Excellent article on meditation/ mindfulness and its current tendiness and mainstream allure. Meditation is best done under the guidance of an authentic teacher, in conjunction with other spiritual practices and for the purpose of the Divine Encounter. Even then, there are no guarantees, because we are not the masters of outcomes and ourselves. As a result, many people think of meditation only from the perspective of reducing stress and enhancing executive skills such as emotion regulation, attention, and so on. For Britton, this widespread assumption—that meditation exists only for stress reduction and labor productivity, because thats what Americans value—narrows the scope of the scientific lens. ...Does it promote good relationships? Does it reduce cortisol? Does it help me work harder? asks Britton, referencing these more lucrative questions. Because studies have shown that meditation does satisfy such interests, the results, she says, are vigorously reported to the public... Britton also questions what might be considered the mindfulness movements limited scope. She explains that the Theravadin Buddhist tradition influences how a large portion of Americans practice meditation, but in it, mindfulness is about vipassana, a specific type of insight … into the three characteristics of experience. These are also known as the three marks of existence: anicca, or impermanence; dukkha, or dissatisfaction; and anatta, or no-self. In this context, mindfulness is not about being able to stare comfortably at your computer for hours on end, or get in the zone to climb the corporate ladder. Rather, says Britton, its about the often painstaking process of realizing and processing those three specific insights.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 00:20:10 +0000
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