Meditation in a consumer society: Consequences of the commodification of spirituality

Meditation originated as a religious practice rooted in Buddhist traditions, but in today's secular society it has been abstracted from its religious context and transformed into a secular belief system. This transformation allows meditation to be embraced not only by traditional religious circles but also by individuals from different faiths, cultures and lifestyles. In secular society, the withdrawal of religion from the public sphere and the increasing search for individual meaning has popularized meditation as a quick and practical solution. The modern individual sees meditation as a form of secular spirituality and uses it as a tool for personal development and the search for inner peace. In this context, meditation has come to be recognized as a secular belief system rather than a religious practice that responds to individual needs. This study aims to examine how meditation has been adopted as a new spiritual practice in today's consumer society and how it has been commercialized within the personal development industry. The reshaping of meditation according to the demands of individuals and social needs through popular culture constitutes the main scope of the study. Within the scope of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 trainers who promote and announce their trainings on Instagram; however, only the data of 10 trainers were taken as basis in the analysis process. In the semi-structured interview form, a total of 10 open-ended questions were asked to the trainers and these questions aimed to provide a broad perspective on the processes of meeting meditation practice, professional journey, training process and commercialization of meditation practice. It was found that the trainers made themselves visible in their social media posts through recommendations, daily reminders, personal experiences, lifestyle advice and newsletter posts about meditation practice. The findings, evaluated through phenomenological analysis, reveal that meditation assumes a multi-layered function both as a means of individual transformation and as a commercialized service.