Thank you for this article. I find it very important. I see so many wisdom teachers (for lack of better term) struggling with their practices because they try to fit the magic of who they are and what they offer into the digital practices of the old system. I've done my share of mistakes there. I love how you say: "What if the very tension we feel between depth and digital presence is actually showing us the way toward a different kind of economy altogether?" Yes, I believe that - we just need to listen less to the advice out there and tune more into the "advice" felt deep within us. Thank you so much for writing about this. It's much needed!
My next posts speak in a way to this very struggle. I'm delighted to read this!!! I'm also delighted to see in the comments that you plan to write more. I hope it will include more about, "Their reluctance to "show up as a brand" often masks deeper patterns around the relationship between wisdom and commerce itself." You spoke verbatim to some of my recent and ongoing puzzlement. I appreciate the resonance! This is very inspiring for me. Thank you, Lane!
Thank you for reading and commenting. I will write more about this in the future, but right now I'm taking a sort of sabbatical from this substack to research more into my primal shade concepts that I've written about here.
i really appreciate this contemplation, Lane, especially as a retired marketing strategist and copywriter for transformational brands, and now in the teacher’s seat of a wisdom tradition.
this conflict feels as old as time.
if i were to distill it through my lens, this is the tension between the material and the spiritual, the physical and the subtle, the masculine and the feminine. and not coincidentally that the journey of integrating the two, instead of being stuck in the duality between the two - is the very core teaching of wisdom traditions.
i’ve been seeing this play out a lot, and i believe what teachers and healers are being asked to do is to trust their inner knowing over the external validation that the digital landscape seems to present, which also stems from how we as a society have defined success. i believe we are literally being asked to pave a new way.
Thank you for your comment! What strikes me most is your observation is how we're being called to integrate rather than choose sides. As someone who's walked both paths (marketing and wisdom tradition), your perspective carries particular weight.
I'm curious. In your experience teaching wisdom traditions, what patterns have you noticed about how authentic transmission naturally creates value? There seems to be something profound in how wisdom itself shows us the way beyond the template mindset.
I love this question, Lane. Without diving into a lengthy thread, three themes stand out.
One, is that, given we are able to tap into what you’re referring to as “authentic transmission” - that transmission meets the need of the time, naturally. Meaning, it’s responding and speaking to what’s “in the field” and what’s most relevant and timely in facilitating meaningful change (coming from the channel of transmission).
Another theme, is that our authentic transmission invites us into a deeper understanding of ourselves, of the self, and of our role in the bigger whole.
What I absolutely love to witness, and what ties all of this together, is how authentic transmission creates a ripple that we - within the linear context of the intellectual mind, or in this case, in the context of the “template” - wouldn’t be able to produce or organize.
Love these patterns you've identified, especially how wisdom aligns naturally with collective needs rather than forcing template-driven relevance. That observation about ripples beyond intellectual organization captures something essential about authentic transmission.
I noticed you're in Tulum! I used to live in Sayulita and have been dreaming about returning to Mexico - actually hoping to explore Tulum next time. I hear it's amazing.
Thank you for bringing your unique perspective to this conversation.
Oh, thanks so much for this. This is SUCH a tough nut to crack. I hope you'll write about this more going forward.
I'm a career musician and artist who, true to stereotype, was "professionally raised" in an environment that frowns upon marketing and sales, systematically conflating these areas with "selling out." It's taken me a long time to realize that art and self-promotion/salesmanship don't have to be at odds; that both areas can operate according to the same values and priorities; that one can be successful in the arts by "doing the work first and then figuring out how to sell it"; that "figuring out what the market wants and pandering accordingly" isn't necessary, and is probably quite counter-productive, if your goal is to make a decent living by gifting the world your best, most meaningful contribution.
I'm at the beginning of my sales and marketing journey, if you will.
re: "[The mystery schools] recognized that wisdom grows like a living system, not a manufacturing process":
I have to say that the single most baffling question posed by most teachers of marketing 101 is this: "What problem does your product/service/content solve?"
I usually don't know where to begin answering that one, mostly because I'm no more in the business of selling microwaves than the daisy sprouting up in my front yard is. I make music/art like a flower flowers. What problem does a flower solve? (Here, my brain melts.)
