These four cartoons revolve around different aspects of Buddhist practice. They discuss, in simplified and humorous form, some of the most important parts of the Buddhist faith, things like: meditation, detachment, patience, and discovery of the self. While these images are less offensive than some of the other pieces I’ve looked at, they continue to encourage the stereotypes we hold.  One cartoon jokes about how we picture Buddhists as eternally patient, “…your food will appear when the time is right.” Another addresses the idea that Buddhists spend all their time, including free time, meditating, “Transcendental Hide And Seek”. One of the cartoons cleverly addresses the Buddhist ideal of non-attachment in the context of vacuum cleaners, touching on, but failing to explain an important concept.  The fourth one pokes fun again at the Buddhist focus on meditation as one monk says to another, “How’s nothing?” These cartoons are funny and clever, but like many other pieces of Buddhist-themed pop culture fail to encompass the religion as a whole. They serve as tiny clues to a religion much bigger than what can be depicted in the Sunday comics.



These cartoons were found via Google images and are hyperlinked to the locations they were originally produced in.