#Buddhism Known As Noneconomic Religion Is Used As Saleable Commodity
Author: Minimal Modernist & Virtual-world Indy
Posted on: 15th December 2021
Keywords: #market, #business, #money, #meditation, #economic
Length: 900 words
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The Buddhist philosophy emphasizing on non-attachment to materialism does not necessarily imply that Buddhism is positioned itself beyond a field of economic activity. In fact, Buddhism, like all other religions, has always necessarily been deeply embedded within economic context. The Buddha is said to have taught Buddhist economic ethics, which included a set of values for engaging with wealth and economic consumption.
According to Him, it is acceptable for the laity to make, amass, and spend wealth. In obtaining wealth, He mentions the importance of moral considerations to be taken as what is explained in the concept of ‘Right Livelihood’ which suggests that one’s means of livelihood are honest and are not causing suffering for others. The scope of ‘Right Livelihood’ also covers the consideration of an ethical approach to business and marketing strategies.
Buddhism in another context offers a monastic practice as an alternative life path which favors meditative practices and asceticism that its supposed rejection of material gains can help lightening the monastic living burdens and achieving quicker mental liberating benefits or the so-called stage of Nibbana.
Being more realistic about the monastic living circumstance at the present time, the monastic life as being a monk and the monastic institute known as monastery are considered to be shouldering the spiritual needs of the lay supporters and the lay community, while also making sure that the monastery is able to pay their bills. With this demanding factor, not by Vinaya but by practice, monks are allowed to receive money, and collect revenues as long as profits go to the temple, even though economic activities for personal profit continued to be proscribed. It clearly demonstrates that monastery and economy are going hand in hand in its administration.
Another economic involvement of Buddhism presents in the scenario that Buddhist teaching has increasingly attracted the attention of global audience as it is positioned as an ancient wisdom having the potential to address the contemporary ailments of the modern capitalistic and globalized world. Buddhist meditations have a glowing appeal to IT geeks in the fast-moving tech sectors. The spread of meditation techniques therefore occurred not only among locals, and global travelers, but also young modern business generations.
The global popularity of Buddhism, however, is not a new phenomenon, in fact has taken shape for a long while, and it has generated the growth in revenue to the economy as it has been common to witness people around the globe are interested in purchasing Buddhist-related knowledge and goods. Many soul-searchers with a desire for obtaining religious experiences have been browsing through the urban shopping malls which offer shoppers the wide range of the marketable spiritual goods and services such as religious travel agents, texts, imagery, and symbols. The popular spiritual practice in Thailand is amulet purchases, causing the amulet market a multi-million industry.
In many marketplaces, religious ideas, symbols, and so forth, can be produced and circulated as goods and commodities; interestingly, religious parameters provides added value to local goods, ideas, and lifestyles, that people can chose to buy these goods without being, or wishing to, become a Buddhist.
Buddhism-related commodification does not necessarily accompany a lessening of authenticity or moral value, or a decline in religiosity. On the contrary, the commodification of Buddhism can also be understood to be a reaffirmation of the significant religious influence that Buddhism has amidst global market forces, and in people in a stressful hectic modern life, as Buddhist philosophy is in a sense paying a role as being a salve for modern dystopias.
Particularly, the practice of mindfulness which is a contemporary offshoot of Buddhist practice and philosophy gains popularity among business corporations that employ mindfulness techniques to increase productivity and capital gains in the workplace. It demonstrates that religion has penetrated modern economic realms and spiritual consumption has become an integrating force between work and private life.
Buddhism in these various modern contexts which is entwined with global market economies becomes a means for its survival and dissemination because commodification and marketing also possibly lead to the development of spiritual practices.
In areas in which Buddhism seems to previously have been considered to be in crisis, Buddhism is sold in a marketplace as a tourist attraction and that it has spurred a revitalization of Buddhism. Many Buddhist monasteries are being marketed as a spiritual tourism destination. Tourists who are not necessarily Buddhist pay entry fees to monasteries where they consume spiritual experiences, such as lighting incense, leaving donations, prostrating in front of an image, and watching monks perform rituals.
In this sense, Buddhism involved with tourism industry has become engaged in a form of ethno-commerce through which Buddhism has become branded as something worthy of being preserved and promoted. This kind of business model is becoming an important strategy in order to boost the survival of not only the Buddhist practice but also the Buddhist culture. It produces a win-win situation for both laity in term of economy and the religion.
With Buddhism economic permeating in various dimensions, Buddhism has become not only revitalized, but also reformulated as particularly relevant for the modern age, not only for Buddhists themselves but also for the modern capitalistic world, thus helping to secure the survival of Buddhism in the future.
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