What's a better question?
Indeed, we'd do well to figure that out.
"Problem-solving," in a marketing context, indeed relates to surface considerations; to the mechanical/tangible realm as expressed through data; to the conveniences that do away with everyday nuisances; to all things quantifiable. "Wisdom" and the value it brings has to do with deeper "problems"; to problems one would be ill-advised to describe as such in the first place; to the emotional, psychological, spiritual realms; to the immaterial and un-quantifiable.
There seems to be little room for wisdom in the world of marketing. The fundamental premise seems to go, "If you can see it, touch it, count it, or put it in a spreadsheet, it probably doesn't exist, and it certainly won't make you any money. Next!"
Anyway... This post really resonated for me, as I've been working through many of the weeds you've alluded to here. Again, thanks for the thoughtful words, Lane. Best!
Well said! If you don't mind me just jumping in uninvited with my own thoughts (you sparked them quite nicely though), I think the better question for me is "how does this process (rather than the product) build relationship?" This has become what spirituality means to me. Does it add to meaningful relationship or deter and remove from it? Surely that is also a part of what a flower does?! ;-D
Not at all, thanks for dropping in with some food for thought! Yes, that's a much better way to frame things in certain (many) cases. Not quite what I'm after for my own marketing strategy, but it's still much closer to what my own better question would be.
Thank you so much for your comment. You've made some great connections. Yes, I'm going to write another one. I have a draft that I'm working on right now, and it will be exploring some of these very insights and connections you brought up. I hope to have it out next Wednesday. Again, thank you for deeply engaging with this piece. I'm still playing around the edges as I explore it more deeply.
But I’m SURE you are NOT claiming to speak FOR wisdom? For, wouldn’t that be the same as claiming to “possess” it, just as claiming to UNDERSTAND what wisdom IS would risk the implication that you were somehow superior to it? You wouldn’t do that, (I’m SURE).
You wouldn’t claim to be superior to wisdom, but you might claim that wisdom (whatever it is) is something to wonder about, treasure, and cultivate. (Which is more problematic or troubling when it comes to a human’s “relationship” to wisdom: wondering about it? valuing it? or cultivating it??? Be careful how you “answer” that - even to your own silence because the devil made me ask it.)
Then there’s “markets” which are dynamic evolving relationships and institutions that are constantly the foci of struggles to control, protect, expand, and limit them. From all those “markets” are derived vaster abstractions sometimes considered as “THE market economy” or “the ‘FREE’ market.”
I don’t “get it” but I kinda like the title which doesn’t refer to “markets” directly but instead to something called the “template economy”. But “template” implies an “original” or a “primary” model. Maybe you are referring to “imitation” and “conformity”? Maybe you are referring to “attention” or “popularity” seeking? Are you feeling yourself influenced by Rene Girard in the way Peter Thiel and so many other oligarchs seem to be? (Satan, my old friend, did not want me to ask you THAT.)
Hi Joe! You raise fascinating questions about the relationship between wisdom and those who engage with it.
To clarify, I'm not claiming to speak for wisdom, but rather observing how it moves and expresses itself, particularly through those teaching and sharing it. Like a hydrologist tracking water's flow rather than claiming to control it. The intelligence I'm pointing to often reveals itself precisely in our inability to template or control it.
The "template economy" I'm exploring isn't so much about originals and copies, but about our modern tendency to mechanize what's naturally alive. When spiritual teachers feel resistance to reducing their understanding to "content," that resistance itself contains intelligence worth listening to. It's not about claiming authority over wisdom, but about noticing what wisdom naturally does when we try to force it into mechanical patterns.
Your points about market dynamics are particularly relevant. Markets are indeed complex, evolving relationships rather than simple mechanisms. What I'm tracking is how wisdom creates value when we stop trying to force it into predetermined structures and instead notice how it naturally wants to move and grow.
I hope this clarifies as I'm in the middle of exploring these patterns. Your questions touch on exactly the kind of deep territory I'm trying to map, and I appreciate your thoughtful engagement with my essay.
