Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

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Ben
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Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by Ben »

An excellent article by DW member Zavk (Ed Ng) and Ron Purser who critique corporate mindfulness.
Comments are welcome but please read the article in its entirety.
Kind regards,
Ben
Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t: Zen or no Zen, you’re working harder and being paid less

Mindfulness has become a household word. Time magazine’s cover of a youthful blond woman peacefully blissing out anchors the feature story, ‘Mindful Revolution.’ From endorsements by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Goldie Hawn, to monks, neuroscientists, and meditation coaches rubbing shoulders with CEOs at the World Economic Forum in Davos, it is clear that mindfulness has gone mainstream.

But is the mindfulness boom really a revolution? If it is, what exactly has been overturned or radically transformed to garner such grand status?

http://www.salon.com/2015/09/27/corpora ... paid_less/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Buckwheat
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Re: Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by Buckwheat »

THANKS FOR THE ARTICLE, and thanks, Ben, for sharing.

When the Buddha looked at corporate America, how much dust would he see on the eyes? Which teaching would he start with? Probably generosity and morality, with mindfulness supporting those actions.

The American obsession with diet and exercise has done nothing to curb our addiction to terrible food and binge watching. Why would sati be any different?
Sotthī hontu nirantaraṃ - May you forever be well.
SarathW
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Re: Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by SarathW »

This is called the re-branding.
They sell the same message with a different name.
Do you remember the jargons - Team bulding, We are a family, Inner Circle etc.
So no need to get up-set or waste our time on worrying about it.
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
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samseva
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Re: Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by samseva »

Corporate mindfulness is basically brainwashing, in the literal meaning of the word—as in washing the brain, rather than adding beliefs. Instead of actually improving the work environment or the company itself, mindfulness programs are used to remove stress, negative emotions, as well as other things. Furthermore, like described in the article, Buddhist concepts, such as the truth of suffering and impermanence, are being used to justify almost inhumane work environments.

It is like trying to make a faulty motor function properly by adding more oil and lubricant to it, rather than actually changing a few broken parts.
Herbie
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Re: Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by Herbie »

A nice article that highlights potential dangers of buddhist practices in present time although in a biased and rhetorical way. From my perspective the alleged "misuse" of mindfulness corresponds directly to what contemporary buddhism itself is emphasizing: care for the "inner" but don't get distracted by the "outer". Or what I have come across also are views like "if you don't get upset by even the worst outer conditions then you are a good meditator." because getting upset or angry is considered to be associated with ignorance. But - provided change of socio-economic conditions are wanted - has any change in history occured without people getting upset about what they considered "injustice"?
... because change for the common good (rather than change simply for individual benefit or personal wellbeing) must come through the disruption of prevailing systems of inequality, exploitation, and injustice.
This last sentence also shows that in the end it's again belief. Why should one believe in a "common good" being opposed to the outcomes of a "corporate mindfulness"? Why should one believe in a "common good" at all when all that is observable for an individual is its own benefit and well-being? Does indivdual benefit and wellbeing necessarily support what is criticized in this article?
Inspiration is based on the exchange of different linguistic expressions. But inspiration is best knowing how language relates to truth. :smile:
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Dhamma_Basti
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Re: Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by Dhamma_Basti »

Thanks for the link, I will have a look into it in the coming days. It is extremely interesting to see how much money is pushed into all those neuro science meditation-research programms at our university where they try to prove that 20 min of meditation a day will turn you into a better paid top manager, but we poor indologist, who spend the whole day reading the manuscripts and try to get the gist of what those very people who proclaimed these meditation techniques really wanted to say loose one chair after the other. But yes, these are our times... People are focussed on results.
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mikenz66
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Re: Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by mikenz66 »

Hi, Dhamma_Basti,

You sound like Richard Gombrich in this interview:
Gombrich wrote:At the same time, I think one of the most important things that people must be reminded of is that we’re all infinitely ignorant, and above all we don’t yet have a clue what consciousness is. We simply don’t know. And therefore to pontificate on the basis of measuring electrical currents in the brain – as if that could tell us anything – is absolute foolishness. It seems to be just damn stupid. Yes, neurology is fascinating: it’s very interesting to know that all the words for kinds of tools, for example, are stored in a particular place that you can locate in my brain, and the German or French or English ones are all stored in the same place. That’s very surprising and quite fun to know. But what has that got to do with Buddhism and the essential things of life? Absolutely zero! Nothing! These people are wasting their time, and I do get rather peeved because I’m always trying to collect a few pence to keep my OCBS [Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies] going, and these people get millions of dollars for doing just rubbish. And I don’t get a penny for doing serious work!
https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/in ... ombrich/65
:anjali:
Mike
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mikenz66
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Re: Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by mikenz66 »

There are some interesting points in the article, and I'm somewhat skeptical of the way mindfulness has been marketed in the workplace.

