Material Success and Happiness Through Yoga Principles

by Swami Kriyananda
(J. Donald Walters)

Copyright © 2005 Hansa Trust
All rights reserved.

Lesson Eighteen
Secrets of Effective Advertising
The Principles
Advertising has become so sophisticated nowadays that it might almost be described as a science. I don’t suppose much remains to be said on the subject, so much is well known, and has been fully explained in numerous, excellent books. I may be able to add a few thoughts here, however, as they relate to yoga principles. Effective yogic advertising, moreover, will have a deeper and more long-range impact than most salesmanship has nowadays, some of which reminds me of the merchant who is said to have addressed a customer, “Oh, you want a green suit! Please in that case, sir, step over here under the green light.”
Advertising can tend to be like a comment made by a character in a play of mine, who asks whether a particular endorsement would not seem “rather like a purveyor of wonder medicines beginning his presentation with the word, ‘frankly.’” Peddlers of “wonder medicines” do well, generally, to get out of town fast before their products get tested and are found to consist of furniture polish!
Many of the claims one sees show little concern for the real merits of the items being sold. All the advertisers seem to care about is that people buy, buy, BUY!
Two recollections of questionable salesmanship have brought a smile to my lips. The first was an announcement that appeared many years ago in a college newspaper: “RAPE! MURDER! MAYHEM!” Underneath that “scare” headline appeared the message: “Now that we’ve got your attention, there will be a meeting of the French club next Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.”
The other recollection is of something that appeared—again, many years ago—in a general newspaper: an advertisement which read, “Your last chance to send your dollar to Box 213!!!” No reason was offered for sending that money. I was told that this little piece of nonsense reaped sizable rewards!
Most advertising is designed, in fact, with not much more scrupulosity, even if it does manage to be clearer as to its true intentions. Still, I do get the impression that people are more conscious these days of the importance of truth in advertising. Granted, most advertisers would still like to get more returns for less worth, and sometimes even the most for the least: the most sales for the least effort; the most rewards for the least value; the most popularity for the least concern for the customers’ actual needs.
I’d like to propose a new approach: one that is in keeping with yoga principles and also effective in terms of the benefits reaped, not only by the buyer, but by the seller as well. What I propose should, indeed, bring benefits to you in terms of greater success. I’m assuming, of course, that you want your business to be long-lasting, not a “fly-by-night” venture. This course is designed for people who want to carve a stable and meaningful niche for themselves in the world. It is not for purveyors of medicine made of furniture polish! The broader your base, especially in people’s good will, the more stable will your own work be.
There is a commonly expressed thought that business cannot be mixed with spirituality. I hope these lessons have, so far, proved to you that it not only can but should be so balanced. Allied to that false concept that spirituality should be excluded from the business world is some people’s insistence that spiritual truths ought not to be advertised—that, in fact, the higher an ideal, the less one should “stoop” to promoting it. My Guru’s answer to these attitudes was, “If Wrigleys can advertise chewing gum, why shouldn’t one print ads that encourage people to chew good ideas?!”
Any hesitation I myself might have felt on this subject was answered for me very convincingly many years ago (in 1959) in Simla, India. It was the last day of a week of daily yoga meditation classes that I was giving. On that day, several people came to me in tears. “If only we’d known one week ago that you were here!” they lamented. “Now you are leaving, and it may be a long time before we’ll get another chance of receiving these teachings!”
I realized then how important advertising can be—not for self-promotion, but with the purpose of letting people know what they themselves want to know. Advertising can, in other words, offer to others an important service.
People often think of advertising as only self-serving. It can be that, of course, but aren’t there many times also when you yourself have needed to know how and where to locate something? And haven’t you also been drawn to those ads which presented the solution to your needs in a way that was interesting and attractive?
Advertising your own products or services can also encourage you to do better. In fact, the main benefit—as far as you yourself are concerned—may be increased personal energy! Advertising can be helpful also to you.