Thank you for this article. I find it very important. I see so many wisdom teachers (for lack of better term) struggling with their practices because they try to fit the magic of who they are and what they offer into the digital practices of the old system. I've done my share of mistakes there. I love how you say: "What if the very tension we feel between depth and digital presence is actually showing us the way toward a different kind of economy altogether?" Yes, I believe that - we just need to listen less to the advice out there and tune more into the "advice" felt deep within us. Thank you so much for writing about this. It's much needed!
My next posts speak in a way to this very struggle. I'm delighted to read this!!! I'm also delighted to see in the comments that you plan to write more. I hope it will include more about, "Their reluctance to "show up as a brand" often masks deeper patterns around the relationship between wisdom and commerce itself." You spoke verbatim to some of my recent and ongoing puzzlement. I appreciate the resonance! This is very inspiring for me. Thank you, Lane!
Thank you for reading and commenting. I will write more about this in the future, but right now I'm taking a sort of sabbatical from this substack to research more into my primal shade concepts that I've written about here.
i really appreciate this contemplation, Lane, especially as a retired marketing strategist and copywriter for transformational brands, and now in the teacher’s seat of a wisdom tradition.
this conflict feels as old as time.
if i were to distill it through my lens, this is the tension between the material and the spiritual, the physical and the subtle, the masculine and the feminine. and not coincidentally that the journey of integrating the two, instead of being stuck in the duality between the two - is the very core teaching of wisdom traditions.
i’ve been seeing this play out a lot, and i believe what teachers and healers are being asked to do is to trust their inner knowing over the external validation that the digital landscape seems to present, which also stems from how we as a society have defined success. i believe we are literally being asked to pave a new way.
Thank you for your comment! What strikes me most is your observation is how we're being called to integrate rather than choose sides. As someone who's walked both paths (marketing and wisdom tradition), your perspective carries particular weight.
I'm curious. In your experience teaching wisdom traditions, what patterns have you noticed about how authentic transmission naturally creates value? There seems to be something profound in how wisdom itself shows us the way beyond the template mindset.
I love this question, Lane. Without diving into a lengthy thread, three themes stand out.
One, is that, given we are able to tap into what you’re referring to as “authentic transmission” - that transmission meets the need of the time, naturally. Meaning, it’s responding and speaking to what’s “in the field” and what’s most relevant and timely in facilitating meaningful change (coming from the channel of transmission).
Another theme, is that our authentic transmission invites us into a deeper understanding of ourselves, of the self, and of our role in the bigger whole.
What I absolutely love to witness, and what ties all of this together, is how authentic transmission creates a ripple that we - within the linear context of the intellectual mind, or in this case, in the context of the “template” - wouldn’t be able to produce or organize.
Love these patterns you've identified, especially how wisdom aligns naturally with collective needs rather than forcing template-driven relevance. That observation about ripples beyond intellectual organization captures something essential about authentic transmission.
I noticed you're in Tulum! I used to live in Sayulita and have been dreaming about returning to Mexico - actually hoping to explore Tulum next time. I hear it's amazing.
Thank you for bringing your unique perspective to this conversation.
Thank you for a thoughtful question and discussion! And yes, Tulum is beautiful. Perhaps Mexico is calling you back...
Oh, thanks so much for this. This is SUCH a tough nut to crack. I hope you'll write about this more going forward.
I'm a career musician and artist who, true to stereotype, was "professionally raised" in an environment that frowns upon marketing and sales, systematically conflating these areas with "selling out." It's taken me a long time to realize that art and self-promotion/salesmanship don't have to be at odds; that both areas can operate according to the same values and priorities; that one can be successful in the arts by "doing the work first and then figuring out how to sell it"; that "figuring out what the market wants and pandering accordingly" isn't necessary, and is probably quite counter-productive, if your goal is to make a decent living by gifting the world your best, most meaningful contribution.
I'm at the beginning of my sales and marketing journey, if you will.
re: "[The mystery schools] recognized that wisdom grows like a living system, not a manufacturing process":
I have to say that the single most baffling question posed by most teachers of marketing 101 is this: "What problem does your product/service/content solve?"
I usually don't know where to begin answering that one, mostly because I'm no more in the business of selling microwaves than the daisy sprouting up in my front yard is. I make music/art like a flower flowers. What problem does a flower solve? (Here, my brain melts.)
