Thursday Nov 14, 2024
Thursday Nov 14, 2024
Thursday, 13 February 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
teachings to lead a life of happiness and contentment. Barring a few, the greater majorities believe that to possess is the one and only thing in life.
Though we possess all the worldly things, yet we are not as happy as our previous generations who had very few possessions to call theirs. Unlike our previous generations, giving without expecting anything in return seem to have deserted most of us. This is further compounded with our chasing after all the illusionary perceptions without being able realise it.
External perceptions are overpowering us and today the wrong perception of things we ourselves once created for simple identification, brands, have become our masters while we who are the slaves yet like to call ourselves the most intelligent animal on this planet.
It is the hot topic in the minds of customers and marketers, this name form (nama rupa) called the brand or super brand. It has grown in stature over the years and dominates our day-to-day life. Brands and super brands of all kinds today are at the tips of the tongues of one and all.
Let us take a look at how the word brand came to be and how it is defined by the many brand gurus. The word brand came from the Old Norse word “brandr” meaning “to burn”; in the early days branding was used to identify ownership of cattle by burning the skin with a sign. But what about today and of the definitions of brand, and one says: “A distinguishing symbol, mark, logo, name, word, sentence or a combination of these items that companies use to distinguish their product from others in the market.” In other words the brand has a named form (a nama mathra rupa).
Evolution of this brand concept to what it is today had a complex journey with more and more features, words and explanations being added. Today in defining the brand one speaks of touch points, proof points, brand equity, brand essence, brand value, brand image and many more.
Brand touch points are being broadly defined as “all the ways in which your customers, employees and partners come in contact with your brand”. It could be the advertising, point of sale material, packaging, display point in the store, etc.
For example, for an airline it could be the telephone sales, call centre, internet booking site, ticket office, airport check-in counter, departure point, in-flight service, arrival point, baggage collection point, etc. For a product in a supermarket it could be the shelf display, in-store display Point Of Sale Materials, etc.
Also one definition on brand proof points says: “A brand proof point is evidence that supports a claim of value that you make about your product, service or company. These claims of value are called key messages.” Proof points are formulated in many ways (source, book written by Leslie Suntherland on brand proof points):
Mind and mind moments
All states have mind as the forerunner; to them the mind is supreme and of mind are they made. Therefore, if one with a defiled mind speaks or acts on account of that suffering follows one as the wheel follows the foot of the ox.
All states have mind as their forerunner; to them mind is supreme and of mind are they made. Therefore if one, with pacified mind speaks or acts, on account of that does happiness follows one as the shadow that does not depart. (Dhammapada)
As stated above, the first and second stanzas in the Dhammapada are the most visible principles that explain how our mind works.
While the marketers and brand gurus talk of touch points and proof points in relation to the brand, question arises as to where these things really exist. Do they really exist in the brand?
A touch point is where there is touch (passa). In the teachings of the Enlightened One, touch (passa) is stated as follows. With reference to eye, when eye contacts form, there arises eye consciousness and with the confluence of the three, namely the eye, eye consciousness and the form, there arises touch, then feeling and the feeling leads perception, to thinking and thoughts and that results in getting attached to the hindering things, greed, self view and conceit (majjima nikaya).
Through this process the person becomes a victim of his/her own patterns of thinking: The same applies to all six agencies, eye, ear, tongue, nose, body and mind. Therefore in essence, the touch points are part and parcel of these six agencies and the concomitant process and not something that is in the so-called brand.
As for proof points same is best explained in the five-door process. A thought has 17 mind moments; 14 mind moments from the fourth, the five-door adverting to the 17th, the registration constitutes the 14 acts of process consciousness, leading to registration which in itself is the proof.
The worldly beings are firmly affixed in the papancha, greed, self view and conceit, while the Enlightened Ones are not. However being worldly creatures we cannot achieve this freedom, yet it is important for us to understand and be able to have self control in our daily activities.
Loss of self control leads to indulgence. Self view and the indulgence in self view results in the dethis katha or the 32 useless and frivolous talks and the present day perception of the brand is also part of these 32 talks.
Indulging in brand perception is to stress and burden us allowing for the arising of greed, hatred and delusion (raga, dvesa and moha). One builds raga because of the attachment leading to personality ethic (asmi mana), dvesa because of the conflicts all these mind moments create, and moha the delusion that it is this or that when in reality it is name form perception. It is this lack of understanding of this name form or nama rupa that prolong our existence in sansara.
Akkeyiya sannini satta, akkeeiyasmin patititha, akkeiye aparinnaya, yogamayanthi machchuno. The worldly beings have perception of name (nama), they situate themselves in name, not comprehending the name, goes under the influence of mara.
Loyalty vs. indulgence
Brand loyalty is where the consumer is satisfied and happy with the product or services. The many touch points and proof points within the consumer enable him/her to upload the perception into the mind and every time they interact with the brand the perception is renewed. When there is consistency the perception is reinforced. However the perception itself is a mirage (sanna marichikkan) and the consumer is enveloped by this mirage. Marketers call this the halo of the product or service. This perception leads to thoughts and resultant personality view or sathkaya ditti. Sathkaya would be of lesser intensity in those who are wise enough to understand and not be governed or controlled by the brands but use the products or services sensibly and wisely based on their needs.
In the case of those who indulge in the brand it leads to development of stronger self conceit or asmi mana (I am). The person unknowingly is burdened by this self conceit, akin to fixing a boundary pole firmly rooted to the ground and judging the world from his/her place taken root of and thus being imprisonment. It is this reason and the ignorance that drives people to be totally burdened by the brand perception. Such people often become slaves to the brand trying to identify them, to build halo around them vide the brand due to ignorance. They love to claim that they are users of this or that brand not knowing that they are imprisoned.