The first rule in advertising should be, “The truth above all.” This motto doesn’t have to mean that the truth needs to be stated in a lackluster and grey manner!
In 1965 I made the first record album of my songs. I called them, generically, “Philosophy in Song,” and named the album, “Say ‘YES’ to Life!” An acquaintance of mine recommended to me the name of a promoter in Los Angeles whose specialty, he said, was working with spiritual groups. I decided to give the firm a try. The choice, however, was not a happy marriage! The promoter kept insisting on making exaggerated claims about me: that I was a “great master,” a “world-renowned composer and singer,” and (in God knows how many fields) “a glittering international success”! I refused every one of his suggestions. After he’d suggested a little more grandiose hyperbole, all of which I rejected, he cried out exasperatedly, “How do you expect us to promote you? You aren’t letting us say anything!”
Well, I decided that the best solution was not to use him at all. Better that, than having nonsense shouted about me! Truth was my “bottom line.” Some people might say, “Well, but if it gets people to buy a good thing, where’s the harm in a few grandiose claims to promote it?” No actual harm, perhaps—except to one’s own integrity. If you promise people wealth, but give them only a copper coin, they may settle for what they get but in the process you, yourself, will have lost your greatest wealth, which, always, is your integrity. The consideration, What does the promotion do for you personally? doesn’t always occur to people who are over-eager to sell.
If you want to achieve material success through yoga principles, the first thing to consider is your sincerity—above all, before Infinite Consciousness—that is to say, before God, who ever dwells in your own heart.
Oddly enough, most people equate truthfulness with bland mediocrity. This was something that drove me almost to despair before I met my Guru: the tendency so many people had of meeting strong statements with, “Well, now, I don’t know”—and then, in their attempt to be “fair-minded,” to qualify everything said until there was nothing left but a grey puddle.
Truth is God! And isn’t God the most glorious truth in existence? His glory far outshines the greatest earthly splendor! Oneness with Him, as my Guru wrote in his poem “Samadhi,” is “beyond imagination of expectancy.”
Obviously, what you’re selling isn’t that splendid! But unless you are trying to represent at least some part of His creation that, to you, is eminently worthwhile, you should be in another line of work! Even if you sell only doughnuts, you can have fun doing so! Moreover, that sense of fun can be communicated to your intended customers. Fun is an expression of energy, and energy is an expression of God! Certainly it is possible to be truthful and say something more interesting than, “Our doughnuts are all right. We think you might like them, or, at least, you won’t gag on them.”
Promotion with a sense of fun is one way of raising your own energy level, as well as that of those you are trying to reach. Is this, then—one might ask—what is meant by “truth in advertising”? Well, at least it is not untrue. Moreover, if it increases your own energy level, any rise in energy will lift you toward a more expansive vision of truth!
Paramhansa Yogananda used, in America as a young man, to come running out onto the lecture platform with “his long black hair streaming behind him,” as Louise Royston, an older disciple, once described him to me. He would begin his addresses with a challenge to his audience: “How is everybody?” then lead them in the shout, “Awake and ready!” Next came the demand, “How feels everybody?” Again the same response: “Awake and ready!” He wanted everyone who heard him to rise to his own level of dynamic energy.
Years later he continued this practice in his church services in California. He would have everybody, again, respond enthusiastically: “Awake and ready!”
In his San Diego church, where he gave the service every second Sunday, the alternate minister was a medical doctor—a good man, but, as physicians tend to be, carefully measured in his every statement. Before introducing me at the first service I gave there, he explained to me, “I do things a little differently here.” He proceeded to “launch” my service by declaring matter-of-factly, “I trust everyone here today is awake and ready.” He called for no response. Then he explained who I was—again, in carefully modulated tones, and allowed me to speak. Truth, for him as for so many others, needed to be washed clean of all color, in the name of sincerity.
Another cautious friend of mine—a good friend, but one with a similar temperament—was described thus to me once: “If he were writing a poem, he’d say, ‘The trees are green. The grass too is green. And the sky is blue.’” Wouldn’t a genuine poet express himself with more feeling than that? Certainly, if he felt genuinely stirred.
