Handbook of Mindfulness (eBook)

Ronald E. Purser, Ph.D., is a Professor of Management at San Francisco State University where he has taught the in the MBA and undergraduate business programs, as well in the doctoral program in the College of Education. Prior to his current appointment, he was an Associate Professor of Organization Development at Loyola University of Chicago. His recent research has been exploring the challenges and issues of introducing mindfulness into secular contexts, particularly critical perspectives of mindfulness in corporate settings. Author and co-editor of five books, including 24/7: Time and Temporality in the Network Society (Stanford University Press, 2007). He sits on the editorial board of the Mindfulness journal, as well as the executive board of the Consciousness, Mindfulness and Compassion (CMC) International Association. A student and Buddhist practitioner since 1981, he was recently ordained as a Dharma instructor in the Korean Zen Buddhist Taego order. His article “Beyond McMindfulness” (with David Loy) in the Huffington Post went viral in 2013.David Forbes, Ph.D., (U.C. Berkeley), LMHC, is Associate Professor in the School Counseling program in the School of Education at Brooklyn College/CUNY and affiliate faculty in the Urban Education doctoral program at the CUNY Graduate Center. He was a co-recipient of a program grant from the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society and wrote Boyz 2 Buddhas: Counseling Urban High School Male Athletes in the Zone (Peter Lang, 2004) about counseling and teaching mindfulness meditation to a Brooklyn high school football team.  Forbes teaches critical and integral approaches to mindfulness. He writes on the social and cultural context of mindfulness in education and wrote “Occupy Mindfulness” and "Search Outside Yourself: Google Misses a Lesson in Wisdom 101” with Ron Purser. He consults with schools in New York on developing integral mindfulness programs and practices meditation with a group from the New York Insight Meditation Center.‬‬ ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬Adam Burke, Ph.D., M.P.H., is a Professor in Health Education and Director of the Institute for Holistic Health Studies at San Francisco State University. He holds advanced degrees in the social/behavioral sciences from UCLA and UC Santa Cruz, and is a licensed acupuncturist, trained in San Francisco and Sichuan, China. Meditation training and practice commenced in the 1970’s and continues across diverse traditions. Research and publication interests focus on student achievement and education equity, meditation and imagery, and cross-cultural studies of traditional health practices. Recent published works include Learning Life (Rainor Media, 2016). He has served on the American Public Health Association’s Governing Council, as chair of the California Acupuncture Board, editor-in-chief of the American Acupuncturist, and as an Advisory Council member of the NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH).

Cover 1
Title page 4
Copyright page 5
Preface 6
Part I 11
Part II 14
Part III 17
Part IV 21
Commentary 23
References 25
Contents 27
Editors and Contributors 30
Contributors 32
Between Tradition and Modernity 40
1 The Transformations of Mindfulness 41
A Parting of the Ways 41
The Division Widens 44
Why Did Mindfulness Take This Route? 46
A Case Study: The Contemplation of Impermanence 49
The Trajectory in Retrospect 50
2 The Challenge of Mindful Engagement 53
Good Versus Evil 55
Ignorance Versus Awakening 56
The Economic Challenge 58
The New Bodhisattva 59
Appendix 61
3 ‘Paying Attention’ in a Digital Economy: Reflections on the Role of Analysis and Judgement Within Contemporary Discourses of Mindfulness and Comparisons with Classical Buddhist Accounts of Sati 65
Introduction 65
Mindfulness and Attention 65
‘Meditation’ and the Role of Intellectual Analysis 67
Mind and Mindfulness in Ancient Indian Buddhist Thought 69
The Centrality of Prajñ? in Abhidharma and Early Mah?y?na Accounts 72
Mah?y?na and the Emergence of a Non-dualistic Understanding of Mindfulness 73
Buddhist Meditation: ‘Capitalist Spirituality’ or Anti-consumerist Resistance? 74
‘Eastern Spirituality’ and the DeTraditionalization of Buddhism 75
Digital Technologies, Distracted Attention and the Problem of ‘Information Overload’ 76
