The Curriculum of Right Mindfulness: The Relational Self and the Capacity for Compassion
In this chapter, we argue for expanding the scope of contemporary definitions of mindfulness to reflect the relational nature of mental processes and to extend our practices beyond stress reduction by cultivation of wisdom and compassion. Increasing scien
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Joy L. Mitra and Mark T. Greenberg
There has been substantial discussion in the past decade about the secular decontextualization of mindfulness as it has been applied in medicine, education, business, and other settings. In this chapter, we explore the Buddhist understanding of right mindfulness and how new secular frameworks are emerging that are focused on the nurturing of compassion. We focus on how these emerging models of mindfulness and compassion can be nurtured in applied settings with youth, teachers, parents, and others to support understanding of the nature of mind, to sharpen attention and awareness, and to promote compassion. In doing so, we draw on insights of Bodhi (2011) on mindfulness, Varela et al. (1991) on mind and compassion, and Vago and Silbersweig (2012) on neuroscientific models of the mechanisms of mindfulness. The ongoing debate regarding the role of ethics in contemporary models of mindfulness interventions has focused on the issue of decontextualization of mindfulness in secular society and on the relationship between mind-
J.L. Mitra (&) Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, Penn State University, University Park, 16802 PA, USA e-mail: [email protected] M.T. Greenberg College of Health and Human Development, Penn State University, University Park, 16802 PA, USA e-mail: [email protected]
fulness and ethical action (Bodhi 2011; Grossman and Van Dam 2011; Monteiro et al. 2015). We agree that this is a central and compelling question in the cultural translation of mindfulness and of meditative practice when utilized in Western secular settings. Here, we address some foundational issues relating to the practices of mindfulness in both personal and interpersonal contexts, and of the association of mindfulness with secular ethics, wisdom, and compassion. In doing so, we consider mindfulness to be not only a specific set of meditative practices, but also an integral component of the Eightfold Path in which right speech, right action, right livelihood, etc., are intrinsically linked. In this chapter, we do not address the vigorously debated issues of spiritual materialism, nor concerns regarding the utilization of meditative techniques in the service of self-advancement, combat, or other more controversial contemporary contexts. However, we share the concerns of the more traditional Buddhist approach that a delimited approach to mindfulness that does not include a clear and explicit ethical foundation is misappropriated and questionable. We also propose that it may be helpful to begin to articulate principles and criteria: (i) To draw a clear line to distinguish mindfulness from right mindfulness in secular interventions and (ii) to serve as scaffolding for the development of an ethical framework as the basis of education for nonviolent and compassionate forms of action at the universal level.
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 R.E. Purser et al. (eds.), Handbook of Mindfulness, Mindfulness in Behavioral Health, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-44019-4_27
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