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RELIGION
SOLANGE RAMOS DE ANDRADE
RENATA SIUDA-AMBROZIAK
EWA STACHOWSKA (EDS)

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João Fábio Bertonha (UEM)
José Luiz Ruiz-Peinado Alonso (Universität Barcelona, Espanha)
Peter Johann Mainka (Universität Würzburg, Alemanha)
Solange Ramos de Andrade (UEM)

E ditorial B o ard :
Prof. M arta R osa Borin, F ederal U niversity o f Santa M aria, B razil
Prof. Cristina F ortes Lia, University o f Caxias do Sul, B razil
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B794 Brazil-Poland: Focus on Religion/organização de Solange Ramos de Andrade, Renata

Siuda-Ambroziak, Ewa Stachowska- Led. - Maringá, PR: Edições Diálogos/State
University of Maringá; Warsaw, Poland: Brazilian Studies Research Group, American
Studies Center /University of Warsaw, 2019.
340 p.
Texto em inglês

ISBN (BR): 978-85-88613-21-8

ISBN (PL): 978-83-62992-21-8

1. História. 2. Brasil. 3. Polônia. 4. Religião. I. Andrade, Solange Ramos (org.) n.

Siuda-Ambroziak, Renata.(org.) HI. Stachowska, Ewa (org.). IV. Título

CDD 21.ed.981
The Commodification of the D harma -
Preliminary Reflections on Buddhist
Products on Brazil’s Religious Market

Frank Usarski*

In t r o d u c t i o n

Until World War II, almost exclusively restricted to Japanese Immigrants - fol­
lowed by the foundation of traditional Temples in the 1950s and, from the 1960s on­
wards, by a gradual pluralization of religious institutions mostly of East Asian and
Tibetan origin (Usarski, 2017); Buddhism has recently entered a new stage of its evo­
lution in Brazil. Like in other Western countries, it is currently no longer necessary
for Brazilians interested in Buddhism to become a member of a well-defined religious
community to study the teachings of the Buddha, follow Buddhist ethics, or become
familiar with a spiritual practice formerly transmitted within hierarchal lines of sub­
mission. That means Buddhism can be “considered a component of the sacred cosmos
of our times” marked by a religious practice on the individual, private level, spiritual
pragmatism and this-worldliness in the context of a holistic worldview. Those who
share these attitudes declare “that Buddhism permits men to experiment and to auton­
omously construct an ensemble of his own religious motivations” (Soares, 2004:139;
144). In other words: to a certain degree deprived from the support and protected by
organizational structures, Buddhism has been partially absorbed by the so-called con­
sumer culture, is now an integral part of Brazil’s spiritual economy (Gelfer, 2010:55)
or the spiritual marketplace, and is today surrounded by a climate of enhanced con­
sumer choice (Bowman, 1999: 182; 184).

’ Frank Usarski - PhD in the Science o f Religion, Professor o f the Science o f Religion Program at
the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; founder and editor-in-chief o f
the Revista de Estudos da Religião and the International Journal o f Latin American Religions.
E-mail: usarski@pucsp.br.

29
 Frank Usarski

This development is in tune both with overall empirical trends within modem
Western societies and with theoretical sociological tendencies in search of ap­
proaches capable of dealing with the respective shifts within society in general
and the religious field in particular. Therefore, a growing number of sociologists
insist in the reduced analytical value of formerly powerful analytical categories
such as “class”, “gender” or “ethnicity” in the face of an increasing “liquidity” of
modem society (Bauman, 2000) and their subjective correlates such as “individu­
alization”, “autonomy” or “multi-optionality” (Gross, 1994).
Under these circumstances, researchers of Western Buddhism are well ad­
vised to overcome their habitual focus on the institutional manifestations and iden­
tifiable forms of membership. This does not mean that the question of “how a va­
riety of traditional Buddhist schools and movements have been affected by en­
countering the myriad forces of modernization” (Heine & Prebish, 2003: 5) has
lost its relevance for the academic discussion about related issues. However, from
a sociological standpoint, there are good reasons to doubt whether the classical
image of Buddhism as a relatively clear identifiable religious system really corre­
sponds to the dynamics and configuration within the contemporary religious field.
The shortcomings of the conventional approach to Western Buddhism become
even more evident when they are confronted with the hypotheses and insights of
sociologists of religion; such as the concept of the systemic “porosity” of contem­
porary religion and the dislocation of its functions into other segments of modem
society (Pollack, 2008). While society becomes liquid, religion becomes “fluid”
presenting itself in a diffused manner to subjects characterized by a high degree
of mobility (Liiddecken, 2010: 11) and changed spiritual attitudes in the sense of
Grave Davie’s renowned motto “believing without belonging” (Davie 1990,
1993). This adoption of religion to the post-industrial society (Knoblauch, 2009:
41) did not leave Buddhism unattached and generated new demands for its re­
search under the heading of “commodified Buddhism”.
All this means that researchers of Western Buddhism including contempo­
rary Buddhism in Brazil are challenged by an expanded empirical and theoretical
horizon. The following paragraphs deal with three elements of this spectrum.
Firstly, the reader will find a succinct description of the market-niche Buddhism
has conquered in Brazil. Next come observations about the process through which
religious elements of Buddhist origin are transformed into commodifiable goods
and services. The final part gives some answers to the question of what the evo­
lution of a market of Buddhist-connoted products means for institutionalized Bud­
dhism in Brazil.