The Contemporary Reworking of an Ancient Debate: Does Mindfulness Involve Mental Analysis and Ethical Judgment? 78
Conclusion 80
References 81
4 Mindfulness Within the Full Range of Buddhist and Asian Meditative Practices 84
Introduction 84
Mindfulness as Panacea and the Range of Approaches 86
The Range of New Consciousness Techniques 88
Loving-Kindness, Compassion, and Mindful Self-Compassion Meditations 89
The Social Context of the New Consciousness Techniques 93
The Religious and Transpersonal Context of the New Consciousness Techniques 95
References 97
5 Mindfulness: Traditional and Utilitarian 100
The Changing Meaning of a Word 100
The Importance of Scientific Credentials and the Paradox of Religious 101
A Trojan Horse? 102
Narcissism 103
Immediate Gratification 103
Is Consciousness Overvalued? 104
The Value of Unmindfulness 105
Attention 105
Problems with Here-and-Now-ISM 107
McMindfulness 108
Mindfulness Old and New 109
A New Popular Word 109
Buddhist Origins 109
The Past and Future Are Important 109
The Paradox of the Present Moment 110
The Proper Function of Consciousness 110
Conclusion 111
6 Can “Secular” Mindfulness Be Separated from Religion? 112
Introduction 112
Defining Practices as Religious, Spiritual, Buddhist, or Secular 112
Defining Mindfulness 114
Pattern #1: Code-Switching 115
Skillful Means 115
MBSR Program Concept 117
Systematic Communication of Core Buddhist Beliefs 117
Teacher Training 119
Graduate Resources 120
Stealth Buddhism 121
Trojan Horse 121
Scripting 122
Buddhist Critiques of Deception as Wrong or Unskillful Speech 123
Pattern #2: Unintentional Indoctrination 123
Buddhist and Christian Assumptions Compared 123
Differences Among Buddhist Schools 124
Pattern #3: Religious and Spiritual Effects 125
Anecdotal Reports 125
Research Studies 126
Conclusion 127
References 128
7 The Mindful Self in Space and Time 132
Through Thoughts to Space 133
From Existence in Space to Appearance in Space 134
The Space of Subject and Object, Self and World 134
The Fields of Space 135
The Field as a Whole 137
Suggestions for Exploration 138
Locatedness 138
Distance and Separation 139
Thoughts 139
Meaning 139
The Self at the Center 139
The Presence of Others 140
A New Vision for the Practice of Mindfulness 140
References 142
Canonical Texts 142
Secondary Sources 142
Neoliberal Mindfulness Versus Critical Mindfulness 144
8 Selling Mindfulness: Commodity Lineages and the Marketing of Mindful Products 145
Buddhism in the Economy 146
Alternate Ancestors: Evangelicals 147
Alternate Ancestors: LOHAS 149
Alternate Ancestors: iPhone 150
Alternate Ancestors: Nike 152
Conclusions 154
References 155
9 Mindfulness and the Moral Imperative for the Self to Improve the Self 156
Introduction 156
The Myth of the Frontier: DIY or Die 156
A Brief and Impressionistic History 157
Purpose 157
The Sketch 157
Renaissance 158
Reformation 158
Colonial America Forward 159
Buddhism as Self-improvement 161
The Ethos of Self-improvement 161
Anxieties of the Malleable Self 164
The Ever-Receding Horizon of Perfectionism 164
Perfectionism Versus Human Depravity 164
The Rhetorically Bifurcated Self 165
Beyond Stylistics: From Rhetorical Bifurcation to Crypto-?tman 165
Misreading Neural Plasticity 167
Conclusion: Marketing the Unattainable 168
References 168
10 The Critique of Mindfulness and the Mindfulness of Critique: Paying Attention to the Politics of Our Selves with Foucault’s Analytic of Governmentality 170
Introduction 170
Governmentality, Neoliberalism, and the Production of Subjectivity 171
Neoliberalism as Political Ontology 172
Homo Economicus and Human Capital 172
The Governmentality of the Mindfulness Trend 173
Neoliberal Subjectivity 175
Political Spirituality, the Care of the Self, and Ethics as Critical Practice 176
Foucault’s ‘Ethical Turn’ and Zen Encounter 176
Reevaluating the Care of Self 177
A Fourfold Analysis of Ethics-Based Morality 178
Ethical Self-Cultivation 179
The Limit Attitude of Critique 180
Experience and Critical Resistance 181
The Critique of Mindfulness and the Mindfulness of Critique 182
The Critique of Mindfulness 182
The Mindfulness of Critique 183
Future Promises 183
Conclusion: What Are We Doing or not Doing with Mindfulness? 184
References 186
11 A Meta-Critique of Mindfulness Critiques: From McMindfulness to Critical Mindfulness 188
