If global consumerism (consumer capitalism) is the new "religion", is there an antidote? Are there any old or new traditions that have a reply to the "siren call" of secular salvation? Is there a psychological path that starts from the idea of the interdependence of all phenomena, an idea held dear by Green fundamentalists?

"The Religion of Consumption: A Buddhist Rebuttle"
David Loy & Jonathan Watts for the Think Sangha
Published in the Society for International Development Journal Development
thematized on "Consumption, Civil Action, and Sustainable Development" (Vol. 41, No. 1, March 1998)

Introduction: Expanding the Discourse on Social Change

Perhaps the most disturbing trend in our public debates over issues like economic globalization and development, democracy and human rights, and so forth is the very framing of the issues themselves. Four hundred years into the scientific, rational experiment, this method of discourse has effectively come to dominate the way we envision and address the way we live in our world. Though such "social engineering" has its material merits, its lacks a complete view of reality, one that takes into account the very basis of material development which is human happiness, a highly subjective matter.

Religious and spiritual viewpoints to self and social transformation are important resources
in opening wide the arena of discussion on social issues. To assert the importance of a religious
perspective is not to argue for committing to Buddhism or some other traditional faith .
The point is simply that we cannot escape religious questions insofar as we cannot escape the
deepest questions about the meaning of our lives and where we derive that. Rather than dismiss
religion as a narcotic for the politically-unaware, we should not overlook the potentials for
self-transformation that reside in its traditional teachings and institutions. Religious engagement
remains an enormously powerful social force that should not be surrendered to fundamentalists.
This highlights the importance of self-transformation (including techniques to assist that)
as much as group or structural transformation. To pursue the latter without the former is to
risk re-enacting the social tragedies of the last two centuries, in which revolutions merely
replaced one gang of thugs with another. All our mechanistic attempts to engineer human happiness
from greater industrialization to expanding personal, social and environmental legislation
yet remain as frustrations like bringing to heel a persistently wild beast. (My emphasis: Carl)

From an 'engaged Buddhist' perspective, it is critical to look beyond structural approaches to the larger questions about the role of consumption in the way we construct the meaning of our lives. Today we cannot talk about consumption without discussing consumerism, that way of living which locates the meaning of one's life in acquisition and consumption. The problem is not simply that our present economic system exploits people in underdeveloped countries and destroys their traditional economies. From a Buddhist perspective, globalization is far more insidious than that. In that sense, the problem of most underdeveloped societies today is not so different from the problem of the 'developed' world: an impoverished worldview which privileges consumption over other values and meaning-systems. We may be skeptical of religion, and there is good reason to be suspicious of most religious institutions; but we also need to realize that consumerism functions as a religion for a rapidly increasing number of people worldwide.

Step 1 - Awareness of Consumerism's Distortions

Buddhism, in contrast, is unique among the major religions in the way it focuses on criticizing and denying the self. Its anatta (not-self) teaching is difficult to understand but, in more contemporary terms, one might say that Buddhism implies that our sense of "I" is a social construction. The important issue then becomes how that sense of self is constructed and who constructs it.

Buddhism's view understands the western psychological sense of repression (like fear of death) in a more fundamental way. Fear of death is fear of what will happen in the future; but fear of not-self -- that my sense-of-self is not real -- is fear of what "I" am (or am not) right now. Perhaps all of us have some sense of this problem, but our feeling of being 'unreal' is repressed. In other words, our sense of self, because it is a fragile construct, is inherently insecure and uncomfortable. The result is that we become obsessed with constructing our own identity -- that is, with making ourselves real in one or another symbolic fashion. In other words, my fear of death recurs as a preoccupation with symbolic immortality -- with making my mark on history so I'm not forgotten

