Kate MOSS, yes, she sounds familiar and related to us, all waifish, skin all lichen-like (crepey).
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Don't look at me. I'm not a Moss!
Trees are greening, flowers are blooming, birds are nesting – why? Spring is in the air! Despite the happy days this brings, be wary of what else may be lurking in deep, dark forests. From German folklore, let's explore the world of the moss people.
In German folklore, moss folk resemble dwarves (called kumbhandas in Buddhistcosmology and gnomesin much of Europe), nearly the size of human children. But they are covered in green moss, with skin that looks gray, and a lot of hair like lichen.
Their arms and legs appear as “knotted maple bark.” Centuries ago, humans considered them part of the fairy realm dedicated to trees and the forest in general.
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For unknown reasons, the moss people population consisted mostly of females. These “fairies” were known to borrow things from humans and, at other times, ask for help from them.
Maiden (Kettle Quill/Deviant Art)
Occasionally, they would ask humans for breast milk to feed their own moss babies. They repaid their benefactors with good advice or bread.
However, one had to be wary of their quick tempers. If one gave them caraway bread, for instance, they would become very angry and cry, “Caraway bread, our death!”
Some tales describe them as behaving like changelings in that they would sometimes steal very small human children. Female moss people, called Mossfraulein (“moss women”)... More: Moss People creeping out of forests
Native American botanist Dr. Kimmerer says science can study beauty (Vern/onbeing.org).
The Intelligence in All Kinds of Life
“Why is the world so beautiful?” This is a question Native American botanist Prof. Robin Wall Kimmerer pursues as a plant researcher and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.
She writes, “Science polishes the gift of seeing; indigenous traditions work with gifts of listening and language.”
An expert in moss -- a bryologist -- she describes mosses as the “coral reefs of the forest.”
Her work opens a sense of wonder and humility for the intelligence in all kinds of life we are used to naming and imagining as “it” when “inanimate” would do better to describe all nonhuman living beings.
Prof. Kimmerer says that as our knowledge about plant life unfolds, human vocabulary and imagination must adapt.
Among the more peculiar organisms that inhabit our Earth exists a bacterium that turns water-soluble gold into microscopic nuggets of solid gold, scientists said Sunday.
Chemists have often pondered why the germ Delftia acidovorans is frequently found on the surface of tiny gold nuggets.
Its presence led scientists to speculate it may be creating the particles from soluble gold -- ions of gold that are dissolved in water.
Kate Moss as gold yogini (celebitchy.com)
But the puzzle was how D. acidovorans did this trick, as soluble gold is toxic.
The answer, suggest researchers in Canada, lies in a molecule excreted by the microbe that both shields the organism and transforms the poisonous ions into particles.
“This finding is the first demonstration that a secreted metabolite can protect against toxic gold and cause gold biomineralization,” the process by which living organisms produce minerals, they wrote in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.
The molecule, delftibactin A, is capable of achieving this feat within seconds in pH-neutral conditions at room temperature. More
Hoko Jan Karnegis (Tricycle Magazine) When you think of the words "American Buddhist," what do you see? Someone White, middle-aged, no kids? An adult convert from Protestantism? Someone with a graduate degree, living in the western United States?
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life's "2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey," released in late February, may provide some new clues about what American Buddhists are like. The Pew Forum conducted more than 35,000 telephone surveys with adult respondents, 0.7% of whom identified themselves as Buddhist.
A caveat: While the resulting figures are interesting and may be useful in evaluating American Sangha development, care must be taken in relying heavily on them. The margin for error is +6.5%, and only 411 respondents identified themselves as Buddhist. Also, Hawaii, home to a significant number of Buddhists, was not included in the survey. Nonetheless, larger trends and themes emerge and help to point out where further study is needed. More>>
Kate Moss spends another New Year in Thailand (Daily Mail Reporter) Kate Moss has escaped the gloom and grey of London at New Year and yet again swapped it for a New Year's break in Thailand.... [T]he slim model and boyfriend Jamie Hince spent New Year's Eve taking a boat trip and walking along golden sands together. More>>
(NBC Miami) What do the world's most beautiful women look like after careers as supermodels? For example, twenty years later Paulina (pictured) is a three season judge on fellow supermodel Tyra Banks' show America's Next Top Model. CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE:
The Buddhist way of dealing with lust in meditation (MeditationExpert.com) In the Surangama Sutra, twenty-five indivivuals report on how they attained samadhi. Three great bodhisattvas — Kwan Yin, Manjushri, and Samantabhadra — extolled hearing or listening in one form or another as a way to enter into the Tao [stream-entry]. When I asked my own teacher the best method for beings in this world, he also mentioned this entryway, as well as the use of breathing methods using the nose.
