Humor

Sometimes a comic strip says more in a few panels than volumes of philosophy or religiosity. Thanks, Pearls Before Swine.

Here's a good cartoon from the Jesus and Mo web site. Yeah, what if the truth isn't factual?  Well, then it isn't true. Not that this would bother religious believers, because their "truth" is whatever they want it to be, whatever their faith commands.  Which doesn't make it true, of course. Doesn't something have to be factual to be true? It seems obvious that this is the case with objective reality, where facts are the common ground that enable different people to understand the same phenomenon. Yet it also appears that even subjective reality, such as an emotion or dream, also…

After many years of searching for wisdom in all the wrong places -- holy books, teachings of gurus, new age'y claptrap -- I've found a better wellspring of inspiration. The Sunday comics.  Though this "Pearls Before Swine" strip refers to the futility of worldly pursuits where the carrot of fulfillment is always just out of reach, it points equally at religious promises that are continually around the corner: salvation, enlightenment, bliss. Benny the Beach Bum has seen through all that. (click to enlarge) This comic strip reminds me of an anecdote I related in a 2006 blog post, "Paving over…

YES! In under five minutes this guy does a great job at showing up the ridiculousness of guru worship through the powerful medium of mockery. I learned about the video from a Church of the Churchless commenter. Thanks. Great stuff.  

Here's another approach to guided meditation to complement my previous post on this subject. You really can't go wrong by embracing the core message of this 2 1/2 minute You Tube video: Fuck that.   

I'm both ashamed and proud of how closely this Dilbert comic in last Sunday's paper reminded me of me. Not totally so, but pretty damn close. (click to enlarge)

I'm a big fan of getting my cosmic inspiration from the comic pages and Comedy Central. This week has been a bonanza in that regard.  Here's what today's Pearls Before Swine had to say about the meaning of existence. In three panels, it nicely encapsulated the human condition. (click to enlarge) Even more profound was the most recent South Park episode, "Grounded Vindaloop." It blew my mind, and I wasn't even under the influence of any psychoactive or hallucinogenic substances.  If you watch the episode after taking LSD, I predict that instant enlightenment will be yours. Or insanity. Or both. …

Back in 2010 I put up a post called "Non-dual cartoons point way to enlightenment (or not)." It started off with... One of the favorite people crazed cartoon characters I follow on Twitter is MonkMojo. I've learned a lot about non-dualism and Zen from reading his clever tweets. Saying that, of course, means that I haven't learned a thing. But who gives a shit? A smile is close to enlightenment, which is one of the idiotic cliches that MonkMojo enjoys demolishing. Here's some sample MonkMojo tweets. (RT means a re-tweet; what follows the || is MonkMojo's add-on). RT @Yojinbo: wasn't impressed w/ the response I got…

Here's something questionably/ definitely/ absolutely not (take your choice) spiritually significant. Click on segment 1. Listen. Smile. Laugh. Learn. Loved the ending. And comic Klein's attitude. More and more, I think comics are the wisest people on Earth. In addition to the funniest. Age old moral here: be yourself. Not the person you believe either you or someone else wants you to be. Bonus extra visual addition: if you listen to Klein's podcast and are intrigued by her mention of Blake Lively, here's a photo. (Klein speaks the truth.) Double bonus extra visual addition: if you listen to Klein's podcast…

Once in a while I find some Christian beliefs that I can heartily agree with. Such as this excerpt from Sharon Hodde Miller's "How 'Modest is Hottest' is Hurting Christian Women." Second, we must affirm the value of the female body. The value or meaning of a woman's body is not the reason for modesty. Women's bodies are not inherently distracting or tempting. On the contrary, women's bodies glorify God. Dare I say that a woman's breasts, hips, bottom, and lips all proclaim the glory of the Lord! Each womanly part honors Him. He created the female body, and it is…

There's really nothing to say about this awesome (or ass-some) miracle: an obvious image of Jesus appearing in, or as, a dog's butthole. A picture is worth more than any amount of words I could utter in praise of Almighty Dog. (click to enlargenfy) This explains why dogs spend so much time with their noses up each other's asses. They're looking for Jesus!

Being an admirer of the American comedian Louis C.K., naturally I was attracted to the title of a Yoga Brains post I came across: "The Yoga of Louis C.K." It's worth a read. Excerpt: With that in mind, the below clip, which ended comedian Louis C.K.’s HBO special ‘Oh My God,’ while hilariously funny (and worth watching on those merits alone), points to the deep rift we humans suffer on a daily basis: the distance between what we think and how we, at least sometimes, act. Or, at the very least, the conflicting chorus of voices that consistently ring out…

Today's Portland Oregonian has a religiously-themed story that I actually read: "Four-Footed Ministers program employs a canine to connect to the divine." As far as Portland resident Jerilyn Felton is concerned, it’s no coincidence that the word “dog” is “God” spelled backwards. Felton coordinates a dog-ministry program called the Four-Footed Ministers Pastoral-Care Program at Maryville Nursing Home in Beaverton.  She designed the program while pursuing her doctor of ministry degree at George Fox Evangelical Seminary. Felton believes that the presence of dogs can help foster a connection to the divine. The physical connections the residents make by interacting with the animal…

I'm not a big fan of rigid commandments. So when I came across "Ten Things that are Bad for Us that Can be Good for You if Practiced Mindfully," I figured it would fit with my loose moral inclinations. I was right. Nothing astounding here; just a good reminder that Buddha got it right about that "middle way" stuff. Here's what the author, Waylon Lewis, said about mindfulness itself: Spirituality and religion can help us to be kind, and patient, to learn, to connect with community—or they can become fixed, dividing, materialistic dogma. Mindfulness itself can be meditation, at its…