The relevance of this for consumerism should be obvious. In the past self-identity was usually a matter of one's religion, nation, race, class, occupation, etc. Because this often involved intolerance of other religions, nations, races, etc., we can be pleased that such forms of self-identity seems to be declining, at least in some parts of the 'developed world'. Yet this does not mean that what is replacing them is better. Today, increasingly, we are conditioned to construct our self-identity through consumption. From a Buddhist perspective, our lives are now constantly saturated with a religious message that promises a different kind of salvation -- that is, a different way to become truly happy. The primary agent of its proselytizing is, of course, advertising, which now envelops us so completely that we tend not to be aware of its effects. The basic problem, however, is that consumerism doesn't work and can't work, in the deepest and most important sense -- as a way to give our lives satisfactory meaning. Essential to any solution, therefore, is the process of becoming more aware of how the false promise of consumerism distorts our own lives and the lives of those around us.

Buddhism sees desire or "Greed" as a fundamental motivating factor in our consumer societies. Through the ever-increasing domination of "market" values like competition and hyper-individualism, we become ever more befuddled about how to relate to the world. With the market perpetually designing new "needs" for the individual, the terms "need" and "want" have become virtually synonymous. Poverty has taken on a purely quantifiable meaning of material underdevelopment. Those in poverty suffer from under-consumption of the essentials of a developed lifestyle, i.e. cars, TVs, expensive university educations, etc. Yet, as noted, we have become blind to what real our real needs are. So we see teenagers in the United States living on food stamps acquiring $150 Nike basketball shoes or squatter families living in corrugated steel shacks in Jakarta owning TVs and motorbikes.

Buddhist systemic psychology sees that Greed naturally concocts "Dispersion" and "Delusion". With the loss of a discriminating mind which distinguishes between need and desire, the door is open to swim in the ocean of delight and numbness in consumer goods and experiences. The media, principally TV, is the foremost component of this Dispersion and Delusion. It not only offers myriad worlds of entertainment without depth or meaning but is fueled by advertising dollars thereby spreading the ethic of Greed every ten minutes with commercials. The consumption of experience in the booming leisure industries are another major arena of Delusion and Dispersion. From mega-media to tourism to sports, leisure activities have become a major component of most national economies. The foreign exchange made by governments on tourism and the building of entertainment empires like Time-Warner and Disney make the business of Dispersion and Delusion key components to solidifying ever centralized power structures.

The consequences of this Dispersion and Delusion is thus twofold. Firstly, it leaves the individual distracted and disconnected from him/herself and his/her surroundings. With so many games to watch, so much shopping to do, so many trips to take, we have less and less time to check in on our families, our relationships, our neighbors and, most importantly, ourselves. From the turning on of the TV first thing in the morning to the car stereo or walkman on the way to work to the pass out in front of the TV at night, the time to constructively ponder and plan a more meaningful life is washed away. With the ever increasing speed of technology, the disconnections deepen into the next level in the Buddhist causal chain, Despair and Disempowerment. There remains little hope for changing our lives when the "democratic" politics of "developed" countries involve image adjustment rather than policy adjustment, and from Bangkok to New York, people fear for their livelihoods as corporations shred employees in the race for competitive edge. This political effects of this consumer world dominated by market and state leads ever more deeply into the Dispersion and numbness of consumer experience.

The Problem: greed ->dispersion ->delusion ->disempowerment/despair ->
paticca samuppada (revolving in the chain of suffering)

Step 2 - The Beginning of Transformation - Personal

Buddhism has a number of integrated practice systems for the "structural adjustment" of the spirit. Perhaps the most straightforward yet profound encapsulations are the three interconnected practices sila-samadhi-panna (Proper Action-Mindfulness-Wisdom). Firstly, in the face of unlimited Greed and the loss of qualitative distinctions between needs and desire, sila offers a starting point in a system of discipline and ethics. This is a quite detailed system in Buddhism, yet to come to grips with its meaning for today, we may understand sila as "renunciation". Renunciation is an experience rich in diversity from culture to culture. Its essence is the letting go of certain pleasures for the chance to experience a higher meaning or to perform a higher task. A traveling musician renounces a settled home in search of the muse. A student limits his/her "partying" to graduate on time. The expressions are endless and beyond the stern admonishments of the starving recluse in the woods. Such extremism is not the purpose of Buddhist practice but rather a middle way of moderation.