Truth is more than a catalogue of dry facts. Feelings are a normal part of human perception; they belong to our reality. Between lurid advertising and modest understatement, there is a possibility of many shades of expression. Some advertisements avoid garish excess, but manage also to express lofty truths and noble sentiments with verve.
Don’t let your advertising plod along in mere stock phrases. Each time you describe a product, try to say something new about it. Try, a least in this sense, to imitate God, who in His cosmic creation never repeats Himself. Every snowflake is, in some way, unique. Try to view with a fresh mind everything you do! Do think, of course, of the impact your advertising will have on others, but make that impact secondary to your own feelings about your products. If your job is to advertise other people’s products, familiarize yourself with them. It may seem almost too obvious to give such advice, yet many advertisers don’t seem to have familiarized themselves properly with the products they are supposed to promote.
When advertising a product, there are two things especially on which to concentrate: what you yourself like about it, and what you think the customers will like. You can be sincere, even colorful, without resorting to hyperbole. Any attempt to “make a sow’s ear into a silk purse” will be quickly evident to sensitive people. Others may at least subliminally perceive the falsity. “Phony” advertising generally puts people off. Exaggerated claims soon lose the power to convince.
This happened once when a Hollywood producer stated, regarding a screenwriter’s script, “It’s stupendous! It’s colossal!” The writer replied dejectedly, “You mean—you don’t like it?” Years of conditioning had shown him the falsity in that kind of praise; he recognized it as mere “puffery.”
The blurb on the back of a novel I once read announced that the hero in the story went to Germany, where the main action took place. In fact, somebody from Germany did enter the story, somewhere, but all of the action took place in another country entirely. Whoever wrote that blurb obviously hadn’t even read the novel!
If you can’t promote a product sincerely, it would surely be better to refuse the account. Indeed, it would not be even honest to accept it. In losing that income by your refusal, you’d gradually build up a reputation for integrity. The right people, then, would seek you out for that very reason, in time.
As for advertising your own products, give a little further thought to the difference between truth and fact. Facts may indeed be drab and uninteresting, but truth itself can and should be glorious! Truth should inspire. The higher the truth, the more noble, beautiful, helpful, dignified, inspiring it is. What follows in the wake of truth is inner joy.
One aspect of joy, on a human level, is its capacity to stimulate in people a sense of fun. If you can plumb deeper than the mere facts, why not describe a product in terms of the most that it can supply? And why not do it joyfully? Be sincere, but why be grim?
One good reason for advertising is that it can hold out goals for yourself in producing the product. Advertising can help to affirm the perfection towards which you yourself should always aspire. Advertising can help you to clarify in your own mind what your goals are.
If, for example, your product is outstandingly beautiful, you will naturally want to advertise the fact. In this case, doing so will inspire you to work all the harder also to make it as beautiful as possible. Advertising can, in other words, help you to achieve greater clarity regarding your own products.
Repetition is often helpful in advertising. Repetition must, however be done carefully; never let a formula that works reach the point of dullness in reiterating it. “Marlborough country” is a good example of a theme in cigarette advertising that, so far, has worked well. It would not continue to work, however, were not the photographs depicting that country varied constantly. Variety around a single theme, however, can be very effective.
That is another matter of importance also: Test your advertisements. If you have several, test them in several places to see how well they work, and which of them works best, and where.
The little bit of doggerel, again, that has somehow caught on—“Winston’s tastes good like a cigarette should”—would not have worked for so many years had it not been constantly varied in its presentation. It pays to emphasize a good formula repeatedly—but never to the point of becoming “tired.” Each time you present it, it must be done afresh, with fresh energy, especially.
