Wednesday20 Dec 02:07 PM

Richard Gere + Hollywood's Empty Mirrors of the Self

Richard Gere, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the self-aggrandizing Tom Cruise.

It's rare to find an article that groks the parallel between our own ideas of self and those issues of identity which are celebrated, fetishisized, and refracted vis-a-vie Hollywood. So it's a joy to stumble upon this article which surveys the rise of religious fads in Hollywood, designed to entice the confused aspirations of celebrities and wanna-be's, as the backdrop to a smart and respectful profile of Richard Gere—

"Every time I sit down and wrap my legs over my knees, I see this image of myself and I say, 'Where the fuck did this come from?' I have no idea."
Richard Gere, Buddha Meets Hollywood

Word. Ironies ubound in the endless dramas of self-image...

"You are free when you are no longer at the center of your own life..."
Richard Gere, Buddha Meets Hollywood

posted by
Spiros Antonopoulos

TAGS — Buddhism, celebrity, Hollywood, religion, Richard Gere

Add Remarks

Please be nice.

Your name is required.

An email address is required.

 

Remember this information

What You May Have Recently Missed

Tue 23 Jan
2007

The Pot Is An Imagination And The Clay Is The Only Final Reality

02:11 PM

REMARKS (0)

"As by one lump of clay all that is made of clay is known, the modification i.e., the effect being a name merely which has its origin in speech, while the truth is that it is clay merely."(Chh. Up. VI-14)...

Tue 23 Jan
2007

Neurologically We Are Tuned Into The Magical Universe

11:03 AM

REMARKS (0)

Today's New York Times features a piece about the neuroscience and psychology of "magical thinking." The surprising news is that almost all of us prescribe to it. We might bestow an odd coincidence with a special importance— "It's a...

Mon 22 Jan
2007

iAumNamaShivaya

10:22 AM

REMARKS (0)

From a fake iGadgets contest run by Worth1000. (Thanks, ED!)...

Fri 19 Jan
2007

Mauni Amavasya On The Ganges: Ardh Kumbh 2007

03:31 PM

REMARKS (0)

"This is a moving temple, like a mobile phone."Kanhaiya Lal Maharaj quoted by Reuters, India The new moon night, or Mauni Amavasya, is celebrated today (Friday) —the most auspicious day in this six-week-long Hindu bathing festival known as Ardh...

Thu 18 Jan
2007

Wholly Communion

03:46 PM

REMARKS (0)

Peter Whitehead's Wholly Communion (1965) 33 minutesFrom the UBUWEB archives The event began with Ginsberg chanting and playing finger cymbals, performing a Hindu mantra which was described, in a review published the following day by The Times newspaper, as...

Wed 17 Jan
2007

The Passing Of A Divine Muse: In Honor Of Swamini Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda

01:41 PM

REMARKS (2)

As you may have heard or read (NYT|LAT|BB) Swamini Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda died last week. She was a spiritual being who left us within an amazing, incredibly unique, uplifting body of musical recordings. (And I speak mainly of her...

Fri 12 Jan
2007

Robert Anton Wilson Rest In Peace

10:44 AM

REMARKS (1)

The blogosphere exploded yesterday with revelatory discord as the news begain to spread: Robert Anton Wilson has departed. Rest yee in the great Lord Yama's grace. He was an absolutely instrumental figure in my formative years. His books bent...

Thu 11 Jan
2007

Be A Good Sport, Yoga!

01:02 PM

REMARKS (0)

I despair at the idea that we now want to turn a 5,000-year-old spiritual system, seen in the words of the founder of Viniyoga, TKV Desikachar (an Indian guru who is still teaching today) as "the discipline of controlling the...

Tue 09 Jan
2007

Rodney Yee. The Yoga Teacher Fantasy. And Sex

09:15 AM

REMARKS (2)

Leave it to New York Magazine to breath some new, fecund life into some old yoga dirt. But here it is....