By adopting basic practices of renunciation, we begin to reassert the value of simplicity into our societies so that those in poverty are not seen as half-human underconsumers. Without such a vilifying sense of poverty, or in turn a paternalistic one of bringing lesser beings into the fold of consumer values, the poor may reassert their power of self-determination and rediscover the true priorities in their quest towards material and spiritual stability. The rich are transformed as well. Traditional Buddhist society once viewed a person of wealth not by how much they had accumulated personally but by how many soup kitchens or shelters they had established. With renunciation as an active social value, it becomes clearer to the rich what they actually need for a comfortable life. The rest is excess to be shared with subordinates and those of lesser means among one's associations and community.

In the space and simplicity created from a life with a certain level of renunciation, the second component of Buddhist practice enters, namely, samadhi or Mindfulness. With the walkman and TV cleared away or used only at certain times, the reality of our place comes streaming in. We begin to notice how other family members spend their time. Intricacies in a loved one's state of being become apparent. Neighbors become like colleagues or extended family rather than faces next-door. Most centrally, our body, mind, emotions and our interaction with the world become more conscious. Connections between physical well being and emotional and mental well-being arise. Chronic ailments are cured with simple adjustments in one of these areas. In short, connections in a disconnected world begin to be restored. In the most basic method of Buddhist meditation, Mindfulness with breathing (anapanasati), the long slow breath yields greater Mindfulness, awareness and well-being. As a very basic awareness technique, we can experience that the action films, multi-media entertainment, caffeine and nicotine, sports excitement, and shopping mall dazzlement of our consumer culture all make our breathing shorter and quicker and in turn make our thoughts faster, less-connected, less aware.

With the building of some restraint (renunciation) and some Mindfulness, the third component of the practice develops, Wisdom or panna. Renunciation opens our life up to deeper experiences in the present. Mindfulness enables us to seize on these moments and penetrate them ever more deeply. When this occurs, we begin to see the Delusion of events surrounding us. We begin to see the bite of our Greed and Dispersion which had seemed so pleasurable before. We begin to see the non-lasting nature and instability of these pleasures and the frustrations they concoct as they fade and as we squirm and writhe to re-light them. Wisdom, however, does not end just here. Buddhism may seem like some value free system for gaining mental power. The system is indeed a very powerful tool for becoming aware of values and attachments and cutting them. However, Buddhism which uses sila and Mindfulness to train corporate workers to be better employees and more ruthlessly accomplish their tasks does not lead to true Wisdom. Wisdom may enable us to see the causes and conditions of events in our environment, yet it also critically includes the use of this wisdom for the benefit of others. Wisdom in the service of Greed or power is not true Wisdom. True Wisdom harnesses the operative imperative of the human being, to spend a life in supporting others as a vehicle free of defilement. Being free of attachments allows us to help ourselves as we help others.

The Methodology 1: Individual: renunciation -> connection -> beneficial wisdom -> confidence to liberate oneself.

Step 3: Expanding the Practice to the Social

The above maps out a process of individual transformation, yet as we have seen in Wisdom (panna), there is a compulsion towards others and society. This is envisioned as Sangha or Community, the third pillar of Buddhism. When we reevaluate the Three-Fold Training on the level of Community, we can see it as a means for confronting the systems of exploitation seemingly out of reach by individuals. The Three-Fold training is the glue which bring and keeps Community together.

Firstly, sila (Proper Action) are the shared initiatives of the group. Sila are the expressions of group Solidarity renouncing individual concerns and working for betterment of the Community. Secondly, coming out of Community Solidarity (sila) is Community Mindfulness (samadhi) which finds expression in a myriad of Community conscientization practices. Mindfulness takes form in religious Community as group prayer or meditation, a traditional and powerful form of maintaining Community connection. In any Community, Mindfulness can take form as the deepening of local and regional cultural heritage through the arts. Further, Mindfulness can take form in the preservation or reawakening of knowledge of local plant and animal types which can offer the Community sustainable resources for medicines, food, clothing and shelter. Theoretically, Mindfulness is the developing of concentration into unity or one-pointedness. Thus, practically, in terms of Community, it means the bringing together of individuals in united awareness and feeling through the Sharing of time, energy and information.

