The Bitter Buddha, comedian Eddie Pepitone

Wisdom Quarterly; John Rabe (Off-Ramp/SCPR.org), Eddie Pepitone

Budai AK-47 (Mr. Will Coles)

Most comics use the F-word in their live acts like it's an article. But when Eddie Pepitone [a regular on the Jimmy Dore Show] uses it, it comes from the heart, or maybe his ample gut [which is good luck to rub].

 

The 54-year old comedian and actor (Law and Order: Criminal Intent, The Beat, Now and Again), who lives in North Hollywood, California, is finally seeing a glimpse of the fame his friends and colleagues have wished for him for years.

• VIDEO: "The Bitter Buddha" (comedy)

He's a regular on the club circuit, gained fame through appearances on Marc Maron's WTF podcast, and is the star of the documentary "Eddie Pepitone: The Bitter Buddha," by Steven Feinartz, which is now out on DVD.

 

Ya gotta feed'em the right nuts for their teeth!

Host John Rabe sat on a blanket with him at his favorite park in North Hollywood where he meditates and feeds the squirrels with his wife Karen. "And we're a little pedantic to other people in the park," he says, "because we see them feeding squirrels things like bread and even peanuts, and we're like 'No, no, no! Walnuts are the best for them because the shell works their teeth.' So we've gotten this reputation for being the squirrel pains in the asses." More

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Mindfulness, Suffering, Engaged Buddhism

Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Thay (Plum Village), Krista Tippett, OnBeing.org, NPR

Mindfulness, Suffering, and Engaged Buddhism

Host Krista Tippett (onbeing.org/CCP)

Vietnamese Zen master, peace activist, and poet Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay, "teacher") was forcibly exiled from his native country more than 40 years ago. On Being (NPR's discussion of faith and existence) visits the Buddhist monk at a Christian conference center in a lakeside setting in rural Wisconsin.

• Listen to the On Being radio show PODCAST
• Learn more On Being (Speaking of Faith)
• Deer Park Monastery, California

ON TOUR NOW (tnhtour.org)

Thay offers stark, gentle wisdom for living in a world of anger and violence. He discusses the concepts of "engaged Buddhism," "being peace," and "mindfulness." This message gets through to violent, hyper-vigilant police officers eager to kill at a moment's notice. Thay agrees to lead them on a Buddhist mindfulness retreat that manages to change their lives and their capacity to carry guns as "warrior" or "fierce" bodhisattvas (beings bent on enlightenment, not as Tippett defines it already enlightened beings staying on Earth). A person may take vows to become a bodhisattva, which generally means refusing enlightenment and liberation for the presumed sake of helping others. It would make more sense to help oneself and others by striving for enlightenment. But such is Mahayana Buddhist logic that martyrdom has been mistaken for a nobler goal. This historical Buddha was a bodhisattva not forestalling his own enlightenment but for the sake of becoming a supremely enlightened teaching buddha. This meant foregoing attaining as a disciple or as a nonteaching (pacceka) buddha. But it never meant dissuading others from attaining or from striving to reach the goal as quickly as humanly possible, bringing the ten perfections to maturity. More

Thich Nhat Hanh comes to Pasadena, CA on Oct. 4, 2013