30
 The Commodification o f the Dharma...

T h e s p e c t r u m o f c o m m o d if ie d B u d d h i s m in B r a z il

A systematic approach to “commodified Buddhism” in Brazil starts with an

overview of the internal structure of this religious market-niche. The two interre­
lated key-questions in this context are about a) the social surroundings in which
the production of religious goods and services are produced and offered and b) the
audiences that are addressed by the suppliers (Stolz, 2006). In order to reduce
complexion one can think of a continuum marked by two extreme ends. One side
alludes to Buddhist communities that produce religious goods and services for the
usage of its members. In this case there is no or only a little distinction between
producers and consumers. Both instances are overlapping. On the other side there
are “secular” suppliers which produce goods and services for the free “religious
market”. In both cases the audience can be mixed: it is possible that goods and
services produced and consumed inside a religious community attract clients from
outside the religious community. It is also possible that a product or service on the
free market makes sense for a member Buddhist community because the signifi­
cance of and benefit from the acquired good or service is in harmony with his or
her faith and the plausibility structure of the religious group this consumer is com­
mitted to. One example for the first category is the “Loja Mandala” (Mandala
Shop), associated with the Tibetan Buddhist Odsal Ling Temple in the city of
Cotia. The shop offers a vast spectrum of religious articles such as books, CDs,
Buddha-Statues and Malas that in the first place are relevant for the adherents but
- since they can be ordered via the Internet - may also attract clients who has
nothing to do with the Temple (Mandala. Arte & Dharma, s.a.). The same is true
for the firm, Dharma Books. The latter was a virtual library run by DharmaNet,
an “ecumenical” portal for the propagation of all Buddhist traditions active in Bra­
zil. One of the means to contribute to the “illumination of all human beings” was
the commercialization of Buddhist literature. However, DharmaBooks had no sin­
gle volume in stock. Rather, the potential client was invited to use the embedded
link to the online distributor “Submarino”. The partnership implied a compensa­
tion for DharmaBooks and the latter promised that any financial benefit was re­
directed to the Buddhist communities associated with Dharmanet (http://www.dhar-
manet.com.br/dharmabooks/). Commercialization initiatives of Brazilian Bud­
dhist entities which primarily but not exclusively address practitioners can also be
found in terms of teaching or cultural activities of local Temples open for a general
public. This is true for Ikebana-courses offered by the Higashi Honganji Temple
in São Paulo (http://www.aleatorio.com.br/marco/honganji/curso_ikebana.htm)

31
 Frank Usarski

or classes of Chinese language, cuisine or painting techniques offered by the Medi­

tation Center associated with the Fo Guang Shan-Temple in Cotia (http://www.tem-
plozulai.org.br/centro.htm).
A different type of commercialization initiatives of Brazilian Buddhists enti­
ties consists of the supply of goods and services primarily designed for a non-
Buddhist audience. The following two examples refer to the so-called “Spiritual
Management”-sector. The first case is that of the Brazilian convert Wilson Medei­
ros de Moura who transformed his Mahabodhi-Center in Niteroi into the firm
“Fator Zen”. The latter was dedicated to “the formation and capacitation of indi­
viduals in the fields of Human Resources, Life Quality and Social responsibility”
by organizing “corporative and open educational processes, consultancies and
presentations” (http://www.fatorzen.com/filosofia_fz.htm). While the firm “Fator
Zen” was relatively short-lived, Moura’s book with the homonymous title is still
available (Moura, 2016). The second example is related to Alfredo Aveline, better
known as Lama Padma Samten, the founder of the Center for Buddhist Studies
Bodhisatva in Porto Alegre. One of his activities is directed to the business sector
for which he offers talks on issues such as corporate communication, marketing,
entrepreneurship or the labor market. According to Lama Samten’s curriculum
vitae, institutions such as the Federation of Industries of the Federal State of Pa­
raná (FIEP) / COFIC - Center for Industrial Support in Camagari/BA / ABRAS As­
sociation of Brazilian Supermarket-Owners have been among the clients (Sobre
o Lama Padma Samten, s.a.).
Both Wilson Medeirois de Moura and Alfredo Aveline have to compete with
enterprises of “secular” suppliers which produce goods and services at least sym­
bolically related to Buddhism for the free “religious market”. One example of the
latter is the firm “Dharma Marketing” which did not show any sign of commit­
ment to a specific Buddhist community, movement or “vehicle”, but included
“Theravada- and Zen-Meditation” in the lists of techniques offered for “secular”
clients who wished to transcend mere discursive communication in order to culti­
vate pure attention on the level of the collective consciousness of the company
(http://www.dharmamarketing.org/).
The most important sector, however, in which products and services at least
symbolically associated with Buddhism are offered by “secular” suppliers, is the
field of alternative health. In some cases, the connection with Buddhism is radi­
cally reduced to the enterprises name which means that visitors of institute such
as Companhia Zen (Companhia Zen..., s.a.) or Nirvana {Nirvana, s.a.) will not