Is it moral to advertise? If your product is worthwhile, why not? In this case, is it moral to advertise cigarettes? That’s another story. Smoking is bad for the health. Were I an advertiser I wouldn’t accept an account with any cigarette company; I would advertise only products in which I myself sincerely believed. Even so, one cannot help admiring the skill in those advertisements which successfully promote their products.
What was it, then—returning to the story of my first record album—that I really wanted from that Los Angeles promoter? Above all, certainly, I hoped he would listen to my music before going on to tout it. Of course, I hoped he would also appreciate the music. Otherwise, what would he possibly gain by promoting it? His stock phrases were like the hole in a doughnut! Of course I’d wanted him to be creative, but I also wanted his words to be genuine. Otherwise, what could he have done for me? Anything he said would be a disservice.
I’ve been active in a number of fields: music composition, song writing, singing, lecturing, teaching, writing “how-to-live” books, trying in a variety of ways to inspire people, founding and leading communities. Many people in these various fields have achieved greater success than I. How long-lasting has their success been? In some cases, it has endured hardly a season. As for others, the future remains to be seen. I myself seem to be an “old war horse”; that is to say, I’ve got on fairly well over many years. My successes have not been “flash in the pan.” And because I haven’t allowed anyone to promote me with “hype,” whatever success I’ve achieved has been won on merit rather than on empty promises. Some people in these fields, who have allowed others to promote their efforts bombastically, have had more sales than my three million. I don’t think that “hyping” will wear well in the long run, however. Moreover I don’t see in the faces of those “hypees” (excuse the word-coinage!) the kind of satisfaction which comes from a clear conscience, and from an experience of inner peace and joy.
Advertising should be a means of bringing joy—and also fantasy—not only to others, but above all to oneself. The results of anything one does seriously should be greater than the somewhat grim satisfaction of a large bank account. It should be the joy of offering to others something worthwhile, something to improve the quality of their lives, something which does so in ways which they themselves desire.
In terms of yoga principles, I grant you that the more non-attached and desireless one becomes, the higher he will rise spiritually. Non-attachment and desirelessness, however, come not by self-suppression and self-denial. Material fulfillment, albeit fleeting, is at least positive in itself, however disappointing in its aftermath. Through fulfillment one is drawn toward the joy which lies beyond everything material. This is not to say that people should seek to fulfill all their material desires before they seek God. Think of the haggard faces of people who follow only that path! Then think of the happy faces of people who have basically what they want in life—enough, at least, to have realized that mere things cannot bring happiness.
Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that a fallen yogi, blessed with good karma due to his spiritual practices, is reborn into a good home where his desires can be more easily fulfilled. Thus he gains sufficient freedom, by that fulfillment, to turn again wholeheartedly to God.
Worldly fulfillments lead to entanglements in further desires. One cannot achieve soul freedom until all his desires are fulfilled. Supreme fulfillment comes only in oneness with the Infinite. Worldly disappointment and frustration, on the other hand, bring endless suffering.
It is certainly true that all sensory fulfillments are disappointing in the end. They also, however, carry with them certain positive expectations. The hope they induce—of ever more and better—can thus lead finally to God. In the last analysis it is not the job of an advertiser to worry about his customers’ salvation! His function—let’s face it!—is to keep the play of maya going. If in the process, however, he can uplift people’s consciousness even materially, there will be others to take on the duty of pointing out the further path to truth.
It is no accident that in the ashrams in India, and in monasteries and the like, elsewhere, the people who visit them or live in them are not paupers: They all come from well-to-do homes. Poor people are usually too busy sustaining themselves, and perhaps worrying where to find their next meal, to devote much thought to the divine search.
Some Indians have made the statement that India owes her spirituality to the fact of being poor. This is simply not true. Indeed, Marco Polo’s description of India when he visited it in the thirteenth century was that India was “the richest country in the world.” More people were seeking God then, probably, than today, when India is struggling once again to rise economically and reclaim her rightful place among the world’s nations.

