Re-designing one’s own relative self by embracing, purifying and enhancing the found material both personal and cultural, guided by wisdom of radical honesty and authenticity, in a process fueled by raw developmental creativity and bold improvisation – this could well be the vehicle for an embodied, engaged, “tetra-enactive” spirituality. At any rate, I believe it could easily go quite beyond any narrow notion of branding based on the conflict of pretending vs. who you are. This duality is not as contingent as it may seem, because changing who you get to be either way is not as easy as picking a new online avatar. Before serious awakening, there’s not enough wiggle room. After fruition, often there’s no incentive. On that note, cultivated intention (i.e. “vow”) seems to work well in such longterm contexts.

Also, we may consider self-branding in 3 stages (h/t to Deida), depending on maturity and stability of one’s motivation: first, egoic self-projection, unreflective, manipulative, and dependent on others’ opinions; second, honest self-presenting, reflective, respectful, more interested to discover others; third, stark self-offering, insight-based, energetic, and devoted to baring oneself and others to reality in mutual exchange.

If you instead have an incredibly flashy title like Unleash the Buddha Within: 27 Proven Power Principles for Instant Enlightenment NOW for Lazy Stupid People!! and have nothing but totally recycled, superficial content designed to make a buck, that’s lacking in substance.

Where it gets muddy is when your editor tells you to rewrite your spiritual masterpiece to be more accessible, to leave out the chapter on ethics (nobody likes to be told how to live), and to write under a pen name (how about “Adyabudda Da”? That has a good “enlightened guy” ring to it). One of the appeals of Dan Ingram’s book is that he hasn’t compromised his hard-core approach to the teachings of the Buddha because he has self-published his work and has not tried to make it more “marketable.”

To apply the metaphor specifically to personal branding, if you have the heart of Jesus but nobody’s listening because you smell like hippie, it might be best for your mission to clean up a bit to look good on camera (Eckhart, shave the chin beard dude).

If you however are seeking fame at any price, well, you deserve the circle of hell reserved for PR people, spammers, and pop stars….

The tricky thing is where to draw the line, especially since we have more power than ever to not only shape our appearance but actually change our fundamental identities. The question “Do you start with who you are or who you’re pretending to be?” contains the presupposition that your identity is a fixed thing, rather than the morphing, fluid story you tell yourself and others that gives coherence to who you “are”…today.

There is an art to public presentation. It could be contained perhaps in a koan:

How do you craft an authentic personal brand?

A similar question is being asked by marketers, especially in the line of thinking of Seth Godin.

I agree with you that branding is an essential part of getting a message out, though I would argue slightly with the notion that “To move the status quo, you have to make a big push.” Sometimes the most subtle brands are the one’s that are the most powerful. They aren’t in your face, non-stop, and over-bearing, but rather are just representing something so useful or so beautiful that people just can’t stop talking about them. In that sense, I’m of the mind that content is king when it comes to branding.

In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that some marketers who are overly aggressive in their attempt to reach folks (Bill Harris’ Holosync technology immediately comes to mind) can seriously retract from their core message, and end up devastating their brand. Obviously, this can be a fine-line and there is, as you say, that added dimension of Buddhists having an immediate dislike for anything that sounds like advertising or marketing. Personally, I’m with you that all of these technologies, when combined with a really amazing message, can be a stellar combination. But still, I think the message trumps the marketing methods any day. If the message is great, the marketing should be easy.

Since you had what appears to be a strong reaction to my post (or more accurately to personal branding) I figured I’d respond.

First, though I respect your opinion, you didn’t appear to understand the basic concepts that I laid out in this post. You basically re-hashed the standard arguments against personal branding (which I think are valid, but only in certain contexts and with certain people), and then relegated all of my other points to “spin.” By doing so you have immediately grouped me into the category that you so clearly dislike, and I think this is a categorical mistake. I won’t take it personally, but just so you know, I think you’ve misunderstood my position pretty dramatically.

So, just to further clarify, I am defining personal branding as any individual’s attempt to communicate some sort of personal value that they possess or can offer in objective ways. This can include building a web presence, having a social network profile (like Gaia community), micro-blogging, presenting a biography, pictures, artwork, blogs, written work, communications, etc. Really it’s all the ways that we portray ourselves (intentionally or even unintentionally) in the world. With this definition (which I think is both more helpful and more accurate philosophically), we really can’t escape personal branding. We are a brand from one perspective, which is to say that we are always being perceived a a symbol of sorts, and by choosing to more consciously work with this brand (or in other words, work with the perception that others have of us) we can, I would argue, live more consciously. Perhaps I should just call this “conscious branding”, as to distinguish it from personal branding, but really I want to challenge all of those who are vehemently opposed to ANY sort of personal branding. I think this is an extreme view, and one that simply isn’t tenable.

Thanks for your interest and for your comment.

Perhaps it comes down to values. If you measure satisfaction and success in capitalist terms, than there’s nothing wrong with turning yourself into the same sort of entity as Coca-Cola or IBM. I, though, don’t really see the appeal.

I’ve written a book based on my personal experience and, while not intended to be a sacred teaching, is definitely coming from the expert perspective. Who wants to read somebody who lacks confidence? From that position I have a commitment and an obligation to get the book out there, both for the sake of reimbursing the publisher for their faith and investment in me, and for the sake of benefiting addicts, and the people who love them.

It’s necessary to put forth a consistent brand identity to that aim. So on we go with marketing. Getting the message out there. Maybe it’s obnoxious to some Buddhists, who think that advertising is proselytizing, or to 12-Step members who feel that everything needs to stay anonymous and out of the spotlight. Well, I disagree. In my case, and I don’t speak for anyone else, my personal brand represents my personal best, on all levels: my best thinking, best Dharma, best intentions, best creativity, best marketing efforts and best use of Web 3.0 and my lifelong obsession with the Internet.

Moreover, the concept of being a 12-Step Buddhist has implications that will move beyond many current limitations in both the Buddhist and 12-Step worlds. It’s never easy to push the envelope, to break free from mental formations and seemingly concrete notions. To move the status quo, you have to make a big push. In this sense, I’m ready to take some heat for my personal branding efforts. Because I know that the point isn’t to create a cult of personality, as one Zen master in recovery warned me about. Rather, we’re moving into an integrated world where the principles of Buddhism can be applied to the most serious personal and social issues that we face as a civilization. Not to be overly dramatic, but have you watched an episode of Intervention lately? I respect Dr. Watt’s notion of selecting the prospective elite for his Contemplative Ph.D program, but who’s going to help my friend the junkie who can’t even begin to tolerate one second of his present moment reality, in the place where he lives?

In summary, there is a need for new thinking in the areas of addiction and Buddhism. Consistent branding is vital to the process of stimulating ideas and discussion among those who need it for those who would benefit from it.

-d

Darren Littlejohn
the 12-Step Buddhist
http://the12stepbuddhist.com

The concept of an image is a good metaphor: looking out of a window, I can alter my perspective and the view dynamically shifts with me, but when I’m looking at a photograph, it seems real for a second, but it doesn’t move with me, so as soon as I shift, the picture’s unreality is revealed because the perspective it embodies is static. In a sense, there is something more satisfying when I am *with* what shows up for me, even if that picture is of an ordinary tree versus a photograph of something like the Grand Canyon, bathed in a dramatic sunset, etc.