Meng of "What Do You Think, My Friend?" on the front page of The New York Times

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18264275.post-920575243295406442007-08-31T21:23:00.000-07:002007-09-02T16:39:24.873-07:00Meng of "What Do You Think, My Friend?" on the front page of The New York Times<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_F5dfgbyaCJk/RtjqCwX3kYI/AAAAAAAAAEg/PpVLSfjKBpI/s1600-h/Tan+Chade-Meng.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5105087510690107778" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_F5dfgbyaCJk/RtjqCwX3kYI/AAAAAAAAAEg/PpVLSfjKBpI/s320/Tan+Chade-Meng.jpg" border="0" /></a>Tan Chade-Meng, known as Meng, the fellow who in May of 1995 started “<a href="http://www.serve.com/cmtan/buddhism/">What Do You Think, My Friend?</a>” , which is one of the oldest, most-venerated Buddhist websites, appeared on the front of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/">The New York Times Online</a>, today -- ID’ed as “The Google Guy.” He is pictured four times, in a montage with Madeleine Albright, Mohammad Ali, Robin Williams and Tom Brokaw -- four of more than a hundred luminaries The Times reports he has been pictured with at Google headquarters. The article, "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/01/technology/01google.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1188619862-cy9kY+W+nG5Gpg3KYwBE0Q">Who's With Gwyneth? The Google Guy</a>" says “At Google, Mr. Tan has a reputation as a top-flight engineer. But he is also known for his fondness for one-liners and for being a regular contributor to the company’s online humor groups. The job title on his business card reads: “Jolly Good Fellow (which nobody can deny).” Yep. That is online Buddhism’s funny Meng. There is a lot of humor in “What Do You Think, My Friend?” including a page called "<a href="http://www.serve.com/cmtan/buddhism/Lighter/index.html">A lighter side of Buddhism</a>." At his website, Meng doesn't mention his job at Google. It has this to say: "The author of this site is Tan Chade-Meng, a Singapore-born Software Engineer working in California." In the Times article, there is no mention of Meng being a Founding Father of Buddhism on the Internet or of being Buddhist. A link on Meng's "lighter side" page is to an article I wrote that Meng graciously served as a panelist/contributor for, "<a href="http://www.hundredmountain.com/Pages/pageone_stuff/laughing_feb00/laughing1.html">Laughing Your Way to Enlightenment</a>," which appeared in the short-lived online e-mag Hundred Mountain in February 2000. In my article, lo seven years ago, Meng is quoted many times, including this: “I think that being a Buddhist is very simple,” Meng says. “It's just about cultivating kindness, compassion, mindfulness and calmness. Very simple, but not easy at all.” A jolly good fellow, he is. And that nobody, famous or not famous, can deny.Tomnoreply@blogger.com