What's a better question?
Indeed, we'd do well to figure that out.
"Problem-solving," in a marketing context, indeed relates to surface considerations; to the mechanical/tangible realm as expressed through data; to the conveniences that do away with everyday nuisances; to all things quantifiable. "Wisdom" and the value it brings has to do with deeper "problems"; to problems one would be ill-advised to describe as such in the first place; to the emotional, psychological, spiritual realms; to the immaterial and un-quantifiable.
There seems to be little room for wisdom in the world of marketing. The fundamental premise seems to go, "If you can see it, touch it, count it, or put it in a spreadsheet, it probably doesn't exist, and it certainly won't make you any money. Next!"
Anyway... This post really resonated for me, as I've been working through many of the weeds you've alluded to here. Again, thanks for the thoughtful words, Lane. Best!
Well said! If you don't mind me just jumping in uninvited with my own thoughts (you sparked them quite nicely though), I think the better question for me is "how does this process (rather than the product) build relationship?" This has become what spirituality means to me. Does it add to meaningful relationship or deter and remove from it? Surely that is also a part of what a flower does?! ;-D
Not at all, thanks for dropping in with some food for thought! Yes, that's a much better way to frame things in certain (many) cases. Not quite what I'm after for my own marketing strategy, but it's still much closer to what my own better question would be.
I live and love this. Depth practitioners and deep thinkers engaging. Thanks to you both! 🙏
Thank you so much for your comment. You've made some great connections. Yes, I'm going to write another one. I have a draft that I'm working on right now, and it will be exploring some of these very insights and connections you brought up. I hope to have it out next Wednesday. Again, thank you for deeply engaging with this piece. I'm still playing around the edges as I explore it more deeply.
Amazing. I'll keep an eye out for the new post. Take care!
Not sure I “get” this.
But I’m SURE you are NOT claiming to speak FOR wisdom? For, wouldn’t that be the same as claiming to “possess” it, just as claiming to UNDERSTAND what wisdom IS would risk the implication that you were somehow superior to it? You wouldn’t do that, (I’m SURE).
You wouldn’t claim to be superior to wisdom, but you might claim that wisdom (whatever it is) is something to wonder about, treasure, and cultivate. (Which is more problematic or troubling when it comes to a human’s “relationship” to wisdom: wondering about it? valuing it? or cultivating it??? Be careful how you “answer” that - even to your own silence because the devil made me ask it.)
Then there’s “markets” which are dynamic evolving relationships and institutions that are constantly the foci of struggles to control, protect, expand, and limit them. From all those “markets” are derived vaster abstractions sometimes considered as “THE market economy” or “the ‘FREE’ market.”
I don’t “get it” but I kinda like the title which doesn’t refer to “markets” directly but instead to something called the “template economy”. But “template” implies an “original” or a “primary” model. Maybe you are referring to “imitation” and “conformity”? Maybe you are referring to “attention” or “popularity” seeking? Are you feeling yourself influenced by Rene Girard in the way Peter Thiel and so many other oligarchs seem to be? (Satan, my old friend, did not want me to ask you THAT.)
Hi Joe! You raise fascinating questions about the relationship between wisdom and those who engage with it.
To clarify, I'm not claiming to speak for wisdom, but rather observing how it moves and expresses itself, particularly through those teaching and sharing it. Like a hydrologist tracking water's flow rather than claiming to control it. The intelligence I'm pointing to often reveals itself precisely in our inability to template or control it.
The "template economy" I'm exploring isn't so much about originals and copies, but about our modern tendency to mechanize what's naturally alive. When spiritual teachers feel resistance to reducing their understanding to "content," that resistance itself contains intelligence worth listening to. It's not about claiming authority over wisdom, but about noticing what wisdom naturally does when we try to force it into mechanical patterns.
Your points about market dynamics are particularly relevant. Markets are indeed complex, evolving relationships rather than simple mechanisms. What I'm tracking is how wisdom creates value when we stop trying to force it into predetermined structures and instead notice how it naturally wants to move and grow.
I hope this clarifies as I'm in the middle of exploring these patterns. Your questions touch on exactly the kind of deep territory I'm trying to map, and I appreciate your thoughtful engagement with my essay.