The Application
Joy—Satchidananda—is the essence of all human seeking. Lasting divine joy can be found only in the higher Self, in God. Yet divine joy will also be found by anyone who, through all life’s trials, can maintain a joyful attitude. Mere things will never give happiness, but neither will weeping over the lack of things. I have seen no joy in the eyes of people who are destitute. I should qualify that statement, of course, by adding that people who have an inner life, and are free from worldly desires, are far richer than anyone who is rich merely materially. Those with inner riches, indeed, aren’t really destitute at all even if they own none of the world’s “goods.”
Joy, however, usually begins with outward satisfaction. To have outwardly what one wants may at least give him the incentive to seek beyond material satisfaction until he attains a higher plateau of fulfillment. Advertising can help people to find satisfaction through the senses, at least. That rung is low on the ladder, but at least it leads upward in the direction of fulfillment.
There is nothing wrong, therefore, with advertising that has the purpose of both informing and attracting. We live in an age when spirituality requires a joyful recognition of the good things of life, and not a negation of everything.
I’ve seen too many sadhus in India scorn materiality yet give no evidence of inner joy, and no zeal for the attainment of divine bliss. If this were a higher age, perhaps it would be understood generally that utter simplicity, with ever-fewer possessions, is the best. In such an age, there would be no need for advertising. Mahatma Gandhi’s ideal, however, which (it must be said) he practiced conscientiously, is unrealistic today even for most spiritual aspirants. Since no one, realistically speaking, can attain inner freedom without having achieved at least some worldly satisfaction first, people with a yogic focus in their lives need to show others also how to combine an inner life with outer competence. Only thus will mankind generally understand that material success matters less than soul attainment, and is even (far more than most people realize) dependent on developing a spiritual consciousness.
Let us consider again the marketing of doughnuts, which I mentioned casually above. If doughnuts happen to be your business, you might suggest “fun” things to do with doughnuts that will catch people’s attention and awaken their interest. You could suggest that the buyer hang his doughnut on a little finger while he sips tea or coffee, as a way to save time in taking a quick nibble. You could suggest he use it in a game: tossing doughnuts onto a post at ten meters. Another use for doughnuts might be to use two of them as a mask so as to achieve anonymity in public. He could place a doughnut on the top of his head, creating a flat surface on which to carry things. He could look through a doughnut to give symmetry to his view of things, as one does through the lens of a camera. You could promote doughnuts “To get rid of that hollow feeling” (of hunger).
You could also promote doughnuts in comical self-justification: “See: How can it make me fat? The thing’s empty!”
Or you could create a new fancy name for your doughnuts:
1) “The UFO of Baked Goods”;
2) “The See-Through Solution”;
3) “The Baked Surprise”;
4) “The Whodunit (Who Doughnut)”—perhaps with a picture on the package of Sherlock Holmes using his doughnut on a stick as a magnifying glass. In time, this name might be shortened to “The Who.”
5) “The Holy One”—perhaps with the caption of a doughnut saying to a slice of bread, “But I am holier than thou!” The doughnut could be shown in cartoon fashion, addressing those words to a monk. It could be sold with a thin stick, for the customer to insert and hold above his head like a halo.
6) “The Halo”—the same thing, with that thin stick inserted in the package. The accompanying picture could be of a holy man, or of an angel—the doughnut suspended, shining, above his head. Even a mala or garland of doughnuts could be hung around his neck.
Does all this seem sacrilegious? Please don’t worry. Real haloes don’t look like that anyway!
Advertising, in most business, is a necessity. As the saying goes, “It pays to advertise.” Many businessmen are reluctant to spend money on advertising because it isn’t easy to tell exactly and to what degree it is effective. The one “statistic” that is common knowledge is that advertising earns you more sales than not advertising. Even Hershey’s Chocolates, which for years refused to advertise their product, succumbed finally to this universal modern necessity.
Because advertising is a simple necessity, it might as well be viewed as something right and good. Don’t be “of two minds” on the subject. Do what needs to be done in your particular field, and proceed with all joyful energy.
How, then, to advertise? Let your advertising be wholehearted, truthful, but also joyous. Joy, and fantasy—these two are important keys to success, especially in advertising. Don’t go about your promotions solemnly as if considering it somehow more spiritual to announce with a sad face whatever you have to give.
Joy and fantasy: Let me add another quality: imagination. When Kleenex first invented facial tissues, they offered prizes to anyone who could suggest innovative uses for their product. They paid the creator of a famous cartoon character, Little Lulu, to show her putting the tissues to the various uses people recommended. The prizes offered fanned public interest. Since then, many other companies have developed facial tissues, but Kleenex succeeded in conquering the market from the outset; indeed, even today people often refer to facial tissues as “Kleenexes.”
What is your own product? Suppose it is a mattress. Well, how much difference can there be between one mattress and another—especially once you’re fast asleep on yours? “Beautyrest” mattresses are advertised in what is probably the only way that anyone in this field can be original. They show a side view of the separate-action springs inside the mattress. How, then, to convince people to buy your mattress, particularly? It wouldn’t be good form, and certainly wouldn’t be in keeping with yoga principles, to denigrate other mattresses. Why not, however, get people to connect mattresses in their minds with your brand? You could describe your product in some cheerful, imaginative way—depicting your product, perhaps, with even a touch of fantasy.
