First published in Midwest Christian Outreach Journal, Volume 20, No. 1, Fall,
2014
Note: Although some Buddhist concepts are explained here, the thrust of the
article is to describe the Western take on Buddhism via the New Age and the
secular culture, and how some of its practices and concepts, especially
Mindfulness, have migrated to the West, particularly the United States. In order
to make a distinction between a generic understanding of the term "mindfulness"
and the term used for the practice based on Buddhism, Mindfulness in this
article will be spelled with a capital M.
"We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness."
1
"Developing wisdom is a process of bringing our minds into accordance with the
way things really are. Through this process we gradually remove the incorrect
perceptions of reality we have had since the beginningless time."
2
"Be lamps unto yourselves." 3
Mindfulness is a Buddhist concept and practice. Yet we now find Mindfulness
taught and practiced in schools, businesses, hospitals, and prisons. People as
diverse as educators, health workers, psychologists, corporation honchos, and
clergyman advocate it. Its popularity is increasing with rapid-fire speed.
Therefore, Christians need to know what it is, how it is being promoted, and if
there is any conflict with the Christian faith.
Mindfulness is a meditative practice and an outlook on life and reality that
ideally results from the type of meditation designed to cultivate the Buddhist
concept of detachment. (Detachment for the Westerner usually implies not caring
or indifference; whereas, according to Buddhist teaching, it is learning to
disconnect from desire [grasping at this world] and false views of reality which
keep one in the cycle of rebirth).
Mindfulness is often defined as a moment-by-moment nonjudgmental awareness of
the present. Why is detachment necessary and what does that mean? To understand,
we should know these essentials of Buddhism:
1. Life in this world is suffering.
2. Suffering is caused by desire for and attachment to this world, which will
bring further rebirth into this world.
3. The remedy for suffering is to cultivate detachment and thereby reach
enlightenment and thus escape rebirth.
4. The final goal is nirvana, a state of release from the cycle of rebirth and
suffering. Nirvana means "to extinguish."
The world, as it is perceived in Buddhist thinking, is not substantively real.
The individual self has no permanent reality (it is called the no-self, anatman
or anatta), and what one recognizes as the individual self is based on faulty
perceptions (this is sometimes called the "conventional self"). Feelings,
thoughts, physical sensations, and sense of identity, according to this view,
have fooled us into thinking we exist as an individual. Continuing to believe
this keeps us trapped in this life and the cycle of rebirth.
Desire, which is a grasping at or attachment to this world, is the cause of
suffering, and so detachment must be cultivated, mainly through Mindfulness.
Moreover, since the mind is part of this nominal reality, thoughts are in the
way of realizing the true nature of reality and self. Mindfulness, as a
meditation practice, is the tool by which one sees beyond or in between thoughts
as a process of awakening to truth. The promotion of Mindfulness often includes
the commonly heard maxim, "Be in the present," since the goal includes detaching
from past and future.
Practicing Mindfulness as moment-to-moment, nonjudgmental awareness supposedly
prepares one for a breakthrough in perception, an awakening to reality, which is
formlessness (sunyata, usually translated as "emptiness"). Mindfulness is
particularly emphasized in Zen Buddhism and, aside from TM (Transcendental
Meditation), is the Eastern meditation practice that has most deeply penetrated
the West.
Mindfulness meditation is a technique of sitting still (though there is also a
walking meditation), observing the breath, being aware solely of the present
moment, and learning to let thoughts pass by without entertaining them. Because
there is no permanent content to the present moment since it comes and goes,
eventually a state of no-thinking is reached. The goal is to divorce the mind
and thinking process from one's observation so that the meditator realizes that
he is not his thoughts, eventually understanding that the "I" observing the
thoughts (called the Witness) is not the conventional self, but rather the
universal or Buddha self (terms vary). This Buddha self is the Buddha nature of
the universe, which is the only permanent reality.
For many years, this writer attempted to incorporate Mindfulness into her life
prior to becoming a Christian, and can attest to its power in altering one's
worldview and conforming thinking to Buddhist concepts.
How can an anti-individualistic worldview worm its way into a highly
individualized culture as exists in the United States? This can happen slowly
through meditation, which conditions the mind through employment of certain
terminologies and familiar terms, but which have been redefined with Buddhist
concepts.
You might notice the term monkey mind popping up here and there. In promoting
Mindfulness, the thinking mind is targeted as a chattering monkey. Thoughts are
the chatter, and meditation is to tame and silence this monkey mind, so that it
can become what is called Buddha mind. As one source puts it:
Often in meditation, that monkey mind doesn't transform into a peaceable
primate, but continues to scurry about, distracting attention. Indeed, it is
common for thoughts to appear to increase in intensity during concentrated
meditation practice. This is either because whilst in the confines of the
practice the monkey mind reacts with increased activity, or because in focused
meditation thoughts are 'lit up' and are noticed more than they normally are.
