i’ve been thinking lately about  expectations of spiritual protection from physical hardship in ritual and meditation.  specifically how people, in essence, turn their practice into a spiritual exchange – where prayer and worship are bartered for tangible benefit.

i can think of a parallel in my own practice.  i carry a lucky charm of chenrezig bodhisattva with me at all times.  its mostly for devotion and serves as a reminder that i can always get in a few rounds of mani mantra every time i put my hand in my pocket.

but, it has another purpose as well, and that is protection from eight different physical afflictions as well as eight corresponding spiritual afflictions, and i would be lying if i said that that side perk isn’t one of the reasons i keep it with me.  on the one hand i think to myself, ‘oh that’s terrible.  you should be motivated purely by devotion.’ but on the other hand, that is how such charms are ‘marketed’ by the spiritual communities within buddhist cultures.

so in a larger perspective, should people have a right to expect certain real world benefits in exchange for belief, or does that cheapen the spiritual experience?  and what if religious leaders themselves condone such practices?  and what happens when one side doesn’t uphold their end of the bargain and calamity strikes?  do people then have reasonable cause to feel disenchanted or betrayed?

i think most of us would agree that the outmoded catholic practice of selling indulgences was a negative abuse of spiritual authority, but aren’t things like lucky charms, or even prayer wheels, along a similar line?  or is there some threshold where utility and practicality outweigh spiritual purity?

-justin