East Eats West

Social engaged Buddhism from the USA

In July Roshi Bernie Glassman, the Dharma-father of the Glassman-Lassalle-line of Lassalle Haus, came to visit Switzerland. He celebrated his 70th birthday at the center. Bernie was born in the USA of Jewish origins. He was attracted to spirituality early on and first discovered his Jewish background. He then spent time as a monk in a Catholic monastery, studied among Muslim Sufis and became a Sufi himself, before turning to Zen-Buddhism. As a Zen-Buddhist he pioneered social engaged Buddhism in the USA first and then all over the world. He became renown for his street retreats where he and his followers lived among the poor in the USA and around the world. He even did a street-retreat in Zurich at the "Platzspitz", the formerly notorious "needle-park" and center of the Swiss drug scene. Together with Pia Gyger and Niklaus Brantschen of the Lassalle-Haus in Schönbrunn he then founded a Zen-Buddhist school in Schönbrunn. Nowadays he is particularly interested how Zen-Buddhism can be combined with Christianity and he is a strong proponent of inter-religious dialogues. For Bernie Zen is life. And how one should appreciate life. 

Bernie wrote a few very insightful Zen-Buddhist books like "Bearing Witness" and "Instructions for the cook". His students open 'peacemaker centers' around the world and soon there will be one in Berne, Switzerland. His worldwide peacemaker foundation can be found here: http://www.zenpeacemakers.org/ 

Live abroad and become more creative

 Picture: Live here and it will benefit you more than a MBA!

Master of business administration, or MBAs, have become all the rage in recent years. They promised being a fast track to the executive level of any respectable corporation. I have to admit that doing a MBA also crossed my mind but that I am not very keen learning more about management theories. Anyhow, with the current financial crisis in full bloom, I think it is much more interesting at the front line of the current crisis as compared to sitting in any class-room where outdated knowledge from expired books are being taught. However, a study by William W. Maddux of INSEAD and Adam D. Galinsky of Northwestern University came up with another way of investing in your human capital: live abroad. They found that living abroad helps in adapting to other cultures and even makes you more creative (not such a surprise anyhow). Living abroad makes individuals more aware of multiple perspectives and approaches. Unfortunately they also found that only traveling does not do the trick: one has to live abroad in order to become more creative. Read the study here: http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/psp9651047.pdf 

How to save costs in a downturn

For every economic situation America seems to have a hero ready: what Paris Hilton used to be for the leveraged shopping boom years, Stephen Economides is for the financial crisis. Mr. Economides became famous on being extremely thrifty and living on 35.000 USD a year (with a wife). Here is his list of top ten money saving tips in a down-turn:

1. Plan your shopping trips in advance (write a shopping list)

2. Buy used furniture (tick, as I bought my furniture at Designermöbelbörse http://www.designermöbelbörse.ch/ )

3. Pay in cash and never ever use a credit card (I just dumped one card)

4. Do everything yourself (tick again as I started to clean my apartment myself)

5. Ask the doctor for free samples (nope, haven’t been sick in a while)

6. Do not go on holiday during the main season

7. Watch the telephone costs

8. Switch the light and appliances off at home (not only on standby)

9. Bargain hard for mortgage and the like

10. Choose the cheapest insurance

Read an article in German by Stephen Economides here:  http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/wirtschaft/aktuell/die_lehren_des_economides_1.2384446.html

Or buy his book here: http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Cheapest-Family-Right-Money/dp/0307339459/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239822793&sr=8-1

Arming up for the recession

 Picture: Some people are staking up self-defense kit for the recession.

I recently met a lady who works in finance in London. She just bought a house and told me that her London house has bullet-proof windows and that her boyfriend bought a shotgun with ammunition in order to defend the house. A bit later I met a young Swiss tax-advisor who just bought some pistols because he feels unsafe in Zurich. Before I thought people odd who put cash into bank vaults and store gold at home!

PS: Luckily I am still in the Swiss Army and I have access to ample ammunition (please do not call me for some extra supplies)!

What comes after the brand as religion?

Picture: Mr. Lindstrom knows a thing or two about simple marketing messages.

In mid March this year I went to a presentation by the Danish neuromarketing researcher Martin Lindstrom at the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institut near Zurich. In his very media-savvy presentation he proclaimed that in modern consumer-societies brands like Apple or Marlboro achieve a quasi-religious status. The consumers become faithful to their product communities and the community makes the consumer special. And the leading communities, like for example the Apple-community, help their followers to share experiences and thoughts via their products (think iPhone or iMac). In a time of self-fulfilment and the over-extension of egos, brands give guidance and the feeling of individuality.

