Buddhist bars and the rapping monk

Mr Happiness would never claim to be a rap genius. But his new presentation of Buddha's teaching has helped double attendance at his temple. 

Buddha was always big on discovering new paths, and now so too are his disciples. CNN's Kyung Lah recently took a look at Tokyo's Buddhist bars and a monk rapper who combine religion and modern-day culture to connect the ancient religion of Buddhism to the real lives of Japanese men and women.

The report looks in particular at Mr Happiness -- the rapper name of Buddhist priest Kansho Tagai. He is attempting to rhyme his way into the hearts of the youth generation. Knowing what we know about the Buddhist dogma, however, we are guessing he is not so much into "bling."

(Also would Mr Happiness have the skillz to defeat the Tibetan monk rap genius at the end of the famed Mr Show skit "Monk Academy"?)

CNN also looks at the Buddhist bars, where Kyung Lah discovers Shinto priests apparently like to drink.

Back in August, CNNGo looked at two Buddhist bars in Tokyo: Vow'z Arakicho and Vow's Nakano. Members of the liberal True Pure Land Buddhist school run these establishments and offer spiritual guidance to drinkers. Just remember to tip: These guys are all about karma.