There are countless ways of doing so. The important thing would be, if possible, to say something fresh and unusual. You could show the sleeper stretched out happily on a cloud, and show far below him a scene of turmoil, and him quite unaffected by it: a battle, perhaps, or a riot, or a Viking invasion, or pirates boarding a ship, or boxers sparring in a ring, or a bumpy terrain. You could show the sleeper drifting happily on a pink cloud into the sunset. You could show him surrounded by a singing choir of angels, or a tree full of nightingales. You could have a special motto such as, “FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!” (This idea seems so obvious, in fact, that I can’t help wondering if it hasn’t been used already.) You could give your mattress a name—perhaps, “The Restful Solution.”
These are suggestions, only. But maybe they’ll convey to your mind some notion of the fun and fantasy you could use in your advertising without, in the process, being at all untruthful.
On the other hand, if your product doesn’t satisfy in all the ways you’ve promised, the ads about it might inspire you to improve it until it does so. Thus, advertising can help you to clarify your own perceptions concerning what the product offers. If, for example, your mattress doesn’t give people the perfect rest you’ve promised them, see that shortfall as a challenge to bring the product to perfection until you’ve made it the most restful mattress possible. If, on the other hand, what you want is to emphasize the healthfulness of your mattress, take a different line: Find what people want most in that kind of mattress, and what will also benefit them the most, and then emphasize that aspect.
I’ve no intention of writing a book on this subject, adding to the thousands in the market already. Let it suffice if I urge you to use your imagination. Put yourself in other people’s shoes. Try to meet their needs. Above all, do whatever you can to lead them in the direction of inner joy and happiness, even if the happiness you are able to deliver is only a hint of the true, spiritual bliss. Advertise joyfully. Have a sense of fun (if it’s appropriate) as you do so, of fantasy (again, if it’s appropriate), and above all make people associate your product with their own dreams of fulfillment.
Reach out, through your advertising, toward the perfection and clarity you yourself want from life.
I myself have had to advertise many things over the course of years, though my principle effort has been to spread the yoga teachings. I’ve written books, made recordings, made countless public appearances, tried to interest people in our Ananda products: The list seems virtually endless. I don’t supervise very much of what other people do for Ananda; I haven’t the time. Whenever I do get involved, however, I try to emphasize the principles outlined above. I try to get people to feel that, in their practice of yoga principles, they will bring greater joy to their lives, greater peace to themselves, deeper understanding and fulfillment to their own lives and to those of others. Well, these aren’t material things, but I believe that, if I’d had to be creative in material ways—in fact, many times I’ve had to be just that—I’d do much of what I’ve suggested here. Joyful fulfillment is what yoga means to me, personally. I have dedicated my life to finding inner joy and inspiration, and to sharing those benefits with all. Of course, therefore, that is what I emphasize in any advertising I do.
Even serious advertisement on serious subjects can have an element of joy in it. How? Well, isn’t there a certain joy in the expectation of finding a solution? Its opposite—expecting only problems—attracts only a grey mist of despair. There is a degree of joy in clear thinking also, and in clear self-expression. Lack of clarity, on the other hand, suggests that perhaps no solution is possible. Firm, positive thinking raises one’s consciousness. Any uplifting state of mind expresses yoga principles in a very real way, opening up a path toward inner joy.
The wording of an ad should be brief and catchy. It should promise fulfillment in whatever your target audience are seeking. And it should catch their attention as quickly as possible. If you can express yourself colorfully, all the better. Try to appeal to people’s imagination. Good grammar is of secondary importance. “Winston’s tastes good like a cigarette should” ought grammatically speaking to read, “Winston’s tastes good as a cigarette should.” The word, “as,” however, isn’t nearly so catchy as “like.” Go with what you think will work best.
Finally, concentrate on the rhythm of your sentences. The rhythm should catch the “mood” of what you want to express. “Be alert! Drink Limca!” (Limca is a “fizzy” soft drink in India.) This would be a far more effective way of expressing the thought than telling people, “Limca will assist you in remaining alert.”
Your imagery, too, should be appropriate to the product. Limca, for instance, might be advertised by displaying bubbles that rise gaily upward into a cloudless sky, expanding gradually outward.
Meditation
Visualize the bubbles I’ve just mentioned rising high over the earth. Then see them expand outward to infinity. Think of them as points of light. Then see those points expanding ever outward in all directions—until you see infinite space filled with light.
Whatever your work is in life, see it as a point of light, shedding that light in all directions, everywhere. Think of your work as a service to others. Added to the efforts of many people all of whom follow yoga principles, and all of whom are united in serving humanity, see yourself and them as instruments of the divine light, bringing that light to everyone. Creatures everywhere need to experience that light.
Affirmation
“The work I do is a shining light to all it touches. 
I do my best to bring light, love, and shining joy 
into the dark world around me, and into the universe.”