Visit Martin Lindstrom’s website here: www.martinlindstrom.com. 

Balance in life

 As an ardent reader of my blog you know about my love for the finer things in life. I often asked myself if I am spoiling myself sometimes with handmade lanterns, shoes and bespoke suits. I recently came across a Buddhist saying that put everything in perspective: "It isn't that we can't enjoy the finer things in life, we just need to know they are not our life."

Jet-set Bodhisattva

  Picture: From Denmark but nevertheless enlightened; Lama Ole Nydahl.

The historical Buddha lived in India but Buddhism has lost its shine there a long-time ago. In China, home of Cham or Zen Buddhism, it was purged by the Communists and the same happened in Tibet. In Japan modernism has made Buddhism often just a mere old tradition. Buddhism’s decline in Asia has been in the making for a long-time and it did not go unnoticed. In the 20th century many Lamas and Zen masters left their home-countries to spread Buddhism in the New World (the most popular being the Dalai Lama). Some went to America (like Shunryi Suzuki), others to France and some made it to Switzerland. With the relocations came the adaptation to Western culture and the first Western Lamas and Zen masters emerged. This was not an accident but clearly intended by the Asian Buddhist teachers.

Nearby where I live there is a Buddhist centre of the Tibetan Karma Kagyü line that is headed by the Danish Lama (guru) Ole Nydahl. For over thirty years Lama Ole has been travelling the world and opening over 450 Buddhist centres. As a Buddha, an enlightened person, he does not get jet-lagged or tired as he is constantly concentrated, content and smiling. On average he travels three times around the world per year and spends more time on a plane than any CEO. The centre in Zurich is inhabited by 25 laypersons that maintain the house and give lectures and lead meditations. Every evening at 7.30pm they meditate and chant together and while leaving in individual apartments, they share a common room. For more about Lama Ole Nydahl visit his website here: http://www.lama-ole-nydahl.de/ . More information about his centres can be found here: http://www.buddhismus.org/

Hyperanteface

 Picture: A beautiful face is coming back. 

Lots of people still think plastic surgery is bad, particularly if it is only done for beauty’s sake. Prof. Sailer is a leading plastic surgeon and he claims that patients become more intelligent after a beauty operation as their self-esteem gets a boost. Well, maybe. But the other interesting thing he said is that the most popular modern face is the hyperanteface. The hyperanteface was the ideal facial structure during the times of the pharaohs in Egypt. For example the Egyptian royal wife Nofretete had such a facial structure. And now, Angelina Jolie has! Typical for this type of facial structure is an extended jaw that protrudes. And according to Prof. Sailer this type of face stands for women liberation and strong mind. I would love to ask Brad Pitt about that! 

http://www.sailerclinic.com/welcome.html

Switch off

Picture: No Blackberries around white swans please.

With the 'age of less' another development is gaining momentum: being digitally offline. Take the Blackberry: anyone working in finance had to have one. Last time I had lunch in London I was surrounded by hectic bankers with their Blackberrys on their table. They were constantly starring at their bleeping electronic devices, not paying attention to their companions, surrounding or the food. Times have changed. Banks are cutting costs and the first thing to go is the Blackberry service, as it is expensive. I think this is a good sign. Anyone who has been to a coffee shop or restaurant lately and tried to meet people realized one thing: everyone was busy with something, except one-on-one socializing. Because of the Blackberry, the IPhones and IMac people stopped to communicate with other people present. They were caught up somewhere in the virtual world, exchanging information with someone far away. So this economical downturn might give opportunity for live, real, one-on-one contact. Wouldn’t that be nice, to actually go to Starbucks, alone, and being able to meet strangers? One does not need Facebook for that!  

The age of less

 Picture: The age of less has not arrived on Zurich Bahnhofstrasse yet.

The term ‘the age of less’ was coined by David Bossart of the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institut in Rüschlikon. Since the last stock market crash in 2001/2002 investors and business men around the world experienced five years of abundance, amazing growth and ballooning wealth. Sometimes it felt that getting rich turned into a human obsession. The current financial crisis ended this illusion. With employees fearing for jobs and companies cutting-cost, the mood has changed. Everyone feels it. People like to stay home again. And shoppers want value for money, quality. One rather buy less often but go for something that last longer. This phenomenon was already observed by retailers in Switzerland. Shoppers do not spend necessarily less yet, but they ask more questions and want something that lasts. Cheap chic is over! Maybe this will be a little revival of good old handicrafts and workmanship? Maybe the last shoemakers like Bálint from Vienna will find new clients?