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Is there any merit to supporting Buddhist owned businesses?
matthewmartin
Amateur BodhisattvaSuburbs of Mt Meru Veteran
in Sanghas
Wasn't sure where to put this question. No "upasaka" category.
The idea occurred to me when I saw that the auto mechanic today is SE Asian & had a picture of a king & a monk on the wall. (I'm guessing Thai, but I suck at identifying SE Asian scripts)
The idea occurred to me when I saw that the auto mechanic today is SE Asian & had a picture of a king & a monk on the wall. (I'm guessing Thai, but I suck at identifying SE Asian scripts)
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Comments
I have mixed feelings about the issue, and I'll tell you why. The last time I went to visit my mother in Winter Park, Florida, I stopped at a garage that did most non-major car repairs, service work, etc. I said I needed an oil change and new oil filter, and he asked if I had any evidence that I was a Christian (church ID card, etc.). I said no, and that I couldn't see why it would make any difference what religion I was in terms of getting an oil change. His answer was that his business gave a 15% discounts for card-carrying Christians.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. So bad.
Once, he owner of a Tibetan gift shop gave me a sandalwood mala, albeit a cheap one, free because I was a Buddhist. He didn't ask for any evidence. I don't know if he would have offered the same courtesy to a Christian.
An old friend has a son who is a born-again Christian. The son makes exquisite Taiko drums and tried to arrange sales of his drums to a Taiko drum ensemble, based out of a Denver Jodo Shinshu temple. They refused him because he wasn't a Buddhist.
SCCA gets member discounts, or at least used to, with a number of sports car - related business around the country.
All that said, I think it's at least in keeping with a sense of community, to patronize Buddhist-owned businesses whenever possible. I don't know if there is a "merit" - as in the merit from practice - to doing this. I think this is especially true when the business may not be all that successful. For example, I was in Colorado Springs Saturday afternoon, and had they been open, I would have stopped at a Tibetan gift shop I know of to buy a little something. CoS isn't exactly a hotbed of Buddhist activity and I suspect stores like that don't do as well as those in Boulder or even Denver.
I thought that the Taiko group refusing to do business with my friend's son was bogus as hell, and could border on illegal (discrimination based on religion). I think if someone can contruct a musical instrument of acceptable quality and design it shouldn't matter if the guy's a Baal worshiper, but for some people it does.
My wife does skin art using Henna. One evening he had 2 Sudanese women over for some henna work, Muslim of course, and when they saw I was repairing a mala for a friend they inquired and we had an interesting chat about Muslim rosaries vs. Buddhist. I asked them if a Muslim would take or buy a rosary made by a Buddhist. They said, absolutely! Something tells me it's not quite that simple, but that's just how things go.
I asked my adopted son (who is Pakistani Muslim) about a discussion a few of us had the other day. Would a Muslim accept a pig's heart valve in open heart surgery.
Interesting about the henna. Each year when we had our school's international night, some Indian ladies always wanted to do the henna skin art on me.
Steering money towards businesses that subscribe to an ethical code, I suppose might be smart shopping if the business actually did follow their ethical code--less likely to get ripped off. But in a country where 100% of everyone is Buddhist, maybe it doesn't have the same ability to distinguish those who subscribe to Buddhist ethics and those that just happen to be Buddhist.
I bought my meditation cushion from Esperanza Threads in Cleveland, since they try to seem to be progressive in their personnel policies.
I'll have to think about this more.
I'm enough of a cynic, that in the case that @vinlyn cites, I suspect that the Christians are actually paying a fair, going price and the rest of us are getting a price marked up by 15%. No real discount going on, just one to make a certain customer demographic think they're getting a deal. The rest are getting hosed.
That may indicate a deviation in opinion voiced in earlier posts, but hey .... food for thought?
I like your choice in cushion and think you made a wise one. I got my cushions from a yoga studio in New Mexico made by the owner from organic, sustainable material. Even though the owner isn't a Buddhist, her products are great, and having met her, like her POV. They're also really comfy cushions!
@vinlyn ... Seeing as you live in The Springs, I'm a bit surprised you haven't run into Christian-only discounts before this.
In Thailand I tended to stay away from Muslim-owned establishments...not because of religious prejudice, but rather because when I did patronize them I found their attitude to very frequently be genuinely unfriendly...and more so the further south you got into the peninsula.