Thu 21 Dec
2006

The Aim of Yoga: Hippies Compare To DMT

12:08 PM

REMARKS (2)

This video gem appears to be from the Woodstock movie. And I think that the yoga teacher is Tom Law. Anyhow Mr. Law was obviously and earnestly trying to share his understanding of yoga, but grossly misrepresents some ideas, as...

Linked Title
Advertiser's Ad text here
www.advertiser-url.com

random photo

Inspiration

First and foremost our gratitude goes out to Astanga Yoga New York & Sri Ganesha Temple, without which the Sri Ganesha Tea & Book Stall would never have incarnated. Secondly our deepest respect and praise goes to Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute. We are also indebted and inspired by the efforts of Namarupa Magazine. For further inspiration, check out our links. test

Tags

Advaita Vedanta, Aghora, Aghori, Alice Coltrane, Allen Ginsberg, Alzheimers, ancestors, animation, apocalypse, archaic revival, archeology, Ardh Kumbh, army, art, asana, Ashtanga Yoga, astroturfing, B. Alan Wallace, BBC, bhajan, bhakti, bhangra, Bhutan, Bollywood, books, Brahma Sutras, brain, Bruce Sterling, Buddhism, business, California, capitalism, Carl Gustav Jung, celebrity, Chi, China, Christianity, Christmas, clay, comics, compassion, cults, Dalai Lama, Daniel Dennet, Daniel Pinchbeck, death, debunkers, delhi, demonstration, Derek Ireland, DJ Rekha, DMT, DVD, Earth, economics, education, enlightenment, environment, Erik Davis, fabric, fiction, film, Flash, flicker, Flickr, futurism, Ganesha, Ganga, Ganges, generosity, geohistory, George Harrison, George Soros, glossolalia, God, gossip, graffiti, Greece, Greek gods, Greek Orthodox, guru, Hanuman, happiness, Himalayan, Hinduism, holiday, Hollywood, homosexuality, India, Indiaspora, inspiration, intelligence, intent, irritation, J. Krishnamurti, Janmaashtami, John Coltrane, John Law, kaivalya, Kapal Nath, Kazakhstan, Krishna, kundalini, LA Times, LiveScience, machine, magical thinking, marketing, martial arts, meditation, mela, memory, mind, Mind Hacks, Mooshika, mp3, MP3, muppets, music, Mysore, mythology, Naga, Nalanda, neuroscience, new age, New Scientist, Nick Madrid, NPR, nueroscience, NYT, Olympics, organic food, orientalism, oxygen, painting, paranormal, PETA, Peter Guttridge, philosophy, photography, pilgrimage, poetry, pollution, pot, potter, prana, prayer, prehistory, procrastination, prostrations, puppets, puzzles, pyschogeography, rats, RAW, reality tunnels, reincarnation, religion, Richard Gere, rickshaws, Robert Anton Wilson, robzombie, Rodney Yee, Rudy Rucker, saddhus, satan, satellite, scandal, schools, science, sculpture, seedmagazine, selfless, sensationalism, Seva, sex, Shankacharya, Shiva, siddhis, Sinagpore, sleep, snakes, soy, space travel, spirituality, sport, Sri K Pattabhi Jois, swastika, tattva, tea, teastall, the 60's, the street, thoughts, time, Transrealism, UBUWEB, urban culture, vegetarianism, video, violence, vridian, Wavy Gravy, wealth, weddings, woodstock, worldview, worship, Yama, yoga, yoga criminals, yoga mom, yoga products, yoga teaching, YouTube, zen, zombies

Categories

  • articles 25 posts
  • raga dvesha 83 posts

XML Feeds You Us

Subscribe to our RSS feed!

Credits

Foremost credit goes to my wife Erin for her tireless patience + support of this endeavor. Thanks to Barry Silver for the artwork in the above banner and for his friendship, to Robert Beer for the illustrations. Thanks to Eddie Stern for his ongoing support and for providing inspiration. Thanks to my fellow farmers at One Digital Farm for help growing this.

The Last Words