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The absurdity here is palpable. Setting aside the fact that it is impossible to "gentrify", "hijack", or otherwise get a corner on a spiritual/mental exercise,
by cstavish 13y ago
The absurdity here is palpable. Setting aside the fact that it is impossible to "gentrify", "hijack", or otherwise get a corner on a spiritual/mental exercise, mindfulness is not Buddhism. The artcile sloppily conflates the two terms. Let's not kid ourselves here, Westerners aren't going to start adopting a Buddhist way of life (which goes far beyond casual mindfulness meditation) in droves... so why shouldn't they take something beneficial from the Buddhist tradition and apply it to their otherwise decadent/capitalistic/exploitive lives?
I say this is a generally pro-capitalist non-Buddhist who read the Sutra of Hui Neng in college.
- socrates1998 13y agoI agree. And I think you could argue the other way. That without more mindfulness of the 1%, you won't see any major changes in the world. The more the wealthy realize that consumption, status, wealth and success doesn't equate to happiness, the better the world will be.
- peterwwillis 13y agoIn other words, what's wrong with using Buddhism as a means to destroy the major tenets of Buddhism? I dunno. But I can see how people might get offended. The article is not asserting that mindfulness is Buddhism. It assumes that people understand that mindfulness came from Buddhism, and makes the point that Buddhists are pissed off that one of the most important parts of their religion is being used to pacify people who are causing others harm (which Buddhists generally have a problem with).