32
 The Commodification o f the Dharma...

find any farther-reaching association with Buddhism than the auspiciously sound­
ing allusions on the company plaque. In other cases, one recognizes efforts to jus­
tify the firm’s name through the inclusion of at least one or another more Bud­
dhism-like items in the eclectic program of therapies. The Spa Daissen, for exam­
ple, offers courses on Zen-cuisine for those who are interested in combining the
search for relaxation and exotic alimentation (Cozinha Zen, 2011), while the Pila-
tes-instructors of the Bouddha-Spa enrich their western method through refer­
ences to Oriental Philosophy and the implementation of Eastern Meditation and
martial art-techniques (Bouddha Spa, s.a.).

T h e T r a n s f o r m a t io n o f r e l ig io u s g o o d s / s e r v ic e s
INTO A COM M ODITY

The following reflections are inspired by studies on the process of commod­

ification of products and services originally embedded in religious context. Two
studies are particularly useful in this context: firstly, the essay of Madhulika
Baneijee, on Ayurvedic pharmaceuticals in the modem Market (Baneijee, 2002);
secondly, an article of Nurit Zaidman, Ofra Goldstein-Gidoni and Iris Nehemya
on the process of introduction and packaging of spirituality for the religious mar­
ket (Zaidman, et.al., 2009).
For analytical reasons one can distinguish seven logically inter-related constit­
uents of the process of transformation of Buddhism into commodities, that is, a) ab­
straction, b) parceling, c) rearrangement, d) recontextualization, e) packaging,
f) cunicuhzation and e) validation. The elements represent conceptual constructions
in the sense of ideal-types. Empirically, this means that the elements are not neces­
sarily found, neither in their pure form nor combined to a complete set. Rather, some
are more basic and might occur more frequently than others. Finally, the list does
not suggest that the elements occur necessarily in a pre-defined sequence, although
some of the elements are almost inseparably interconnected.

A b s t r a c t io n

According to Vincent Miller, consumer culture in the field of religion corre­

sponds to “a way of relating to beliefs - a set of habits of interpretation and use -
that renders the «content» of beliefs and values less important” (Miller, 2005: 1).
In other words, we currently observe a process of “liquidation of cultural traditions

33
 Frank Usarski

whereby the elements they comprise (beliefs, symbols, practices, and so on) are
abstracted from their traditional contexts and engaged as free-floating signifiers”
(Miller, 2005: 32). Rephrasing this quotation one can state that the process of
commercialization of religious products and services implies an emancipation
of determined religious aspect from their original context. In this process, the organic
symbiosis between certain doctrines or practices and the embracing symbolic-system
that gives the single elements its specific meanings does no longer matter.
Once abstracted from its context, the elements assume an independent plau­
sibility. One expression for this tendency is the following quote from Marc Fine’s
Buddha in a Business Suit. “Although it draws from the deep well of Eastern spir­
itual teachings, this book is not about becoming a Buddhist. It offers simple and
profound advice that will serve you regardless of your background or spiritual
outlook, and shows you how to do whatever it is you’re doing better - while living
in a state of contentment and happiness” (Fine, 2008: 12).
The idea that one can benefit from a religious item without taken its original
context into account is re-affirmed by Andréa Falchi, an interior designer in Rio de
Janeiro, who says: “Everything from the Orient is fashion and the Buddha plays the
role of its official representative. However, when an interior designer places a Bud­
dha in a specific environment he or she is not necessarily concerned with the reli­
gious side. Rather, the image of Buddha humanizes the space (Fernandes, 2009:17).

