A Journal of Humor and Verbal Anarchy

 
buddha bucks

In case you're wondering, the third largest industry in Ithaca next to education and parking, is Buddhism. As evidence, Ez offers this excerpt from a news item in the Jan 6 issue of the Ithaca Journal,

"A proposed 13,000-square-foot monastery, which would house the Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies, received preliminary site plan approval from the Town of Ithaca earlier this month.


To be located on the east side of State Route 96B (Danby Road) across from Sesame Street, on a 27-acre site, the estimated $850,000 construction project would comprise multiple buildings, including a main building, monks' residence and student dormitories, according to planning board documents. Parking for 66 vehicles is included in the plans, as well as five seasonal cabins, a bath house, a maintenance building, lighting, trails and new stormwater facilities."





We're talking Dharma Disneyland. This is a Lama Theme Park. Bring the kids. Ride the Tonglen Tornado. Get reborn a hundred times. Test your karma on the BuddhaMeter.You may be reincarnated on the board of directors at Greenstar.

If you think that Americans' sum interest in Buddhism amounts to the sound of one hand clapping, think again. More like ca-chink, ca-chink,that's right, we're listening to the sounds of the cash register. Type in Buddha and store in your search engine. Ez dares you. A hand-carved Shakyamuni Buddha sells for $45 on one website. Then you add the prayer mat, the beads, the incense, the books, the cd, the kinky saffron lingerie for the mistress, the greeting cards around the holidays ( Yes, in answer to your question: Buddhists celebrate Christmas and Passover.) The wheel goes around and around just like on TV. There's no end to the money you can make off Lord Buddha and American's fascination with things vaguely non-occidental. All this stuff about dharma and karma, it's mind sushi. Intellectual takeout.


Right behind Kinko's on the corner of Meadow and State, you'll notice another
example of Ithaca's thriving Buddhist industry. The home of Snow Lion Publications. A large, nondescript corrugated roofed warehouse next to Booze Barn or some similiarly named beer outlet. One of the world's largest purveyors of Tibetan Buddhist materials, Snow Lion has been an Ithaca landmark for over 20 years. At one time, they had a tiny little office across from Immaculate Conception. Now, the three guys who started Snow Lion all rank up there as millionaires. "it's not hard work if you can get it, get it if you try." Or so the song goes. They have the monks do the work, they reap the profits. What is the starting salary for a Sadhu,a guy who has renounced the world, lives off the charity of relatives and patrons, walks around in a thin saffron robe?

Ezra sees a connection here. Seems like the key to success in Ithaca is to control your labor costs. Perhaps that's what the 12 Tribes and the Buddhawuda business community have in common. You recruit people who work for next to nothing.
Comments invited at: ezrakidder@gmail.com - Peace, Ezra at 6:05 AM