Mindfulness: has it been hijacked by business or...

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Kusala
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Mindfulness: has it been hijacked by business or...

Post by Kusala »

can it change lives? http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable- ... ry-inquiry This is part 2 to Mindfulness: A Secularized Buddhist Practice in the West.

Is this the beginning of "counterfeit Dhamma"?
"He, the Blessed One, is indeed the Noble Lord, the Perfectly Enlightened One;
He is impeccable in conduct and understanding, the Serene One, the Knower of the Worlds;
He trains perfectly those who wish to be trained; he is Teacher of gods and men; he is Awake and Holy. "

--------------------------------------------
"The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One,
Apparent here and now, timeless, encouraging investigation,
Leading to liberation, to be experienced individually by the wise. "
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appicchato
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Re: Mindfulness: has it been hijacked by business or...

Post by appicchato »

Follow the money... :coffee:
Sanjay PS
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Re: Mindfulness: has it been hijacked by business or...

Post by Sanjay PS »

Just recently , i had come across of a web site that mentions of liberation from the bondages of a deluded self , merely by having focussed inter-actions on the web with appointed " e-guides ", and once the e-guide feels that the student has also reached liberation , he/she can become e-guides , to further share the liberation . It left me wondering :stirthepot:

However , i must say that , that the blog of one of the persons promoting this web initiative , was saturated with deep insight and metaphors of the delusion of a self .There was clarity . Probably just branching out after having advanced quite a bit .

It reminded of a Venerable Monk , Sayagi Thetgi , who when approached by an eager Dhamma Student , having authored a book on Dhamma , asked the student to get a match box , and lit the book , saying at the most , these create only confusion .

sanjay
The Path of Dhamma

The path of Dhamma is no picnic . It is a strenuous march steeply up the hill . If all the comrades desert you , Walk alone ! Walk alone ! with all the Thrill !!

U S.N. Goenka
SarathW
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Re: Mindfulness: has it been hijacked by business or...

Post by SarathW »

Buddha taught the right mindfulness (Samma Sati).
He asked us to refrain from wrong mindfulness (Mitcca Sati).
So these matters mention in OP are in line with his teaching and to be considered as wrong mindfulness.
Aren't we lucky we know the difference between those two?
:)
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
Sanjay PS
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Re: Mindfulness: has it been hijacked by business or...

Post by Sanjay PS »

SarathW wrote:Buddha taught the right mindfulness (Samma Sati).
He asked us to refrain from wrong mindfulness (Mitcca Sati).
So these matters mention in OP are in line with his teaching and to be considered as wrong mindfulness.
Aren't we lucky we know the difference between those two?
:)
:anjali:
The Path of Dhamma

The path of Dhamma is no picnic . It is a strenuous march steeply up the hill . If all the comrades desert you , Walk alone ! Walk alone ! with all the Thrill !!

U S.N. Goenka
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Lazy_eye
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Re: Mindfulness: has it been hijacked by business or...

Post by Lazy_eye »

Kusala wrote: Is this the beginning of "counterfeit Dhamma"?
No, because it isn't Dhamma at all -- the goals are different.

It just happens that mindfulness techniques have been shown to be beneficial in various contexts other than Buddhism. For example, when I was in my twenties, I suffered from anxiety problems and received therapy for it, which included a form of mindfulness practice. It was extremely beneficial and may have even helped save my life.

I was not a Buddhist and knew very little about Buddhist teachings. Would you have denied me the benefit of these techniques just because my goals were not the same as yours?
Last edited by Lazy_eye on Sun Aug 31, 2014 1:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Sam Vara
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Re: Mindfulness: has it been hijacked by business or...

Post by Sam Vara »

SarathW wrote:Buddha taught the right mindfulness (Samma Sati).
He asked us to refrain from wrong mindfulness (Mitcca Sati).
So these matters mention in OP are in line with his teaching and to be considered as wrong mindfulness.
Aren't we lucky we know the difference between those two?
:)
Excellent point, SarathW. Have you seen Ajahn Sucitto's little article dealing with this and similar issues?
http://www.cittaviveka.org/index.php/te ... indfulness
So: ‘…when your virtue is well-purified and your view is straight, based upon virtue,
established upon virtue, you should develop the four establishments of mindfulness.’
(S47.15) Now, the body isn’t virtuous or non-virtuous in and of itself, and neither is
feeling, so this instruction isn’t about object-definition but about how one attends and
why. Robbing a bank or slaughtering a chicken might require clarity, focus and calm, but
they wouldn’t be themes for right mindfulness (although there is such a thing as
‘wrong’/miccha’ mindfulness), because they don’t reveal the ‘essence’, in this case the
mental potencies of avarice, shamelessness and non-empathy. So, for right mindfulness,
the ‘attentive’ aspect of mindfulness has to connect with felt awareness of one’s approach
and intention. Because attention, manasikāra, is amoral; assassins can cultivate it to a
high degrees. But attention is only one aspect of mind, the aspect that is operated
through manas – mind as rational, object-defining tool. This is the function that gets
tuned to high degrees of efficiency and speed. People racing through piles of data, people
rapidly trading stocks and shares, people behind screens, scanning and taking notes have
high degrees of attention and rapid reference. But what they’re not referring to is their
own mind, mind as ‘heart’ or ‘citta’. This is the mind of feelings and impressions and of
‘how I am’; mind as an empathic and central steady ground. And through lack of clear
reference to citta, we have rampant social and individual disease – people losing
themselves in what grabs attention; people stressed out through losing contact with their
inner ground, even to the extent of not knowing that there is one
meindzai
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Re: Mindfulness: has it been hijacked by business or...

Post by meindzai »

Lazy_eye wrote:
Kusala wrote: Is this the beginning of "counterfeit Dhamma"?
No, because it isn't Dhamma at all -- the goals are different.

It just happens that mindfulness techniques have been shown to be beneficial in various contexts other than Buddhism. For example, when I was in my twenties, I suffered from anxiety problems and received therapy for it, which included a form of mindfulness practice. It was extremely beneficial and nay have even helped save my life.

I was not a Buddhist and knew very little about Buddhist teachings. Would you have denied me the benefit of these techniques just because my goals were not the same as yours?
Same story here, more or less. I am probably alive (or at least not a drug addled or psychotic mess) in large part thanks to Dhamma-lite.

-Dave K
SarathW
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Re: Mindfulness: has it been hijacked by business or...

Post by SarathW »

Any mindfulness directed towards wholesome action or results is right mindfulness.
:)
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
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