P a r c e l in g

Parceling means that from the totality of the integrated symbolic universe of
Buddhism and its corresponding practices, certain aspects are isolated and com­
mercialized. What specific aspect is isolated depends on the character of the busi­
ness or service offered on the market. While a shop like the Bazar Kamakura (Ba­
zar Kamakura, s.a.), for example, is full of material items from amulets to Buddha-
Statue, an alternative health-center is more interested in methods which can be
used for relaxation. This brings us to rearrangement.

R earrangem ent

In a general sense, rearrangement means the combination of Buddhist ele­

ments with aspects abstracted from other religious contexts. In a more pejorative
sense it can also be defined “as the blending of «serious» esoteric knowledge with

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 The Commodification o f the Dharma...

more popular and commodified versions” (Pousani, 2003: 37). One example is the
approach of the firm Dharma-Marketing which offered in its program along with
Theravada- and Zen-Meditation, Dharma-Marketing “other practices of spiritual re­
finement” including the art of leadership “Doshu” and methods of Raja Yoga
(http://www.dharmamarketing.org/).

R e c o n t e x t u a l iz a t io n

The principle of “recontextualization” refers to the underlying spirit in which

rearrangement takes place. The most obvious issue here is holism. Spirituality in
general addresses the human being as a whole, bringing segments together that
from a modem point of view are segmented or even contradictory towards each
other (Knoblauch, 2009: 127). In opposition, alternative medicine and workplace
spirituality defend an integrative perspective in which the dichotomy of body and
mind or workplace and private life are overcome.

P a c k a g in g a n d c u r r ic u l iz a t io n

The principles of “packaging” and “curriculization” are two intimately re­

lated constituents of the process of commercialization of religious services and
goods. “Packaging” is related to the integration of Buddhist elements into prede­
fined sets of spiritual commodities. The second principle refers to the arrange­
ments through which these sets are offered on the market. The term “curriculiza­
tion” implies, that the offered content is organized in logically and functionally
interrelated smaller units. One example for “packaging” and “curriculization” is
the way the firm Fator Zen presented its services to the public. The offer was
dedicated to the philosophy of promoting the success of an economical enterprise
and the harmonious coexistence and collaboration of the employees. The whole
course was subdivided into a series of modules and it was up to the customers’
free choice to enrol in single units which fitted best to their momentary personal
interest. One example is the course on “Meditation and steady mental quietude”.
Those who signed up for this module were attracted by the promise that they might
learn how to calm the mind according to the following topics: a) Introduction to
meditation: vision, objectives, basic techniques and postures; b) Meditative con­
centration: dispersing influences; objects helpful for focussing; objectives; c) The

35
 Frank Usarski

mind: its natures; how it functions; universal elements and stages of spiritual evo­
lution; d) initial difficulties of meditation and countermeasures; e) Principal man­
tras: what they are, how they work and how to utilize them in order to evolve and
to concentrate; f) Steady mental quietude: concept and practice; g) How to silence
the mind: basics and life-experience; h) respiratory reduction: techniques of respi­
ration which promote spiritual evolution, concentration, and deep relaxation of
mind and body. Clients interested in these issues could sign in for the whole course
composed of 12 meetings (approximately 700 Brazilian Reais [November 2011]) or
for only one specific unit (170 Brazilian Reais).

V a l id a t io n

The principle of “validation” becomes visible through efforts of suppliers of

Buddhist connoted goods and services to prove the quality of their products. Since
the quality of a product reflects aspects such as talent, capacity, faculty and the
resources of the producer, the technique of “validation” is also concerned with the
reputation of the “fabricator” and “distributor” of the commodity. One of the most
evident indicators of the desire to let both product and producer appear in a posi­
tive light consists in the attempt to downplay the religious origin of a commodity
and to emphasize its secular character. Instead presenting these goods in terms of
its original Buddhist context, they are related to non-religious intellectual enter­
prises such as Transpersonal Psychology and topics such as “collective conscious­
ness”, “synchronicity”, “human intelligence” or “spiritual quotient” (Aberto,
2009). The following quote from the website of the Dharma-Marketing-Agency
is one example for the attempt to reduce the importance of the religious nature of
Buddhism: “The spiritual dimension of the human being, understood as the high­
est level of integral prosperity, has been forgotten, because it is frequently mis­
taken for a religious perspective. This position explains why people in the field of
business environment dissociate themselves from the concept of self-awareness”
(http://www.dharmamarketing.org/). Ronald Z. Carvalho, one of the agency’s
consultors, takes a similar line stating: “In Buddhism neither there are command­
ments nor there is sin. There are only rules of conduct that lead to human satis­
faction and to a harmonious affiliation of human beings. In the same way, the rules
lead to a correct coexistence if one applies them to marketing” (Carvalho, s.a.).
As for the concern with the producer’s or distributor’s reputation, the curric­
ulum vitae of Wilson Medeiros de Moura, the director of the already extinct firm

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 The Commodification o f the Dharma...

