Is the marketing of ritual religious items as collectibles to Westerners looking for spiritual quick fixes offensive? Ask Native American Indians and Africans, among others, whose sacred cultural objects have long been expropriated as household ornament and superficial spiritual decoration. For Tibetans, and those of us who are keen to the deep spiritual offerings of Tibet, this question raises itself anew.

Take the Pacific Spirit catalog out of Forest Grove, Oregon. Among its many gift offerings (some of which I have happily received as holiday presents) is a bell and dorji set. Yet far from identifying these items as important Tibetan Buddhist spiritual items, they are described as "Ritual Power Tools" for balancing your own personal negative and positive energies to "bring harmony to one's life and surroundings." Sure sounds like cultural pickpocketing in the service of fast-food spirituality. (Buy this and satisfy your spiritual hunger!)

On the other hand, some borrowings from the cultural toolchest of other traditions seem more benign and potentially inspiring. Consider the sterling silver Prayer Wheel Earrings above, which actually spin and bear the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum (I Bow to the Jewel in the Lotus Blossom). A nice sentiment to dangle in the world's eyes and the earrings don't pretend to be anything other than what they are: an attractive ornament beautified by the most oft-repeated mantra in the world. Or is someone else offended by these, too? If so, make your case to Hundred Mountain and we'll print it in the next edition. P.S. We're also willing to hear from dorji collectors, too---has the dorji become a Pokemon-like collectible for a certain spiritually trendy set?

By the way, if you do want to sanctify someone's earlobes, try to buy these earrings above from a catalog tuned into the Tibetan cause. In one catalog, right next to an ad for them was another showing a bare-breasted woman and an ad for a six-cassette tape set on "Natural Breast Enlargment"--- Om Mani Padme Hmmmm, indeed...

The Tibet Collection catalog recommended above ---oops, they sell dorjis, too---is part of an outfit called dZi (website: www.dZi.com), the wholesale and retail marketing arm of the Tibetan Handcraft Development Project, a for-profit, fair-trade business venture jointly launched by the Tibetan Government-in-Exile and a small group of American investors in 1990. The group is a member of the Fair Trade Federation, which supports fair wages and opportunities for low-income artisans. The catalog includes a useful listing of U.S. Tibet organizations.

---

The Shanti Foundation for Peace out of Evanston, Illinois, USA, is one of those low-to-the-ground organizations doing celestial work. The six-year-old group promotes nonviolent education through the arts. A description for their pilot youth program called "Heroes: Present and Future," which teaches youth to be catalysts for change, says it is based on the premise "that learning to get along with each other locally and in the world at large is just as important as learning language arts, math and science."

The groups' catalog of "peace products" includes a line of gorgeous-looking cards decorated with quotes, including the one above with that wonderful remark by the Dalai Lama: "My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness." A mantra for the 21st century. The bottom quote on the card is by one of the young people with whom the group has worked. According to the product catalog, starting Dec. 10 you can also mix and match favorite Shanti quotes and graphics to send unique, personal cards via the Internet.

---

Well, it IS an object. Even better, it's an object that will arrive four times per year in a gift recipient's mailbox. Tricycle is essential reading for anyone interested in Buddhist meditation and the growth and health of Buddhism in the West. It features a challenging blend of articles on meditation practice and Buddhist teachings; profiles and interviews with teachers East and West; topical issue-oriented pieces that often stir debate; and educational eye-openers that give you a richer sense of Buddhism's history, characters and challenges---including flashpoints along the Way of Dharma. Sample article titles from the Fall 1999 issue include:

"Pema Chodron on Students and Teachers"

"Dharma in the Republic of Desire"

"Zen Master Yasutani's Wartime Anti-Semitism"

"The Practice of Listening (with Philip Glass, Duncan Sheik, Kay Larson on John Cage"

"Siddartha: Herman Hesse's Story"

PAGE 7: Gifts of Aid and Service...

	Page One | Editor's Notes | Buddhascope | Buddamerica | Dharmatalk | Foundobjects | GuestColumn | Meditation | Poetry | Quotes | ReadingRoom | SiteIndex | Contact Us | Subscribe