4
Thoughts are treated as an independent activity, divorced from one's true self,
the Buddha self. The temporal world, including the mind, is part of an alleged
rising and falling which is not substantively real. One must transcend this
rising and falling through meditation practice. (Rising and falling is a term
describing the Buddhist view that we are caught in the web of thinking and
feeling which reinforces our identification with our mind and self, thereby
continuing a false perception of reality)
Meditation trains the person to watch thoughts so that the meditator does not
attach to the thoughts and follow them. Eventually, the space between thoughts
widens until there are no thoughts and "No Mind" is reached. The site continues:
Buddha Mind is our real nature, the unconditioned 'Mind' - and words are
metaphors here, remember - that lies beneath the conditioned monkey mind that is
interdependent with the world with which it interacts.
5
Phrases based in Buddhist thinking include:
Impermanence
Rising and falling
Being not doing
Monkey mind
Chattering mind
These terms and others are appearing more frequently in literature and other
media, including Smartphone apps that give advice on reducing stress. This
subtle denigration of thinking portrays the mind as the problem and thoughts as
a source of confusion. Moreover, when such terms become more familiar and
popular, the concepts attached to them also tend to become more widely accepted
over time. There is a prevailing assumption that we cannot truly function or
have any peace unless we practice this type of meditation.
Mindfulness meditation is therefore the Buddhist way to tame the so-called
chattering mind and uncover the silent Buddha mind underneath all the rising and
falling. It was not designed for stress reduction or to be a trendy dabbling for
harried Westerners. Whatever perceived benefits may accrue from Mindfulness, it
is not spiritually neutral.
Several people have pushed Mindfulness as a concept and practice in the United
States. They can't deny its religious basis yet they present it as a secular
method. One of the most influential, Zen Buddhist Jon Kabat-Zinn (b. 1944),
whose PhD is in Molecular Biology, runs the Center for Mindfulness (formerly the
Stress Reduction Clinic), which he founded in 1979 at the University of
Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn's stress reduction and Mindfulness
program, MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction), has spread to over 200
hospitals and medical centers around the country. One news article reports:
Kabat-Zinn is reluctant to use the word "spiritual" to describe the approach to
healthy living that he promotes, characterizing it instead as being "grounded in
common sense."
"I don't have to use the word 'spiritual,'" he said. "Part of it is the
power of silence and stillness. And part of that power is the power of healing
that happens when you move from the domain of doing to being. It's
transformative."
6
In a self-contradictory statement, he said:
"Mindfulness, the heart of Buddhist meditation, is at the core of being able to
live life as if it really matters. It has nothing to do with Buddhism. It has to
do with freedom." 7
So Mindfulness is "the heart of Buddhist meditation" but "has nothing to do with
Buddhism." Kabat-Zinn himself is no secular person. He was a student of Zen
Master Seung Sahn and is a founding member of the Cambridge Zen Center.
Another influential non-secular person in Mindfulness is Thich Nhat Hanh (b.
1926), a Zen Buddhist monk from Vietnam, who lectures around the country as a
Mindfulness enthusiast and whose books promoting Mindfulness have enjoyed great
success in the West.
Zen Buddhist Peter Senge (considered by many to be the successor to influential
management guru Peter Drucker) incorporates Zen Buddhist concepts such as being
"trapped in structures," "trapped in the theater of our thoughts" in his popular
book, The Fifth Discipline. Additionally, he recommends "some form of
meditation" such as "contemplative prayer" or a method to quiet "the conscious
mind," as well as "regular meditative practice."
8
Senge is a familiar figure on the New Age landscape as well, appearing in
several interviews on New Age websites, including the website of New Age
philosopher Andrew Cohen.
Additionally, Buddhist terms loaded with spiritual meaning are being used as
though they have only a secular meaning. The word "compassion" is being joined
with the term "Mindfulness" to promote Mindfulness in schools and elsewhere.
Buddhist teachers make frequent use of the word "compassion" (this is very
common with the Dalai Lama), but the problem is that non-Buddhists do not know
all the implications of this term.
Compassion in Buddhism is not simply having empathy or care for people.
Compassion includes the Buddhist view that all non-human beings (called sentient
beings) are in need of rebirth as humans, because only humans can attain
enlightenment. Since rebirth can bring a human into a non-human state,9 the
Buddhist must spread Buddhist teachings as well as work at his own enlightenment
in order to help advance Buddhist truths so that all can eventually be liberated
from the cycle of rebirth. In Buddhism, Buddhist enlightenment is the only way
for such liberation. Compassion in Buddhist thinking, therefore, is a religious
term, not a secular one, especially when used in the context of Mindfulness.
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