Secular Mindfulness or Conspiracy?

Recently, an article sparked a discussion in the Mindful Living WeChat community. Titled The Mindfulness Conspiracy (published on June 14th in the Guardian, a fairly long read), it actually repulsed me. I just couldn't comprehend how mindfulness and conspiracy could be related to each other. Another conspiracy theory? Common, get over it already! 

The article was published right after I attended Plum Village retreat with full immersion in Thich Nhat Hanh's concept of the engaged Buddhism, so I brushed it off thinking the journalist just attempted to say something different and attract attention. I even thought of calling it fake news. Resistant to the content of the article, I scrolled through it and decided that I didn't want to read anything that called mindfulness a conspiracy. I responded to people who questioned the article (and asked for my opinion) by sharing the links for Engaged Buddhism and Engaged Spirituality on Wikipedia. Case closed and my journey continued.

For those who know me, you may be familiar that I come from Serbia (former Yugoslavia) and that I came to China to escape the war which began in 1991. Peace and freedom mean a lot to me, it is my mission and motivation behind opening the Beijing Mindfulness Centre. With each class and coaching session, when I help people to experience peace and experience freedom from the limiting beliefs, I feel I am contributing to global peace. Mindfulness has enabled me to walk that path with confidence and trust. 

After the retreat and travels in Europe, my final holiday destination was Serbia. The effects of the war on the psyche, culture and politics, even almost 20 years later, are still noticeable. Every time I go there, it takes time to recover from the struggle between utter helplessness and a strong desire to raise a revolution. Nothing makes sense: I don't understand the war and least of all politicians who profit from it for years to come.

As fate wants it, in the middle of my emotional chaos, I received an email from the Mindful magazine, my favorite resource of what's-the-latest-in-the-secular-field news. My heart froze as I read the greeting from Anne at Mindful and her sharing of Mindfulness Taken to Extreme:  

I was riveted as General Piatt told the story of a very young soldier who was able to “zero the mind” (military parlance for being in a state of hyper-focus) using his mindfulness training and make a series of lifesaving decisions under the extreme pressure of a dangerous, high-stakes mission. 

She continues with an invitation to watch a video 

“[…] with Amishi Jha where she guides you through the foundational mindful brain-training exercise she uses in her lab to train warriors to sustain and strengthen their attention.”

I am all up for bringing mindfulness to everybody with the idea that awareness will bring clarity, and clarity will open the gates of the higher states of consciousness. However, reading the message from Ann at Mindful hit me like a hammer: is it possible that secular mindfulness misuses the original intent of mindfulness? 

Without mindfulness ethics, secular mindfulness may have the same impact on the field of mental health as McDonald's has on the food industry and physical health - while focusing on speed and convenience fast food industry didn't see obesity coming in as a side effect. To summarise, I admit I am more open to hearing that McMindfulness (along with McYoga and McSpirituality) does exist and, sadly, I am part of it.

The responsibility is in the hands of the consumers, it is up to you to decide how you want to go about this. I, personally, feel like I need some time to think and reflect on the way forward.

To be continued…

Mindfully yours, Dalida

Founder of BMC
Executive & Mindfulness Certified Coach

A Mindfulness ethics proposal - the 5 Mindfulness Trainings - consists of Thich Nhat Hanh’s revised Buddhist teachings to be more relevant to the modern lifestyles: 

• The first training is to protect life, to decrease violence in oneself, in the family and in society. 

• The second training is to practice social justice, generosity, not stealing and not exploiting other living beings. 

• The third is the practice of responsible sexual behavior in order to protect individuals, couples, families and children. 

• The fourth is the practice of deep listening and loving speech to restore communication and reconcile. 

• The fifth is about mindful consumption, to help us not bring toxins and poisons into our body or mind. 

https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/the-5-mindfulness-trainings/

The mindfulness conspiracy by Patryk Sroczyński (excerpt) 

The Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek has analyzed this trend. As he sees it, mindfulness is “establishing itself as the hegemonic ideology of global capitalism”, by helping people “to fully participate in the capitalist dynamic while retaining the appearance of mental sanity”.

[…] The rhetoric of “self-mastery”, “resilience” and “happiness” assumes wellbeing is simply a matter of developing a skill. Mindfulness cheerleaders are particularly fond of this trope, saying we can train our brains to be happy, like exercising muscles. Happiness, freedom and wellbeing become the products of individual effort. Such so-called “skills” can be developed without reliance on external factors, relationships or social conditions. Underneath its therapeutic discourse, mindfulness subtly reframes problems as the outcomes of choices. Personal troubles are never attributed to political or socioeconomic conditions, but are always psychological in nature and diagnosed as pathologies. Society therefore needs therapy, not radical change. This is perhaps why mindfulness initiatives have become so attractive to government policymakers. Societal problems rooted in inequality, racism, poverty, addiction and deteriorating mental health can be reframed in terms of individual psychology, requiring therapeutic help. Vulnerable subjects can even be told to provide this themselves.

Full article available on

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jun/14/the-mindfulness-conspiracy-capitalist-spirituality

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