Poetry at the Church in Ocean Park presents: Michael Attie

Brief bio of Michael Attie. Attie has been a student of Zen, Vipassana and Advaita for over 40 years. In the sixties and seventies he joined the Western pilgrimage to Asia, residing in Japanese Zen monasteries and Indian Ashrams. In 1973 the revered Indian Guru, Neem Karoli Baba told him to teach Dharma in the West. Ever since then, he has been pursuing his Guru’s instructions through a variety of mediums, always emphasizing the recurrent theme that one need look no farther than the current circumstances of one’s life for spiritual inspiration. After Attie returned to America, his father died and he inherited Playmates of Hollywood, ‘the world’s largest lingerie store.’ In the years that he owned the store he held evening meditation sessions in a large hall above the store and became infamous as the ‘Lingerie Monk.’ He performed ‘The Lingerie Zen Review’ to packed houses to celebrate his dual life as meditator and panty salesman. A few years later he performed ‘The Zen Opera Show,’ around California, celebrating opera-mania as a shortcut to spiritual enlightenment. His new performance piece, ‘Buddha to Broadway;,’ demonstrates that one needn’t learn Tibetan or Sanskrit to study dharma. It is all there—in Gershwin, Berlin, Porter and Johnny Mercer. He is currently filming ‘Dog Realization,’ a documentary on ‘Canine Tantra.’ "Through loving our dogs," says Attie, " we can learn to love the whole universe." Attie's DharmaBanners company designs and markets prayer flags. The Tibetan style flags present sayings in English, of all the world’s spiritual traditions. Attie also plays the accordion with the PujaToons, specializing in Musette, Tango, Klezmer and American Swing tunes. The evening will begin with a short accordion concert. He currently resides in Los Angeles, where he founded and teaches meditation at the Don’t Worry Zendo. for more info, interview &/or a print quality resolution picture call 323-655-8659 or email info@ dontworryzendo.com.