Meta-Critique or: A Critique of Ideological Critiques 188
Mindfulness and Universalism 189
Mindfulness and Neoliberalism 191
Mindfulness© 195
Critical Mindfulness 196
References 198
12 Notes Toward a Coming Backlash Mindfulness as an Opiate of the Middle Classes 202
Introduction 202
Mindfulness and Buddhaphilia 204
Mindfulness in Wonderland 205
Corporate Mindfulness and Its Discontents 207
Depression, Perennialism, Anti-Intellectualism, and the Specter of Atman 209
But It Works, Doesn’t It? 212
References 213
13 Is There a Corporate Takeover of the Mindfulness Industry? An Exploration of Western Mindfulness in the Public and Private Sector 215
A Flash on a Retreat in 1979 of ‘Jon Kabat-Zinn’ 216
Mindfulness in the Public Sector 217
Mindfulness and the Brain 218
Mindfulness of the Power of Corporations 219
Selfie Mindfulness in Corporations 222
The Voices of Concern About Western Mindfulness 224
The Buddha on Mindfulness 225
Great Discourse on the Applications of Mindfulness (Digha Nikaya. DN.22) 225
Four Noble Truths 227
The Four Noble Truths Applied to the Corporate World 227
14 Corporate Mindfulness and the Pathologization of Workplace Stress 229
Introduction 229
Why Corporations Have Taken Interest in Mindfulness 230
Scientific Management 232
The Mind This Time 234
The Social Vision of Corporate Mindfulness 236
The Mindfulness Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism 236
Recovering the Artistic Critique 240
It’s You 243
A Shift in Power 245
Concluding Remarks 246
References 247
15 Mindfulness in the Working Life. Beyond the “Corporate” View, in Search for New Spaces of Awareness and Equanimity 249
The Advent of Organizational Mindfulness 249
Cognitive Mindfulness 251
Organizational MBIs Guided Through MBSR 252
Buddhist Perspectives on Mindfulness in the Working Life 255
Critical Views: The Raising of McMindfulness 258
Hypotheses for “Mindfulness-Inspired” Initiatives 259
Final Remarks 261
References 262
Genealogies of Mindfulness-Based Interventions 265
16 Against One Method: Contemplation in Context 266
Introduction 266
Buddhist Contemplative Frames 267
Modern Secular Programs 267
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) 267
Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) 268
Sustainable Compassion Training (SCT) 268
Limits of Buddhist Frames 269
Modern Cultural Frames 269
Individualism 270
Scientific Reductionism/Rationalism 270
The Secular Frame 271
MBSR’s Secular Frame 271
CBCT’s Secular Frame 272
SCT’s Secular Frame 272
The Limits of Modern Frames 273
Toward a (Re)Frame 274
References 275
17 Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Clinical Psychology, Buddhadharma, or Both? A Wisdom Perspective 276
Introduction 276
Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology 276
Source and Content of MBIs 277
Controversy: Are MBIs Also a Form of Buddhadharma? 277
Methodological Underpinnings 278
A View of MBIs from Within Buddhadharma 278
Functional Analogy 278
Mindfulness: The Term and Concept 279
Buddhadharma: The Noble Eightfold Path 279
MBIs and Buddhadharma 280
Subtler Forms of the Claim of Essential Identity 280
Suffering: A Crucial Concept 281
Suffering in Buddhadharma 281
Dukkha 281
The Suffering of Suffering: Overt Dukkha and the Two Arrows 281
Three Levels of Dukkha 281
The Suffering of Change: Subtle Dukkha 282
The Suffering of Conditioned Existence: Hidden Dukkha 282
Deep Causation: Hidden Suffering Underlies Overt and Subtle Suffering 283
Two Realms of Buddhadharma: Everyday/Psychological and Radical/Transcendental 284
Right Intention 284
Right Intention in Buddhadharma 284
Right Intention and MBIs: Critique 285
Renunciation and MBIs: Analogical Perspective 286
Relational Right Intention: Analogical Perspective 286
Are MBIs a Gateway to Buddhadharma? 286
A Model of Dukkha 287
Columns of the Model 287
Four Marks in the Model 288
Right View 288
MBIs and Right View 288
Impermanence in MBIs: Critique 289
Impermanence in MBIs: Analogical Perspective 289
Dukkha in MBIs: Critique 291
Dukkha in MBIs: Analogical Perspective 291
No-Self in MBIs: Critique 292
No-Self in MBIs: Analogical Perspective 293
Liberation in MBIs: Critique 295
Liberation in MBIs: Analogical Perspective 295
Conclusion 296
Conflation of Buddhadharma and MBIs 296
MBIs as Buddhadharma: Reality Versus Perception 296
Dialogue 297
References 297
