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You can now get “Enlightenment” Visa credit cards that reward you in “points” redeemable for spiritual retreats, teacher trainings, a session with a spiritual “master,” and workshops. You may also convert your points into charitable contributions for things like breast cancer research, schools in India, and the organization Cherish Our Children International. 
Not only that, you can select a graphic for your Enlightenment Card from this menu, stocked with an om symbol, Buddha, a photo of hands in a mudra, and more. Have a look.
I’m slightly turned off, but I’m shaking my head in reluctant admiration. Outside of the fact that you’re fattening a huge corporation, I don’t quite see the downside. What do you think?
If they run TV ads for this, they’ve got to use as their theme song “We are The World. We are the Children,” and show fit people doing Tai Chi, Qigong, and yoga at sunrise, don’t you think? Any other suggestions welcome.
posted October 3, 2006 at 1:39 am
personally i think this fits into you spiritual materialism thing you were talking about eariler.
posted October 3, 2006 at 5:08 pm
im so capitalism has found its spiritual side
posted October 4, 2006 at 7:57 am
Oh, yes I noticed these and wanted to post about them. Like you Amy, I am turned off by these. Primarily because I see it from the point of view of an Advertising Culture colonizing yet more spaces of our lives, of the deepest narratives we have, of the spaces of our culture that we reserve to connect deeply with each other. Sure, the catch is that through this use some benefit is provided to others. This is what many like to call “enlightened self-interest,” except that it always seems to end up with capitalist advertising culture gobbling up so much of the spaces of culture that nothing is read outside of that colonizing mindset.I also wonder if we don’t become too quickly used to yet another layer between us and those things we ought to practice, we ought to engage with deeply. The card with a nice Buddha image becomes another branding of ourselves, another point of spiritual materialist attachment.But yes, the creativity and the way that this advertising culture has to insinuate itself into everything is remarkable. As I told my sangha the other day: we keep finding ways to consume ourselves.Thanks again Amy!
posted October 4, 2006 at 7:19 pm
Like you, CM, I’m split in my reaction. On the one hand, it’s great brand extension, communicated with saavy and sophistication. Plus, if you’re going to spend, why not spend in the “right” direction? But it also seems like a green light for spending without qualification. If it’s “all good” all the time, play on! This whole idea of marketing and materialism is much bigger than Visa; credit (in general) is just another way we put layers between ourselves and conscious spending. “Money is a paradox in our culture – it enslaves, yet it also frees; it is intensely private, but it is also very public; it measures worth, yet it is no measure of real worth; it destroys yet also creates.” from Ministry of Money @ http://www.ministryofmoney.org/Orientation.htm
posted October 4, 2006 at 10:39 pm
Here we see again mainstream america capitalizing on the Dharma. Nowhere as low as the Buddha tankini, but still…
posted October 5, 2006 at 5:23 pm
enlightenment card.. I get giggles everytime I look at it. If you spend 1000 dollars you can redeem if for 1 out-of-body experience. sounds like a bargain to me
posted October 6, 2006 at 12:32 am
We studied this in sociology-advertising takes the meta-stories if you will and attachs them to things or belongings so that you are told by posessing something you will have peace beauty a happy family spiritual connection-it is a bait and switch of sorts. I wrote a paper on it once.
posted November 8, 2006 at 3:48 pm
This is Christopher Miglino the founder of Conscious Enlightenment.We started this card to help make a positive impact on the world, and it is working. 1000′s of people have signed up for the card and are starting to earn points that they can donate or use for self improvement. We are not a small company but we are not “huge Corporation”. In fact all of our companies are focused on enhancing the world. You can take a look at them http://www.yogamates.com http://www.monthlyyogadvd.com http://www.cemagazines.com http://www.goldenbridgeyoga.com Thanks for reading and hope you can join us.Peace Christopher Miglino
posted May 17, 2007 at 4:10 pm
I would like one of these cards instead of my plain visa card which has my banks name ALL over it, I think this is great! I have no points plan with my card so already this card seems a better idea. No one I know ever likes the picture that comes on their credit card….until now!? However, I cant get one anyway as it is for US only & not Canada…:(
posted October 17, 2007 at 11:58 am
I prefer to make my charitable contributions directly.
Most people don’t need any more clever incentives to
put them (further) into debt. Better to focus on the
interest rate, fees, etc, of the supposed “enlightenment”
card.
posted October 31, 2007 at 6:18 am
Our father in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as in heaven daily bread and forgivnes in jesus name amen
posted April 5, 2012 at 5:12 am
hi!,I love your writing very so much! share we communicate more approximately your post on AOL? I need an expert on this space to solve my problem. May be that is you! Taking a look ahead to see you.
posted April 20, 2012 at 11:40 am
Wow, what a quality it is! As mostly YouTube video clips have no pleasant quality, however this is truly a nice quality video.