This morning during contemplative practices, I read the words of a few Buddhist teachers from different traditions on "Right Mindfulness" (the 7th of the Noble Eightfold Path). Right Mindfulness is not the same thing as "Mindfulness" as used in the mindfulness movement in the US. One can be "mindful" in being in the present moment, acting with nonjudgmental full awareness, concentration, attention and focus on a terrorist act. However this is not "Right Mindfulness" within the Buddhist definitions of Right Mindfulness. Western Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) was developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and has evolved into a form of complementary medicine, with several decades worth of research and studies. MBSR have many benefits. Yet MBSR and other "antidotes" for stress that have a growing audience in the US is missing something important - that a reason causes existential pain and reducing the symptoms of the pain is no guarantee of getting to to the heart of living. "May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all beings never be separated from the supreme joy that is beyond all sorrow. May all beings abide in equanimity free from attachment and aversion." ~ The Four Immeasurables (Loving-Kindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity)
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 22:28:55 +0000
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