18 Mindfulness: The Bottled Water of the Therapy Industry 302
The Rise of Mindfulness-Based Therapy 302
The Scientific Study of Mindfulness: Insights and Warnings from the Talking Therapy Research Field 305
Mindfulness-Based Therapy for Psychological Problems: A Brief Look at the Evidence 308
‘Are You Paying Attention?’ Mindfulness in the Classroom 312
Meditation and Well-being: Experimental and Neuropsychological Studies 313
Mindfulness: The Bottled Water of the Therapy Industry 316
Acknowledgement 320
References 320
19 The Fourth Treasure: Psychotherapy’s Contribution to the Dharma 326
Introduction 326
Active and Passive Adaptation 327
From Secularism to the Mainstream 328
Remembering and Forgetting 330
Entering the Stream 330
Communal Feeling and Imperceptible Mutual Assistance 331
The Existential Unconscious 332
Psychotherapy’s Contribution 334
References 336
20 Constructing the Mindful Subject: Reformulating Experience Through Affective–Discursive Practice in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction 338
Introduction 338
The Storied World of Mind-Body Medicine 339
Affective–Discursive Practices and Technologies of the Self 340
Conversation Analysis 342
MBSR as ‘Institutional Talk’: Inquiry, Third Turns and Formulations 345
Turning Difficulties into Discoveries 346
Discovering ‘the Wandering Mind’: Historical and Interactional Dimensions 347
Coming Towards Difficulty 348
Formulation as Transformation 348
Embodying ‘Troubles’ Receptivity 349
Teacherly Talk and Mindfulness Student Positioning 350
Revealing Subtle Power Dynamics and Ideological Dilemma 351
Producing ‘Mindful’ Subjectivity: Discourse and Experience 352
Conclusion: Self-knowledge and Self-care 353
Acknowledgments 353
Appendix: Key for Transcription Notation (Based on a Simplified Jefferson-Style Transcription) 354
References 354
21 Saving the World: Personalized Communication of Mindfulness Neuroscience 356
Introduction 356
Personalization and Science Communications as a Continuum 357
Self-directed Neuroplasticity Through Mindfulness Practice 360
Mindfulness Neuroscience–A Personal Story 362
Science Communication: A Moral Vocation 364
Concluding Discussion 365
References 366
Websites and YouTube Channels 368
22 The Ultimate Rx: Cutting Through the Delusion of Self-cherishing 369
Introduction 369
Western Psychology on the Self 369
Buddhist Psychology on the Self 370
Western Psychology on Distortions of Self 371
Buddhist Psychology on Distortions of Self 372
Conventional Self-cherishing 372
Is Conventional Self-cherishing Comparable with Self-esteem? 372
A Culture of Self-cherishing 373
Cutting Through Conventional Self-cherishing 373
Embodied Cognition 375
Embodied Presence 376
Ultimate Self-cherishing 377
Egolessness and Liberative Insight 379
Conclusion 380
References 381
Mindfulness as Critical Pedagogy 385
23 Critical Integral Contemplative Education 386
What the Hell Is Water? 386
A Brief Murky History: MBSR and the Critique of McMindfulness 387
Constructive Critique 388
Culture 389
Social Structure 391
Development 392
Toward a Critical Integral Contemplative Education 393
Subjective 394
Cultural or Intersubjective 394
Behavior or Objective 395
Social Structure or Interobjective 395
Back in the Water 395
References 396
24 What Is the Sound of One Invisible Hand Clapping? Neoliberalism, the Invisibility of Asian and Asian American Buddhists, and Secular Mindfulness in Education 399
Neoliberalism and Secular Mindfulness in Education 400
Secular Mindfulness Education in the Context of Neoliberalism 401
Secular Mindfulness and the Invisibility of Asian and Asian American Buddhists 402
Race and Science 402
Neoliberal Marketing and Racial Invisibility 403
Racial Curricula and the Neoliberal Marketization of Public Schools 405
Instructing a Neoliberal Sense of Self 407
Conclusion 408
References 409
25 Through a Glass Darkly: The Neglect of Ethical and Educational Elements in Mindfulness-Based Interventions 412
Mindfulness, Education and Therapeutic Transformation 412
The McDonaldization of MBIs 415
Efficiency 415
Calculability 416
Predictability 417
Control Through Non-human Technology 417
McMindfulness in Education and Work 418
Schools and Colleges 418
Workplaces 420
Mindfulness and the Affective Domain of Education 422
References 423
26 Education as the Practice of Freedom: A Social Justice Proposal for Mindfulness Educators 426