However, you can find countless other methods in the Surangama Sutra. One such meditation method was reported by Ucchushma to the Buddha and his assembly when the Buddha asked his great students what cultivation or meditation technique they had used to achieve samadhi. More>>
Is Lust Only Natural? (Beliefnet.com) Buddhism encourages renouncing sensual pleasures. Sensuous lust is considered one of Buddhism's Five Hindrances. The Buddha taught that lust is a result of [tanha], which must be abandoned to reach enlightenment.
Supermodel Kate Moss is quickly evolving from a golden mortal to a spiritual goddess.
"She is really into Buddh-ism and has a bought a bronze Buddha statue for her living room and has started meditating," femalefirst.co.uk quoted a source as saying.
"Kate wants to de-stress and is enjoying taking time out to meditate and learn about Buddhism. She finds it calming," the source added. Moss, 35, is also keen on her friends sharing her new interest but has not got the response she hoped for.
"She lights sandalwood incense sticks in front of the statue and makes her friends do the same. The problem is that everyone just sits choking on the fumes," the source said.
Buddha-like statue of yogi supermodel Kate Moss molded in 18 kt gold is expected to fetch 20 million pounds at auction (having cost 3 million to make).
1. Buddhism. Any of a series of hand positions expressing an attitude or action of a meditator or deity.
ce·leb·ri·ty /səˈlÉ›brɪti/ –noun
1. a famous or well-known person treated like a deity.
(Compiled by Upaya Dayaka; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly) Parents of Eminem (Marshal Mathers) fans can relax -- the rapper may actually be preaching a peaceful Eastern philosophy. In his new book, Buddha or Bust, Perry Garfinkel says the Buddha’s wisdom is cryptically encoded in Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.”
The line “You better lose yourself in the music, the moment” mirrors the Buddhist meditative practice of mindfulness (vipassana), in which the practitioner lives in the here and now. “By being present in the moment, he finds himself,” Garfinkel says. Still, he adds, “I highly doubt Eminem would know a boddhisatva from a bodacious babe.” (Source)
It's not like it was back in Helen Mirren's day. Arguably it's worse. But bright lights cast long shadows. And even stars look for a guiding light and sometimes turn to the Buddha, between their misadventures that is.
There's Eminem on the one hand, but the same might be said of other celebrities, whose pop music lyrics leave a lot of room for interpretation. Canadian Avril Lavigne resists labels. However, she is attempting to put up an iconoclastic front.
And Britney Spears' well known head shaving saga was well reported, as well as apocryphal rumors of a conversion to Buddhism and ascetic reform.
Where Britney goes, it's only a matter of time before a few select celebrities follow (even if she didn't really go there outside the rumor mill). Soon squeaky clean Justin Timberlake will resort to Signing vulgarities.
And his sometimes drunk, embittered ex, Cameron Diaz:
And even sweet, down home multi-millionaire Jessica Simpson...
and "Friends" star Courtney Cox (goody two-shoes Monica)...
Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger (RIP) may even go further from Sign language to English.
Lindsay Lohan just committed to another faith -- as she fends for her girlfriend, deals with a death in the family, and blogs about her father -- and Paris Hilton was a jailhouse pre-conversion (or toted the right books and guru to cultivate that impression).
So can Kim Kardashian be too far behind?
One supermodel celebrity, Uma Thurman, is not only a well known Buddhist, she has a great dad to ask questions of (Prof. Robert Thurman, noted scholar and personal friend of the current Dalai Lama).
Kate Moss in "yoga" pose as a blondebuddha.
But it's Buddhist Kate Moss who was recently idolized in the form of a $2.8 million, 110 lb. gold statue reminiscent of the Buddha himself.
Orlando Bloom displaying a refreshingly different mudra
Orlando Bloom practices Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism (according to the World Tribune, a newsletter supporting the practice of Nichiren Buddhism, which featured him on cover). While it was known that he was a Buddhist, few knew that he was a SGI.
Orlando visited president Ikeda in Japan and wrote a poem for him:
"With the sword of the Lotus Sutra at my side, With integrity as my staff, with you and all of the Buddhas of the ten directions as my mentor, With kosen-rufu as my goal, I will climb the mountainous path of the Mystic Law until I gaze out from the peak. There I will ready myself with gratitude for the next adventure. I look forward to climbing many mountains -- lifetime after lifetime at your side.
"Sincerely, your disciple and friend, Orlando."
Nichiren Buddhism and SokaGakai International (SGI), of course, advocate the chanting of the mantra "Nam myo ho rengekyo." SGI has a bigger star and long-time adherent in world famous singer Tina Turner. She is a remarkable chanter (even influencing the likes of Amy Winehouse), as she demonstrates for Larry King:
Megan Fox, rushing through airports to the set of Diablo Cody's ("Juno" fame) new movie, is rumored to be "searching for herself." Then again, who isn't?
