If “Dharma-Burgers” are incidents of Buddhism and/or Buddhist ideas colliding with mass culture, then certainly “Buddhify,” featured on the great Lifehacker site today, qualifies:

There’s not anything so new, in and of itself, about there being a meditation app. So why might Buddhify be notable? (more…)

Well, no, of course not. And yet… (See my latest post at Shambhala SunSpace for more on this one and to chime in.)

A new piece from the editor of the Sweden-based Asian Tribune (published by the World Institute for Asian Studies) makes no bones about the Tribune’s feelings about the phenomenon of the Dharma-Burger. (I can only imagine how they might react to that term in and of itself.)

A couple of excerpts:

Internet companies, institutes for massage, restaurants, resellers of furnishing, and breeders of exotic cats all adopt Buddha in their uninhibited capitalist interests. As well as leaching the symbolic meaning which adherents of Buddhism ascribe to the Enlightened One. Some resellers of these, as they are marketed, oriental objects, also advertise that their Buddha statues are traded fairly or subscribe to the criteria for fair production.

And:

The commercialization of Buddha is an insult to all adherents of the Buddhist tradition. And can be seen as an expression of the prevailing relation between the so called Third world and the postcolonial powers.

Some would say that this is just plain true.

Some would say you have to look at such things in a matter of context.

There’s certainly an argument that different views might largely be the result of fundamental cultural differences. But then it can be fairly said that certain aspects of certain of cultures have to be more conducive to practicing what the Buddha taught than others. After all, wasn’t the Buddha ultimately offering a path to a different kind of culture, one fueled not by outward, material pursuits but by the best of what resides inside us all?

Or is a “Buddha for Sale” maybe not so bad, because we need reminders everywhere we go, not least of all the marketplace?

And hey, each Buddha for Sale is one less Snuggie or Big Mouth Billy Bass or whatever.

Maybe, though, it’s becoming more like one more Big Mouth Billy Bass. (Or whatever.)

(Yikes!)

Anyway, what do you say? Check it out.

Comments welcome.

Just the beginning?

Here on the Horse, we talk a lot about “Dharma-Burgers.” You can click here for the description via Urban Dictionary but, simply put, a Dharma-Burger is an example — dubious or not — of Buddhist imagery or ideas that is being put to use in any sort of marketing, advertising, or sales arena. Again, a Dharma-Burger isn’t necessarily a bad thing — for every really cheezy, quick-buck shlock-item that might qualify, there’s always some surprisingly smart and/or inventive tie-in that seems at least somehow in line with Buddhist principles.

For a while now I’ve almost lamented that I haven’t really been covering “Yoga-Burgers“, as there seems to be no end to the way that yoga, like Buddhism, is being co-opted into mass culture. But it looks like I can get in on the ground-floor with a new kind of ‘Burger.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you what may be the first legitimate “Mindfulness Burger.” (Okay, it’ll need a better name that that, but you get the drift.)

As the press release I saw today states:

“With all of us busier than ever, it is important to find easy ways to eat nutritious foods that provide lasting energy. With this in mind, the National Peanut Board (NPB) has launched the Peanuts: Energy for the Good Life® iPhone® app. The free app offers recipes, snack suggestions and a five-minute mindfulness meditation exercise with Stephan Bodian, author of Meditation for Dummies® — tools to help people care for their bodies and minds throughout every part of every day.”

I must admit: I was at first pretty cynical about this. The mindfulness/peanuts connection just seemed like too much of a stretch. That peanuts — whose healthfulness is sometimes in question, especially when they’re not of the organic variety — should be an early beneficiary of a sort of “Mindfulness Bump” seems, well, odd. And this does appear to be just a straight-up marketing move.

But I’ve started to wonder if it doesn’t, even accidentally, represent something more: this app could be seen as a great (if very minor) thing because, hey — whether it’s there to shill peanuts or not, it’s also teaching people about mindfulness. And: peanuts? How mainstream can you get? Might as well be apple pie.

One thing’s for sure: this won’t be the last of this kind of thing. We’ll be seeing mindfulness everywhere soon — for better, or for worse. But I’m starting to think it’s almost always going to be for the better. Mindfulness, after all, goes with just about everything. I just happen to prefer almonds.

The real question is: What do you think?