However, I do take issue with the line that the only motivation for those managing employees is to exploit them more efficiently. One could easily rewrite the entire article replacing workplace stress by physical injury and rant against employers who only want to reduce workplace accidents because that threatens their bottom line. Those naughty companies, how dare they reduce deaths and maimings in their satanic workplaces!

Of course, there's an element of truth in this bottom-ine argument. Less injuries make workplaces more efficient and make it easier to hire staff. And it's certainly the intention of the Health and Safety legislation in my countr to motivate employers to reduce injuries. Companies with lower injury rates pay less accident tax. Naughty government, encouraging such action...

Perhaps there's a bit of a white-collar bias here. Factory workers need health and safety intervention to protect them, but health and safety initiatives (which is what workplace mindfulness is intended to be) aimed at corporate professionals is a sneaky conspiracy.

:anjali:
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ancientbuddhism
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Re: Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by ancientbuddhism »

Good to see this topic coming back up. We had discussed this last year some @ The Science Delusion and New Mindfulness
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Herbie
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Re: Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by Herbie »

mikenz66 wrote:...
Gombrich wrote:At the same time, I think one of the most important things that people must be reminded of is that we’re all infinitely ignorant, and above all we don’t yet have a clue what consciousness is. We simply don’t know. And therefore to pontificate on the basis of measuring electrical currents in the brain – as if that could tell us anything – is absolute foolishness. It seems to be just damn stupid. Yes, neurology is fascinating: it’s very interesting to know that all the words for kinds of tools, for example, are stored in a particular place that you can locate in my brain, and the German or French or English ones are all stored in the same place. That’s very surprising and quite fun to know. But what has that got to do with Buddhism and the essential things of life? Absolutely zero! Nothing!
https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/in ... ombrich/65
Well I don't think that "Absolutely zero! Nothing! " is the appropriate answer because from the perspective of scientific system of thought "Buddhism and the essential things of life" are immediate products/effects of exactly this brain (no speculation about secondary causes here from my side). However - and this is perhaps what Gombrich has in mind - the interpretation of " electrical currents in the brain" or the conclusions drawn from these far too often are speculations. Speculations have nothing to do with science but are a field of interest of popular press and interest groups.
Inspiration is based on the exchange of different linguistic expressions. But inspiration is best knowing how language relates to truth. :smile:
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Dhamma_Basti
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Re: Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by Dhamma_Basti »

I guess his point here is that people in our modern world are trying to prove spiritual practice with materialistic means (what could be a more parodic image of this than measuring brain current of a monk!), to somehow 'get around' the whole renounciation and morality thing that naturally would get in the way when a company wants to use these practices to more efficiently exploit their employees.
It appears to be possible to remove samadhi practice from the context of the teaching and practice it in an isolated way to reach a better work performance, but I habe serious doubts if this brings somebody really nearer to the light. If there is no aim of wisdom and liberation, what can be the use of samadhi?
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Herbie
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Re: Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by Herbie »

Dhamma_Basti wrote:It appears to be possible to remove samadhi practice from the context of the teaching and practice it in an isolated way to reach a better work performance, but I habe serious doubts if this brings somebody really nearer to the light. If there is no aim of wisdom and liberation, what can be the use of samadhi?
Well exactly improvement of work performance can be the use of it, right? And improvement of work performance isn't necessarily a "bad" thing but the assessment whether it is "good" or "bad" may depend on the kind of work done.
Inspiration is based on the exchange of different linguistic expressions. But inspiration is best knowing how language relates to truth. :smile:
daverupa
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Re: Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by daverupa »

Dhamma_Basti wrote:If there is no aim of wisdom and liberation, what can be the use of samadhi?
There are all sorts of miccha-samadhi...
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
dharmacorps
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Re: Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by dharmacorps »

I think a some people may find out more about Buddhism through Mindfulness courses. That is how I found out about Theravada Buddhism... MBSR.
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phil
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Re: Corporate mindfulness is bullsh*t

Post by phil »

dharmacorps wrote:I think a some people may find out more about Buddhism through Mindfulness courses. That is how I found out about Theravada Buddhism... MBSR.


I agree with this. And anything that even introduces people into the revolutionary idea that we are not our thoughts and don't have to live enslaved to our thinking. Is the Dhamma something to be protected against corruption? No way.
Kammalakkhano , bhikkhave, bālo, kammalakkhano pandito, apadānasobhanī paññāti
(The fool is characterized by his/her actions/the wise one is characterized by his/her actions/Wisdom shines forth in behaviour.)
(AN 3.2 Lakkhana Sutta)
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