Brad Pitt and budding Buddhist mom Angelina Jolie [whose extraordinary familial piety comes in the form of a Buddhist "prayer-of-protection" (paritta) is tattooed on her shoulder in Cambodia's ancient Khmer script] are keeping open minds for all their kids: They celebrate Christmas thanks to Zahara, but also took in a Buddhist Water Ceremony on account of Cambodian-born son Maddox.
As for Madonna, who just turned 50 as she embarked on a new world tour, finding a center by meditating and studying Kabbalah is keeping her together and out of scandals (for the most part).
When all is said and done, it seems Avril Lavigne best sums up the magic of celebrity-mudras.
See related article on "Why People Are Obsessed with Celebrities."
NOTE: WQ loves celebrities, just doing their job of distracting the world and all. It is, however, not fond of the celebritization by the media (e.g., Sarah Palin).
"Everything is uncertain. Don't cling to anything" -- famous words of a Thai meditation teacher.
In 2006, Fametastic speculated about the waifish supermodel's relationship (Kate Moss is back together with Pete Doherty) and her possible motives: "She's hoping that getting her [rockstar] boyfriend off drugs will improve her karma rating."
Apparently the woman voted voted best dressed in the world has been drawn to Buddhist philosophy and its teachings since she was photographed ingesting cocaine -- which might explain her figure -- the year before.
According to Grazia Magazine: “Kate feels Buddhism will get her through the dark times.”
“She’s been reading up about karma and is fascinated by the idea that your behavior comes back on you.”
“She’s thinking about doing charity work to get good karma in her life.”
The Dharma seems to have helped because the following year Kate Moss, who once dated Johnny Depp, and Pete Doherty were unofficially married in a Buddhist ceremony while on vacation in Thailand, although her rep issued a statement denying it, saying:
"Contrary to various entirely false media reports today, there has not been any kind of marriage ceremony in Thailand. She is on holiday." Photographs of the ceremony say otherwise.
The Sun reports a Thai priest announced them man and wife as water was sprinkled over their heads and friends cheered, even though the marriage is not legally binding. The real wedding is set for later with friends saying they've been asked to keep the date free but haven't been told why.
According to the BBC, the ceremony did take place: Wedding services including Buddhist prayers, the pouring of blessed water, and entwining of flower garlands are popular among visitors to the Thai island.
But as such ceremonies are not legally binding, British nationals must still undertake a civil service in the UK. Despite the marriage denial, bookmakers who took bets on the couple getting married this year have said the duo are "living on borrowed time."
David Williams, of Ladbrokes, said the bookmaker has closed its book on the pair tying the knot. But he added that the firm is offering odds of 4/1 that the couple will divorce before 2008. [Doherty's out, and Kate's now engaged to Jamie Hince.]
Moss and Doherty's rocky relationship has been staple fodder for the tabloids since they met in 2005. The ex-Libertines singer Doherty was serving a two-year supervision order for drug offences. And Moss's modelling career was flourishing despite being photographed allegedly using cocaine in a music studio.
EnjoyFashion explained her enduring fame in this way: Kate Moss became one of the most popular models of the 1990s, appearing in hundreds of magazine spreads and in popular advertisements... But she also gained a reputation for a stormy personal life, culminating in rehab in 1998 and then a further brouhaha in 2005 when a British tabloid printed pictures of her sniffing cocaine.
Kate's a mother (with Jefferson Hack) who during her pregnancy posed nude for Sigmund Freud's 81-year-old grandson (Lucien). He created a near life-size portrait called "Naked Portrait 2002," which went on to sell for $6.5 million at Christie's auction house.
So is Moss really a Buddhist and what kind? According to Female First Magazine, Grazia Magazine, and interviews, yes! WQ is willing to go out on a limb by speculating that she prefers the Thai form of Theravada Buddhism, whose doctrine adheres as closely as it can to the original words of the Buddha.
Thailand is famous for the generosity (dana) of its people and the insight (vipassana) of its forest tradition monks. And Ajahn Chah, the country's most renowned monk, was famous for saying exactly the sort of thing a supermodel would want to hear:
"People who suffer will accordingly gain wisdom. If we don't suffer, we don't contemplate. If we don't contemplate, no wisdom is born. Without wisdom, we don't know. Not knowing, we can't get free of suffering -- that's just the way it is. Therefore, we must train and endure in our practice. When we then reflect on the world, we won't be afraid like before. It isn't that the Buddha was enlightened outside of the world, but within the world itself."
"If your mind is happy then you are happy anywhere you go. When wisdom awakens within you, you will see Truth wherever you look. Truth's all there is. It's like when you've learned how to read -- you can then read anywhere you go."
"Everything is uncertain. Don't cling to anything."
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Supermodel Kate Moss is quickly evolving from a 
