Buddhabadges: Punk-inspired altruism goes viral

Buddhabadges' founder Anoki Casey had an eclectic religious upbringing. "But I was always drawn to the iconography of Buddhism," he explains on the phone from San Diego, where he does non-profit promotion. It's as good a place to start as any, and like many Buddhists he has dedicated much of his time to altruistic pursuits. His day job is working withgroups like The Meditation Initiative, a program that teaches and promotes meditation as a therapeutic measure for mental and physical health.

One-inch buttons have long been used in the punk subculture (amongst others) to make statements, but instead of an angry shout to the powers that be, he decided to offer messages about Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. He happened to have some button making equipment in his house collecting dust and decided to put it to good use.

In December of 2009 he began to punch out these little metta missiles and was excited to donate $80 to the Tibetan Nun's Project the first month. Since then, $100 has been donated to the Children's Foundation and $150 went to the Tzu Chi Foundation, with a new charity each month. Much of this wouldn't have been possible without the Buddhist Blogger community, who, inspired by these efforts, began promoting the Buddhabadges on various social networks and blogs. Several of the badges have been designed with these writers in mind.

'Omtism', the Autism badge
Proceeds go to OAR

In fact, Jack Daw of the Sweep the Dust, Push the Dirt blog asked Anoki to make a badge focused on autism, the proceeds of which are to go to the Organization for Autism Research (OAR). The OMtism badge (pictured right) is described on the Buddhabadges site:

These three little Buddhas with no mouths staring at a puzzle piece symbolize the repetition and quiet attention that can develop in girls and boys around age three with Autism. The puzzle piece represents the mystery of the disorder as well as the propensity for Autistic kids to favor puzzles due the game calling for solitary focus.

Over the last nine months Anoki has donated hundreds of dollars, 90% of the profits, to the charities chosen. Some of the most popular badges are in the Viharas set, which includes 'Karuma', 'Breathe, it'll save your life'. But he says that, "the Metta badge is the clear winner. I have whole sheets poised to press into badges, just in case."

Although it's a lot of work to keep up with demand, he often has help from the community. Anoki has had help from the Buddha For You store in San Diego and Dharma Bum Temple, whose 'Dharma Bum For Life' program has pitched in several times.

 He also runs Dharma Dots, which profiles some of the most prolific Buddhist writers on the web, and Altar-Bot, on which people from all over the world post pictures of their Buddhist altars. And he isn't alone- people from all over the world are joining in a positivity movement that transcends all religious identity and looks to transform the negative habits of mankind so that we can realize our potential as a species.

If you'd like to know more about Buddhabadges and say something kind to dhamma-brother Anoki, follow Buddhabadges on Twitter and Facebook, and follow the Buddhabadges blog.