There are cultures who believe that objects have souls…

That’s probably too woo-woo and out-there for most of us, yet we believe that there is a difference between something made with love and one (of a million) that has rolled off the factory floor. You can feel it when you hold it. It gives you a certain energy and brings warmth into your home.

I was in India recently, talking to a jewelry maker about his work. I was looking at a pendant and I commented that the stone was flawed. It had a couple of small black markings. He was genuinely surprised. “People have freckles,” he said, “that’s part of their beauty. Those marks are the stone’s freckles”. It might have just been sales talk, but it wasn’t.

We bought a lot of hand-blocked fabric during that trip, which is printed by hand and always imperfect. The Indians see beauty in the craftsman’s touch, and the way nature makes everything unique. The Japanese do too. In fact, many cultures understand that the thought, craftsmanship and materials that go into something can give it a kind of magic.

When people think of spirituality, a lot of them think of it as the opposite of materialism. Perhaps, that the goal is to live a life without any worldly possessions weighing you down. And, when people think of luxury, they tend to associate it with branding, elitist prices and marketing that is targeted at the affluent.

Fat Karma are a group of volunteers, and we initially came together as members of the same Buddhist society. But we’re not at all monastic or cloistered… in fact, we’re not much different to most of our peers. We question how we should spend our time and money, and how we can be better people and live better lives.

The general group consensus here is… In a society that, in a lot of ways, is still focused on financial gain and career progression, we feel that there are more important things, such as our quality of life and impact on the world.

That doesn’t mean we think we should disengage from the world or join a commune. It’s not about opting out, it’s about making conscious choices.

We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge;
quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness.
We are monkeys with money and guns.
~ Tom Waits

When you get past all the marketing hype, what does “luxury” mean now? Perhaps it’s about knowing the provenance of the things we buy. Knowing that the money goes into the hands of the people that create things, where it’s appreciated and has meaning. Or, perhaps it’s about not filling our homes with plastics and chemicals and artificial additives, and seeking alternatives that are more natural, less wasteful and give us more pleasure.

KEEPING IT AS HONEST AS WE CAN

We have a few principles we apply to our business and the products we offer:

  • We try to source ethically wherever possible, either through fair trade organisations, ethical sellers or direct from the craftspeople
  • The items we produce are handmade by our own volunteers, and we try to use materials which are ethically sourced and produced. If we have outsourced any part of the process, we know the conditions under which that part of the work was done, and we have paid fairly
  • We try not to make claims that are misleading or unproven. An example of an area where this is potentially dangerous is our essential oil products. There are a number of large companies that talk about therapeutic grade oils or how their oils are better than other oils. Our oils are 100% pure, and they have been produced in the country where that particular plant or herb variety grows best. The products we produce from them are made with the best ingredients we can source, and are based on deep research into the science and recipes used by aromatherapists. We can’t say that they “will” perform some medical function, because the science isn’t clear on that, but we have worked hard to formulate them with the best wisdom available. We believe that aromatherapy and essential oils are extremely powerful, and an excellent substitute for nasty chemicals. And they smell fantastic too. So, we will tell you what benefits they “may” have, but we will always try not to dazzle you with smoke and mirrors.
  • It’s hard sometimes. Spiritual capitalism seems to swirl around us, and we’re told that this mala bracelet will protect us from stress, or that pair of yoga pants will help to align our chakras. Maybe they will if you believe they will, but we think these are things you should find in objects yourself, not have sold to you. So, where possible, we try to keep it real. We hope Fat Karma products bring beauty and happiness (and all kinds of benefits) into your life, but we try where we can not to oversell them.

WHERE OUR MONEY GOES

There’s one other important thing I’d like you to know about us, and I have left this until last because I’d like you to choose Fat Karma because of our beautiful products, rather than as support for our cause.

We are a 100% volunteer staffed social enterprise. We do not rent offices or pay for marketing, our storage space is donated and our administrative costs are minimal.

For a number of years, Moh Hong Buddhist Shrine (MHBS) has been raising money to build a permanent home in Singapore. The goal is a space that offers classes, outreach and services to the community, and a place of worship for those who want to use it. MHBS is also unique as a Buddhist Society here, in that it offers healing and counseling to ease the suffering of illness. There’s a separate write up on the society here [link].

All profits from Fat Karma are donated to the Moh Hong Buddhist Shrine Building Fund, which is overseen by a committee in accordance with Singapore’s Charities regulations.