Buying Buddha, Selling Rumi : Orientalism and the Mystical Marketplace

Dr. Sophia Rose Arjana has written a masterful evaluation of the ways Eastern spirituality has been commodified in Western culture. From the appearance of what she calls "muddled orientalism" in films to the creation of retreat cultures like Burning man, the author shows how "Western", mostly American people, have used parts of "Eastern" spiritual traditions to create marketable, profitable, products. This is a book is a perfect theory text for university classrooms, but truly should be read by every yoga studio owner, retreat director, and practitioner of modern spirituality. Truly insightful!

Drawing upon research in multiple contexts, effectively demonstrates how the orientalist marketplace functions, commodifies traditions, and appeals to particular "consumers" of mysticism. Important for those interested in religious pluralism, spirituality, and interreligious relations.

A fairly well written book on an engaging topic. I was interested to read it as I think there are some salient points to be made about commercialization of Eastern traditions in the West; yet this book goes way too far in its indictment of Western forms of spirituality to the point of nihilism. While I agree that exploitation and appropriation do happen, I see all of the world’s religions as fluid traditions shaped by historic cultural forces that have always included exchange and inquiry. The author seems to posit that white westerners and the spiritual practices they engage in cannot have real connectedness to anything authentic and holy; while adherents of the Asian religions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam are the only people authentically capable of experiencing Eastern spirituality through the fixed canon of the religion they were born into. What this leaves out is the reality that spiritual experiences can happen for everybody and each Eastern religion and Eastern nation has its own problematic elements and internal conflicts and will always be continuing to change and evolve.In the end, the author describes her perspective as “cynical” which she associates with her role as an academic. Scholarship does not necessitate cynicism; if anything it feels like this author has such a strong bias against the West and white people that she is not able to approach what she observes from a nuanced perspective.