Points to Remember

1. Advertising is important for letting people know what they themselves want to know. It can offer to others an important service.
2. Advertising your own products or services can also encourage you to do better. In fact, the main benefit—as far as you yourself are concerned—may be increased personal energy! 
3. If you want to achieve material success through yoga principles, the first thing to consider is your sincerity—above all, before Infinite Consciousness—that is to say, before God, who ever dwells in your own heart.
4. Don’t let your advertising plod along in mere stock phrases. Each time you describe a product, try to say something new about it. 
5. If your job is to advertise other people’s products, familiarize yourself with them. 
6. When advertising a product, concentrate on what you yourself like about it, and what you think the customers will like. 
7. Exaggerated claims soon lose the power to convince.
8. The first rule in advertising should be, “The truth above all.” Facts may indeed be drab and uninteresting, but truth itself can and should be glorious! Truth should inspire.  
9. Advertising can help you to clarify in your own mind what your goals are.
10. Repetition is often helpful in advertising, but never let a formula that works reach the point of dullness in reiterating it. 
11. The results of anything one does seriously should be the joy of offering to others something worthwhile, something to improve the quality of their lives, something which does so in ways which they themselves desire.
12. We live in an age when spirituality requires a joyful recognition of the good things of life, and not a negation of everything.
13. Let your advertising be wholehearted, truthful, but also joyous. Joy and fantasy are important keys to success, especially in advertising. 
14. Use your imagination. Put yourself in other people’s shoes. Try to meet their needs. Have a sense of fun (if it’s appropriate) as you do so, of fantasy (again, if it’s appropriate), and above all make people associate your product with their own dreams of fulfillment.
15. The wording of an ad should catch people’s attention as quickly as possible. If you can express yourself colorfully, all the better.
16. Concentrate on the rhythm of your sentences. The rhythm should catch the “mood” of what you want to express. 

Workbook Ideas
by Joseph Bharat Cornell

Magnetize Your Product or Service

Action Ideas

1. Advertising is a way to increase the magnetism of your product. Your ability to attract others will depend first on your own clarity and enthusiasm. 

2. Meditate on what your company or organization offers in the following ways:
•	Ask yourself first,  “In my field of endeavor, what do people need?” 
•	Be creative and think of people’s “unspoken” needs, too—needs that no one else in your industry has addressed.     
•	Now ask yourself, “What is it that I feel inspired to give?” 
•	Look at the intersection between people’s actual needs, and your desire and ability to serve them. 

3. Once you’ve identified what you want to promote, expand your thinking beyond the obvious, mundane needs your product satisfies, and reflect on the universal, higher benefits you can provide. If you own a restaurant, for example, think of what you are giving people besides food. Perhaps you are offering a serene and uplifting atmosphere where your customers can enjoy each other’s company. If you are selling tools, feel you are empowering people to build their dreams. The more you appeal to loftier human virtues, even in small ways, the more people will appreciate and value your service.  

4. Thinking expansively about your service will inspire you to present your product more energetically and creatively and, thereby, increase its magnetism.   
•	Write here the higher or universal needs your product fulfills:

5. While perfecting your product, reflect on the word usefulness. Ask yourself, “How can I make my product easier and more enjoyable to use? Vow to create something genuinely worthwhile. Remember, anything truly useful has its own attractive power. 
•	How can I make my product better?

6. In your advertisements, create a sense of joy, or at least a feeling of positive expectation. “Fun is an expression of energy. Any rise of energy will lift people toward a more expansive vision of truth.” It is spiritually wholesome to help people feel that life is good and filled with possibilities. You can do this with integrity if, in your advertisements, you speak of the higher or universal needs your product fulfills. 
•	Think about how you can associate your product with a sense of fun and hopeful expectation. Through surprise, laughter, or inspiration, strive to uplift your customers with the joy of your message.