Thirdly, developing out of Solidarity (sila) and Sharing (samadhi) is Wisdom (panna) and the strength of the mind to cut through Delusion. This is the strength of Community to empower itself through the Wisdom of its own Resources. With the developing of group Solidarity in sila and the Sharing of group knowledge in Mindfulness, the Community becomes a powerful center of social action. Further, in keeping in line with the imperative of Wisdom to benefit others, a Community will not become a selfish entity narrow minded in outlook and hostile towards other communities. Rather, the imperative to benefit moves the Community outwards towards other communities in the same energy of Solidarity-Sharing-Communal Resources (sila-samadhi-panna) which enabled their smaller Community to prosper. In such a way, small Community is built and strengthened while feeding into an ever widening web of Community. In the end, a truly beneficial global society emerges where Community, bio-region, land mass, continent and world are united in a cooperative social project.

In Thailand, the dislocations of rural communities by economic globalization are myriad. The people have lost their traditional mode of livelihood, farming, through the development of corporate agriculture and the exposure of their food staples to the pressures of international markets. Further, the invasion of consumer products like electronic appliances and soft drinks have broken down traditional systems of cultural sharing and health while further enticing villagers to abandon their farms for the bright lights and wage labour of Bangkok. Traditionally, Buddhist monks have been leaders of the Community while their temples have acted as Community centers. In the past twenty years, a charismatic group of "development" monks have begun to apply the Buddhist system of practice as outlined above to the social level. Working with groups of dedicated lay followers, they have sought to regain a modicum of Community autonomy by using the power of consumption.

Based at the village temple, the establishment of buffalo banks and rice banks have enabled villagers to disengage from purchasing unnecessary mechanized farming equipment and chemical fertilizers from national and international corporations as well as rice at inflated pries from their own government(sila). The financing systems for acquiring these goods made necessary by outside economic manipulations of the local economy had further indebted the farmers forcing them into deeper poverty and eventually off their land. Such temples have integrated these Community initiatives with personal development of the Community. By establishing meditation classes, gambling and the consumption of expensive (and economically debilitating) national and foreign liquors has been reduced. By adapting traditional social events at the temple, such as robe offering ceremonies for the monks, temples raise funds for community development projects. Further monks and lay leaders use these occasions to conscientize villagers. Such Community created initiatives like cooperative stores divert money back into the community in a twofold form of Right Consumption. They promote the diversion of excess money into community projects as opposed to competitive, private consumption and also develop and maintain locally run businesses which can be accountable to the Community (panna).

Finally, the expansion of such a vision beyond village empowerment can be seen in the coordination of the "development" monks into a national network called Phra Sekhiyadhamma . The network coordinates and shares material and spiritual resources in a movement for national transformation. Concerning consumption specifically, the network has campaigned throughout the country on the wasteful use of plastics.

The Methodology 2: Communal: solidarity ->sharing ->communal resources ->empowerment.

Conclusion: Imperatives Beyond Doubt

The results of such "Buddhist" initiatives towards community regeneration and social transformation still present a number of questions. The above examples from Thailand largely constitute rural responses from relatively un-economized societies. Further, such attempts and others like the well know Sarvodaya initiative in Sri Lanka have not been immune to the powerful forces of market dissolution and advertising. Two important questions, therefore, remain. How effective can religious, and specifically Buddhist, responses be in fully economized societies? and What is the actual place of this kind of engaged Buddhism in the larger world of institutionalized Buddhism?