“Fator Zen” was revealing. The CV highlighted the following qualities: re­
searcher in the field of Human Development; training as meditation and Tibetan
Yoga-instructor at the Men-Tsee-Khmg-Institute, India, the Monastic University
of Sera Mey, India and Nepal and the Mmulargan-sc/iooZ, Chile; training in the
field of Tibetan Medicine at the Men-Tsee-Khang-Institute, India (http://www.fa-
torzen.com/wilsonmoura.htm). In a similar tone, Wilson Medeiros de Moura
is introduced as author of his book “Fator Zen”. According to the resume he is
not only a writer, but also an engineer, entrepreneur, lecturer and consultor
(Brito, s.a.).

C o n s e q u e n c e s f o r in s t it u t io n a l iz e d B u d d h is m in B r a z il

Comprehensive and profound analytical reflections about the manifold im­

plications of the incorporation of Buddhist connoted goods and services into Bra­
zil’s “free religious market” would go beyond the scope of this article. In line with
deliberate classification of the present reasoning as “preliminary”, the last para­
graph is reserved for a few remarks on the consequences of the commodification
of Buddhism for institutionalized Buddhism in Brazil. The focus of this succinct
comments lies in the ambiguity of effects caused by the process of marketization.
The central point in this context is that the commodification of Buddhist con­
noted goods and services represent a severe challenge for the Buddhists institu­
tions and authorities active in the respective temples and centers. In a highly di­
versified religious field such as Brazil, any religious branch can only survive if it
submits itself to the dynamics of competition. Kardecism, in terms of statistics the
third most relevant religious tradition in the country and due to doctrines, such as
reincarnation and karma, is probably the severest rival for institutionalized Bud­
dhism. With the absorption of Buddhist ideas and practices by independent pro­
viders, the competition aggravates for two interrelated reasons. Firstly, the spec­
trum of suppliers of religious products expands aggravating competition by the
numerical increase of alternatives. Secondly, different to the Buddhist religion
upheld by tradition carriers concerned with the historical authenticity of teachings
and techniques, the contextualization of the latter in a hierarchical social and the
lay(wo)men’s commitment to a temple’s or center’s authorities, the market does
not demand any other prerequisite for the obtainment of a Buddhist connoted
product than the power of acquisition in terms of monetary capital. This creates
a very different situation compared with the past. In a “classical” setting, only

37
 Frank Usarski

those who were predisposed to enter a well-defined religious community and to

submit themselves to a time-consuming, sometimes strenuous spiritual routine
had the privilege to partake in Buddhist wisdom. None of these conditions are
constitutive for the market. On the contrary, the client, liberated from a religious
authority’s “power of definition” is free to pick up a product he/she can afford and
is free to go if he/she thinks the purchased good fulfills her/his needs. If she/he
feels that the product did not correspond to the standard or the supplier did not
keep his promise, the client simply re-orientates her/himself on the market. Tra­
ditional Buddhists may not only argue that consumerism runs the risk of banaliz­
ing religion (Borup, 2016: 49) but also “that it is primarily through the commodi­
fication of Buddhism that the Dharma loses much of its capacity to transform in­
dividuals” (Cohen, 2017: 13), since the consumer scratches only on the surface
thus avoiding her /his own spiritual evolution. From this perspective, Buddhism
is a long-term path that oscillates between moments of sensible progress and
phases of supposed stagnation or even frustration which a practitioner only would
overcome if she/he is patient and sticks to the idea of “refuge” to the Buddha, his
teachings and his community.

B ib l io g r a p h y

Aberto, M. (2009), Dharma marketing, Sapiência. Retrieved from: http://sapientus.blog-

spot.com/2009/10/o-dharma-marketing.html.

Baneijee, M. (2002). Power, Culture and Medicine: Ayurvedic Pharmaceuticals in the Modem Mar­
ket. Contributions to Indian Sociology, (36), 435-467.

Bauman, Z. (2000). Liquid Modernity. Cambridge: Blackwell.

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http://empresas.novobr.com/empresa-1570-Bazar-Kamakura— Orat%C3%B3rios-Budistas-
e-Acess%C3%B3rios-.html.

Brito, C. (s.a.). Fator zen - um convite à paz interior: Um convite à paz interiore [Book review],
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