Critical Interventions in the Field of Mindfulness 427
Mindfulness, Yoga, and Colonization 428
Mindfulness in K-12 Schools 429
Ideology of White Dominance 430
Room to Breathe 432
Mindfulness Education for Social Justice 433
References 436
27 The Curriculum of Right Mindfulness: The Relational Self and the Capacity for Compassion 439
Historical Foundations of Ethical Practices and Current Secular Extensions 440
Joining the Wings of Wisdom and Compassion 440
Next-Generation Mindfulness: Cultivation of Enactive Compassion 442
Expanding the Context of Mindfulness: The Wisdom of Interdependence 443
Phenomenological Studies of the Experience of Self 444
Moving from Present-Moment Awareness to Softening the Boundaries of the Solid Self 444
Generation of Prosocial Intentionality Through Mindful Awareness 445
Perspective-Taking as a Core Capability for the Generation of Compassion 446
Considerations for Constructing a Curriculum for Right Mindfulness 447
Foundational Principles of Secular Ethics 447
Attitudinal Foundations for Compassion 447
The Relational Self and the Eightfold Path 448
Deriving Right Action and Right Speech from Awareness of Interdependence 449
Imagining the Future 450
Conclusion 451
References 451
28 Community-Engaged Mindfulness and Social Justice: An Inquiry and Call to Action 453
Introduction 453
Mindfulness and Social Justice: An Inquiry 453
Community-Engaged Mindfulness as a Response 456
Community-Engaged Mindfulness: An Exploratory Case Study 457
Summary of Outcomes 458
Workshop Design and Participant Response 459
Participant Responses 461
Reflections and Suggestions for Future Research 464
Conclusion 464
Appendix 465
References 467
29 A Critical and Comprehensive Review of Mindfulness in the Early Years 468
Defining Mindfulness in Early Childhood Education Settings 468
What Purpose Does Mindfulness Serve in Early Childhood Education Settings? 468
Exploring Mindfulness Programs in Early Childhood Education Settings 469
Mindful Awareness Practices (MAP) 469
Mindfulness Schools Program (MSP) 469
MindUP Curriculum for K-2 469
School Readiness and Schoolification in the Early Years 469
Connecting Mindfulness to School Readiness and Schoolification: A Social Justice Issue 471
What Are the Implications of Standardizing and Measuring Approaches to Mindfulness? 471
Measured Mindfulness 471
Conclusion 472
Recommendations 473
References 473
30 A “Mechanism of Hope”: Mindfulness, Education, and the Developing Brain 474
Mainstreaming Mindfulness: Shadows and Light 474
The Specter of the Brain and Mindfulness as a “Neurointervention” 476
Adolescent Neuroplasticity: Teen Brains “Under Construction” 476
Modulating the Brain Through Neurotalk 478
Regulating the Effects of Childhood Adversity: Mindfulness Programs and Urban Youth 479
Broken Futures, Plastic Brains, and the Soteriology of Mindfulness 480
Conclusion 482
References 484
31 Using a Mindfulness-Oriented Academic Success Course to Reduce Self-limiting Social Stereotypes in a Higher Education Context 486
Disparity in Higher Education 486
Retention and Graduation Rates 486
Career Inequity 487
Institutional/Community Factors Contributing to Inequity 487
Social Psychological Factors Contributing to Inequity 488
What Is Needed 488
Coping and Self-efficacy 489
Intervening in the Classroom 489
An Academic Success Course 489
Course Innovation 490
Course Concepts and Materials: Learning Life—the Textbook 490
The Core Practices 491
The Learning Life Three-Sphere Model 492
The AIR Strategy 493
Course Content 493
Mind–Body Practices 494
Preliminary Findings 494
Student Responses 495
Conclusion 495
References 495
Commentary 498
32 Meditation Matters: Replies to the Anti-McMindfulness Bandwagon! 499
To Be Mindful or Not to Be Mindful, that Is the Question 499
The ‘Meditation Fails to Change the World’ Objection 504
The ‘McMindfulness Is Divorced from Buddhist Ethics’ Objection 508
Variations on the Theme: Ginsberg and Žižek 510
The ‘Unethical-Application’ Objection 511
The ‘Meditation Doesn’t Matter Much to Buddhists’ Objection 516
Conclusion: No Buddha Left Behind! 517
References 519
33 Criticism Matters: A Response to Rick Repetti 520
Introduction 520
The [W]hole 520
The Definition 521
The First Objection 522
The Second Objection 523
The Third Objection 524
The Fourth Objection 526
References 528