stereotypes. However, those are not easily represented in a blog. The cartoon below, shows the Buddhist stereotype I was able to find. It is important to note that in the book, Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate, Warner wrote, "...authentic Buddhism doesn’t always come packaged the way we imagine it should."
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| http://www.markstivers.com/wordpress/comics/2006-03-10%20Zen-masters.gif |
The above cartoon illustrates Warner's idea that, "...the only real time as far as Buddhism is concerned is right now." Warner goes on, describing old age and death as, "...descriptions of things as they are now when we compare things to how they used to be."
As an aside, here is another cartoon. I had a hard time choosing between the two. I enjoy cats, though the direct quote from the book, meshed more with the first cartoon.
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| http://www.oxherding.com/.a/6a00e5537c83be88340105371c5441970b-320wi |
Also, if you are interested, here is an interesting interview with the author of, Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate, Brad Warner.
In my opinion i think that the second cartoon actually does a decent job of summing up that specific element of Buddhism that everything is always changing. For the first one I realize how it fits into Buddhism but i do not quite understand the humor of the cartoon itself.
ReplyDeleteYour adorable example of your nephew clearly shows what stereotypes the new generation is exposed to. It appears that the calm, zen stereotype is still going strong. In addition, I like your first comic since it shows that Buddhism isn't always just peace and bliss.
ReplyDeleteYour nephew sounds pretty adorable. ;)
ReplyDeleteI loved the Zen Kitties cartoon, glad you included that. I appreciated your statements on the stereotype of zen being equivalent to calm, peace, and meditation. I liked that you included the quote from Warner about old age and death being a comparison to how things used to be. I would have liked to have heard more from you, though. I felt that there was probably more you could have added, more insight into your own thoughts/conceptions.:)
I liked the zen kitties.I don't really understand the cartoon about how "now" used to be better...haha which now is he referring too? thats cool the a kindergartner knew what zen was though...i am surprised I didn't think that was taught at that age.
ReplyDeleteThats pretty interesting with all of what you said, I understand exactly. No problem some people have ideas about others but until you read look and understand those preconceived notions will go away. Also whats funny is I was about to use the same picture of the two Buddhist sitting together haha
ReplyDeleteThe zen kitties is great! Aside from that, I really liked Warner's comment about how we see "...descriptions of things as they are now when we compare things to how they used to be." This had really never occurred to me, ever. Yet, I do this with everything. Like, today- I had a bad day. But what is "bad"? and how "bad" is "bad"? I can only know how bad my day was by comparing it to a day that was either better or worse. All things really are relative. Well, except for maybe math, I guess. :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed both cartoons, it definitely shows the stereotype of Buddhist living in the moment, and not thinking about the past or future, and being very peaceful and meditating. Your nephew sounds awesome and for him to have an understanding about Zen at that age is amazing!! I do not think that I was even concerned or knew anything about religion, until my mom made me go to church on Sundays.
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that you could share a personal experience about stereotyping. It's pretty crazy to me to think that children at such a young age are already exposed to such stereotypes! I also enjoyed your cartoons; the first one clearly demonstrates the idea of Buddhists living in the moment.
ReplyDeleteI like the second cartoon and the fact that you had a personal experience to share with your run in with Buddhist stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved the second cartoon, especially since I have two cats of my own, however now I will enjoy imagining my cats as Buddhist cats. I'm not sure, however, I understand what the stereotype is, because I think that it is just one of the Buddhist beliefs to believe in impermanence, not a silly assumption.
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