It’s November already – time to start thinking about Christmas! You may have seen that the Buddhist Centre Online is running a campaign to raise awareness of ethical gift-giving opportunities this Christmas. In his introduction to the campaign, Candradasa mentions two of the key principles that, as Buddhists, we aim to live up to: Not to do harm / To practise open-handed generosity. So how can we transform our spending habits – especially at this ‘festive season’ time – into an expression of Buddhist practice?
Choosing not to buy your books from the big international online retailers is a good place to start. These companies can take as much as 60% of the sale price, and they’re putting small independent publishers and bookshops out of business. By purchasing your books directly from the independent publishers and bookshops themselves, you can ensure that more of the money you spend goes to supporting smaller, more ethical businesses. If you buy your Buddhist books from the Windhorse Publications website or your local Triratna Centre, for example, you will be supporting a not-for-profit enterprise which invests its surplus income in new books and improved production methods, all with the aim of better communicating Buddhist teachings in the 21st century. You will, just as importantly, be directly contributing more to the authors’ book royalties, their return on their creative endeavours.
But Christmas is an expensive time. Don’t the big international online retailers give you better value for money? Not necessarily! By subscribing to our website, you can buy our books and eBooks at prices that are competitive with Amazon. Our bestselling Life With Full Attention, for example, is £12.08 on Amazon, and only £11.08 from our website with standard membership (standard membership is completely free). We offer free delivery on all UK orders too. Proof that the ethical option isn’t always the expensive option!
In addition, we are now selling eBooks direct from our website. This means that you are not only buying our eBooks encryption-free – allowing you to have a greater ownership of them – but also more of the money you spend goes straight to us.
Lastly, and most importantly, by buying Windhorse Publications books, you’re giving the gift of the Dharma, which is the most precious gift of all. Books really can change lives, and we believe our books are all imbued with the spirit of the Buddha’s teachings, whether they’re on meditation or mindfulness, poetry or psychology.
We also sell Windhorse Publications eGift Cards, so if you’re not sure what to give your friends and family this Christmas, you can let them choose for themselves – we’re confident they will find something on our website that inspires them. Take a look and see what you think!
Choosing not to buy your books from the big international online retailers is a good place to start. These companies can take as much as 60% of the sale price, and they’re putting small independent publishers and bookshops out of business. By purchasing your books directly from the independent publishers and bookshops themselves, you can ensure that more of the money you spend goes to supporting smaller, more ethical businesses. If you buy your Buddhist books from the Windhorse Publications website or your local Triratna Centre, for example, you will be supporting a not-for-profit enterprise which invests its surplus income in new books and improved production methods, all with the aim of better communicating Buddhist teachings in the 21st century. You will, just as importantly, be directly contributing more to the authors’ book royalties, their return on their creative endeavours.
But Christmas is an expensive time. Don’t the big international online retailers give you better value for money? Not necessarily! By subscribing to our website, you can buy our books and eBooks at prices that are competitive with Amazon. Our bestselling Life With Full Attention, for example, is £12.08 on Amazon, and only £11.08 from our website with standard membership (standard membership is completely free). We offer free delivery on all UK orders too. Proof that the ethical option isn’t always the expensive option!
In addition, we are now selling eBooks direct from our website. This means that you are not only buying our eBooks encryption-free – allowing you to have a greater ownership of them – but also more of the money you spend goes straight to us.
Lastly, and most importantly, by buying Windhorse Publications books, you’re giving the gift of the Dharma, which is the most precious gift of all. Books really can change lives, and we believe our books are all imbued with the spirit of the Buddha’s teachings, whether they’re on meditation or mindfulness, poetry or psychology.
We also sell Windhorse Publications eGift Cards, so if you’re not sure what to give your friends and family this Christmas, you can let them choose for themselves – we’re confident they will find something on our website that inspires them. Take a look and see what you think!
