For those of you who haven't been following the ongoing saga of Cambodia's Biting Monk, the Department of Cults and Religious Affairs failed to find sufficient evidence to defrock him and passed the matter on to the monk management board. After two weeks of silence, the accused monk denied the charges. However, there are those who claim the the monk is protected by his fearsome street rep.
posted by ActingTheGoat on Oct 3, 2009 - 26 comments

Thelonius Monk's advice to Steve Lacy (as transcribed by Lacy)
posted by ericbop on Feb 5, 2009 - 24 comments

Fighting monks: not just in your D&D campaign anymore.
posted by baphomet on Nov 9, 2008 - 24 comments

Monks march again in Burma. Approximately one hundred Buddhist monks marched in protest oif government policies in the central city of Pakokku yesterday. One monk who spoke to journalists claims more marches will be organized. Will we see a resurgence of the mass marches--and crackdowns--of August and September?
posted by schroedinger on Oct 31, 2007 - 18 comments

Here today, gone tomorrow or so...
Blue Monk
Blue Monk
Blue Monk
Blue Monk [more inside]
posted by y2karl on Oct 29, 2007 - 13 comments

Sokushinbutsu - The self-made mummies.
posted by Burhanistan on Jul 2, 2007 - 55 comments

Got a spiritual question? Ask an Islamic scholar. Or ask a Trappist monk. Or ask a Catholic priest. Or a Lutheran pastor. Jewish? Ask a Rabbi. Jewish and like firearms? Ask a rabbi with a gun.
posted by escabeche on Mar 14, 2007 - 25 comments

Thelonious Sphere Monk's birthday is today and WKCR will not stop playing his music untill after midnight
posted by hortense on Oct 10, 2006 - 49 comments

The Monks
Formed in the early '60s by American G.I.s stationed in Germany. After their discharge, the group settled in Germany to concentrate on finding a unique sound, and soon began to shave their hair into Monk's tonsures and appear in cassocks. One of the truely original bands of the 60's, The Monks are now often refered to as 'proto-punk'. The Monks experimented fervently, developing a unqiue sound, with heavy bass, repetitive but amelodic rhythms, nursery rhyme style, yet powerful vocals and a good helping of feedback. They recorded only one albumn, Black Monk Time, until their 1999 reunion.
Hear some tracks from the albumn (in realmedia), See and hear The Monks Live in Germany, Also, check out Monks - The Transatlantic Feedback, a documentary (with trailer, though there seems to be something wrong with it). [Trivia: the song I Hate You can be heard in the background in one scene in the bowling alley in The Big Lebowski]
posted by MetaMonkey on Apr 21, 2006 - 24 comments

Dalai Llama muses: meditating monk sets "positive emotion" record : The 14th Dalai Llama, Tenzin Gyatso, muses on new research on the benefits of mindfulness meditation: "A University of Wisconsin-Madison research team has found that a small amount of "mindfulness meditation" results in positive, lasting changes in the brain and immune system." The mainstream medical community in the U.S. has now acknowledge the significant benefits of mindfulness meditatiion - "...a significant decrease in symptoms, both during and after the course."

[ Tenzin Gyatso ] "The calamity of 9/11 demonstrated that modern technology and human intelligence guided by hatred can lead to immense destruction. Such terrible acts are a violent symptom of an afflicted mental state. To respond wisely and effectively, we need to be guided by more healthy states of mind, not just to avoid feeding the flames of hatred, but to respond skillfully. We would do well to remember that the war against hatred and terror can be waged on this, the internal front, too.".....I once was host to Tenzin Gyatso's brother and several other Tibetan monks for a few weeks - and was never again quite the same. So, when Tenzin Gyatso speaks, I listen.
posted by troutfishing on Apr 25, 2003 - 22 comments