For the economized Buddhist world, the prospects of such Buddhist engagement seem more doubtful. In Japan, although a number of consumer movements exist, they are rarely related to or informed by Buddhist teachers or communities. In general, Japanese Buddhism is more of a supporter of modern consumption patterns with expensive and elaborate funerals (Japan's third largest industry) and temple tourism. Indeed, throughout the Buddhist world both east and west, mainstream Buddhism is a supporter of the present drive for material wealth and spiritual sanctification through conspicuous consumption. From massive donations to temples and monks for religious blessing in Thailand to meditative consumerism in expensive retreats and ritualistic paraphernalia in the West to the rise of new schools which teach that material gain is a sign of spiritual blessing (Sokka Gakkai from Japan internationally and Dhammakaya in Thailand), Buddhism as a practice for personal and social transformation of our present economic and social injustices seems highly specious.

Yet Buddhism is not alone in this situation. The co-opting of every aspect of our humanity and spirituality by this consumer "religion of the market" brings in to doubt any method of social transformation as long as it is exposed to market and consumer forces. This is where religion and spirituality as systems of humanity able to rise above such material considerations STILL has potential and meaning. One of the strengths of the engaged Buddhist approach is its basic non-sectarian character. Engaged Buddhism has within itself formed a nurturing ground for people of other faiths as well as people lacking any faith to discover a systematic method of personal and social transformation. Engaged Buddhism without itself has been able to link and to be enriched by similar such movements in other religions and other secular forms of human interaction.

The scope of this paper has been challenging to keep within the bounds of the topic of consumption. As will be recalled in the Introduction, envisioning social change as a group of isolated nodes to be engineered is extremely limiting. Consumption and consumerism is a vital issue which needs to be addressed by our societies. Buddhism as a spiritual resource has, as we hope we have shown, much to offer this issue. Yet when we stop engineering and start transforming, we see that consumption cannot be treated as an isolated variable. Once we begin to examine engaged Buddhist and engaged spirituality approaches we begin to see how transforming consumption patterns is part of a much more complete and fundamental transformation of our human psyche and society.

* Highly Recommended *

"Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening" Stephen Batchelor 1997

"Engaged Buddhist Reader" Arnold Kotler Parallax Press 1996

Bibliography "The Religion of Consumption: A Buddhist Rebuttle"

1. Tawney, R.H., Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (New York: Penguin Books, 1938/1984)
-classic history of development of Protestantism and Capitalism in Europe since the 16th century. A companion reader to Weber's work on the same topic.

2. Loy, David, "Religion of the Market" in Journal of American Association of Religion, Summer 1997.

3. Loy, David, Lack and Transcendence: The Problem of Death and Life in Psychotherapy, Existentialism, and Buddhism. (Atlantic-Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press, 1996)

4. Phongphit, Seri, Religion in a Changing Society: Buddhism, Reform and the Role of Monks in Community Development (Hong Kong: Arena Press, 1988).
-profiles eight such Thai "development" monks

5. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, Dhammic Socialism (Bangkok: Thai Inter-Religious Commission for Development (TICD), 1986)
-seminal work influential on most of the above monks and many engaged Buddhists

6. Watts, Senauke, Santikaro Bhikkhu eds. Entering the Realm of Reality : Towards Dhammic Societies (Bangkok: International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB), 1997)
-details more "Buddhist" initiatives to sustainable societies

7. Sachs, Wolfgang, ed. The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power (London & New Jersey: Zed Books Ltd., 1992)

9. Jones, Ken Beyond Optimism : A Buddhist Political Ecology (John Carpenter: Oxford, 1993)

10. Payutto, Phra Prayudh Buddhadhamma: Natural Laws and Values for Life Grant Olson trans. (Albany: SUNY Press, 1995)
-an accessible text on the foundational Buddhist teachings found in this article

11. Homepage resources
* The Think Sangha (www.igc.apc.org/bpf/think.html)
* International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) (www.igc.apc.org/bpf/ineb.html)
* Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) U.S.A. (www.igc.apc.org/bpf/)
* Suan Mokkh (ksc.goldsite.com/Suanmokkh/)
-for information and resources on the "development" monks of Phra Sekhiyadhamma and Buddhadasa Bhikkhu)