In the dependent origination cycle ignorance plays the pivotal role leading to formation (sankhara), consciousness (vinnana), name and form perception (nama rupa sanna) and so on. Ignorance itself is dependent on the fermentations of lust, existence, etc. Perpetuation of the sansara is thus further reinforced with no avenues for release. Therefore the greater danger lies in the indulgence in brands.
Managing self in the brand powerhouse
Whether we like it or not our touch points are inundated with external bombardment of brands through electronic media, print media, at point of sale, hoardings, cinema, supermarkets, etc., and being lay mundane people often it is difficult to restrain ourselves. As lay people we need to conduct our daily lives, work, eat, dress well, have a car, a house and go on holidays and so on. Here we have to be conscious of the brands based on our needs and wants but not allow the brands to overpower us.
One may have an expensive car, branded cloths eat the best food in top hotels, yet if he or she is conscious enough to know that the brand is only a perception then they are on top of the brand and are not governed by it. Also such people will not be easily persuaded by all the media hype and exposure of brands or by those brand opinion leaders or brand ambassadors. For that you need indriya sila or restraint of the five faculties. One also must have avithikka sila or of not transgressing beyond limits.
It is known fact that the waves in the sea normally do not go beyond the shore yet consistently keep coming ashore, and when it does transgress the shore there is a tsunami. Indulgence in the brand is akin to a tsunami where the individual has neither restraint of the faculties nor has any limits.
The Enlightened One in the sabba aasava sutta gave us the best solution to manage ourselves in this brand environment, patisevana pahathabba. The fermentations that arise due to indulgence in these phenomena can be abandoned through using. The person must reflect appropriately when using clothes, or food, abodes, or any other things simply for ones use and not to indulge in them as often professed by brand people which unfortunately magnifies ones personality view or sakkaya ditti. It is this Sakkaya Ditti that makes us prisoners in the sansara. So brand indulgence can actually guarantee one the traversing of sansara with no release.
The restraint of five faculties allows one to be more objective and not be subjective. There are many examples that come to our mind on how wise people did not enslave them to material and other things and yet lived well. Visaka, the countess who lived during the days of The Enlightened One, when visiting the Jethawanarama Temple where The Enlightened One was dwelling often came dressed in expensive clothes and adorned with gold jewellery studded with precious stones. However she had no attachment to those things having already eradicated the personality view (sakkaya ditti). Even though we have not eradicated personality view, yet we should strive to diminish same and not try to reinforce it as that will only extend our journey in the sansara.
The prison
When one is confined to the prison, one can get release either at the end of the sentence period or even earlier through good behaviour while in prison. However when one gets imprisoned in the brand prison it is extremely difficult to get released because of the brand bombardment and continuous indulgence in it. However if one is wise enough to know this, then possibility is there for such people to achieve some degree of freedom from this brand prison.
“Thanhaya duthiyo puriso, dhiga maddana sansaran, iththaba annatha bhavan sansaran nathivaththathi.” All through this sansara there is a second person, the greed be it here or there and consequently no release. Brands influence this second person the greed allowing it to control our lives and imprison us.
Our ignorance on the brand phenomena is best explained by the practice of dangling a carrot in front of a donkey tethered to a loaded cart. The donkey in its greed keeps moving forward to try and grab the carrot and as a result takes the cart forward. The owner gets his task performed while the ignorant donkey yearns to catch the carrot. The second person, the greed is like the donkey and yearns to get hold of the carrot in doing so we become subservient to the master the brand phenomena. All this happens due to absence of wise contemplation or yoniso manasikara. Instead we dwell in ayoniso manasikara or unwise contemplation.
One must also be conscious of how the languages are manipulated with new phrases and words in this branding sphere. Language evolved for our use, but yet today has come to master us, best explained in the following storey. Thousands of years ago three people went to the seat of learning in their country. One learned how to assimilate bones to construct a skeleton, the second to give flesh to it and the third to give life. Returning home through a jungle path they came across a collection of bones of a Tiger and decided to practice their skills. The skeleton was assembled, covered with flesh and the third gave life to it, and the next moment the Tiger pounced on all and killed the three men.
The brand imprisonment in our country has been further compounded where today under the notion of brands we consume poison impregnated food. It is most heartening that the authorities, the GMOA and some of the electronic and print media pioneering a crusade against the perpetrators of these crimes and educate our people to use wisdom when selecting their food items. As clearly pointed out by the GMOA president, indeed in the 1950s we were made to drink a glass of milk where the milk powder came from a Western country, which slowly but surely made us take up drinking of powdered milk that was totally imported.
Perhaps our farmers should take into their hearts why fruit trees that grow in the compound of temples bear more fruit than those in lay people’s houses. The reason is the power of the dharma expounded by The Enlightened One which reverberates in and around the temple. Our paddy farmers can take the lead where they can at least for a half hour in the morning and evening broadcast the metta sutta near the paddy field which will definitely improve the yield and at the same time give our consumers rice and vegetables free of any poison.
In the beginning the branding was used to burn cattle skin, which once healed is no burden to the animal. But present day brand/s burn millions of holes in consumers’ minds and which often are never healed. Therefore the wise must guard themselves from the ill effects of indulgence in brands and use the branded goods and services wisely based on ones needs and wants, which will enable one to lead a happy and contented life.
“Sarancha sarato nathva, asarancha asaratho, thesaran adhigachchanthi, samma sankappa gochara”. Having known the essential as the essential and non-essential as the non-essential, those nourished in right thinking arrive at the essential. Dhammapada.
(The writer may be contacted by email [email protected].)
