We Are the Economy: The Buddhist Way of Work, Consumption, and Money

(Paperback)

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There is no such thing as "Buddhist Capitalism," but pithy German business analyst Kai Romhardt, the founder of the International Network for Mindful Business, argues that a no-nonsense Zen approach to our economic realities can transform everything. Is real, lasting satisfaction possible within our current financial system If you're skeptical, business analyst and Zen practitioner Kai Romhardt proposes a minimalist, awareness-based strategy that totally reconfigures our core economic relationships- work, consumption, and money. Too often, we think of the economy as something outside of us, as beyond the scope of our individual choices. We're unhappy with how things are going, with unthinking growth that polarizes our world and condenses wealth at the top, but we don't know what to do. Romhardt argues that individuals who wield a sharp Buddhist mindset can, in fact, create change through personal decisions- when we can see in to society, and in to our constructs, we become empowered to choose deeply real and purposeful lives.

Reviews

"For Romhardt, mindfulness allows the mind to see the world for what it is, and the practice of it leads to the questioning of habitual beliefs about oneself and the world. He explores how, what, how much, and why one consumes, connecting the dissatisfactions of a consumer-based economy to Buddhist teachings on interconnectivity and compassion... Romhardt's intelligent analysis demonstrates the perilous downside of rampant consumerism."
Publishers Weekly

"Written in an engaging and pragmatic voice, this book offers a compassionate, meaningful approach to an area of our lives that has been so often associated with greed, toxicity, unethical practices and a winner vs. loser mindset."
Lion's Roar

"Offers an alternative, minimalist approach to endless cycles of consumption and competitiveness."
Manhattan Book Review

Kai shows us how the practices of stopping and of deep looking can become powerful instruments to overcome the suffering caused by our current economic thinking and acting.
from the foreword by Thich Nhat Hanh

Author Bio

German author, speaker, trainer, business coach, and Dharma teacher Kai Romhardt first studied management and organization at the University of St. Gallen and was on the fast track as a consultant at McKinsey. But when he suffered a "crisis of meaning," old certainties collapsed and something inside him woke up--at a Buddhist monastery in France. Since 2001, the question of what mindfulness and Buddhist practice have to offer our economy has become Kai's central focus. Kai leads seminars and offers retreats on how we can wake up to a joyful, meaningful, humane, and wholesome economy, and begin to translate these insights into their own lives.