Meditation and mindfulness are everywhere

Meditation and mindfulness are everywhere: in hospitals, clinics, and schools; in major medical, psychological, and scientific journals; on TV; and in popular publications—even on the cover of Time magazine. And thankfully so—since Jon Kabat-Zinn developed MBSR, a treatment blending meditation and yoga, it has been proven effective in treating conditions like chronic pain, stress, anxiety, and depression for sufferers around the world. Lesser known, however, are the deep philosophical roots of MBSR known as the Buddhist dharma, translated as “the teachings of the Buddha.” Although they form the very foundation underlying MBSR and other mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), they often remain hidden within modern mindfulness practices.
Understandably and in many cases, mindfulness has been introduced to the non-Buddhist Westerner in a manner that filters out many of the contextual factors that connect it with its Buddhist origins. To a large extent, this has been a successful strategy and has meant that individuals who might otherwise be deterred from practicing mindfulness (i.e., due to it being an explicitly Buddhist practice) have been willing to explore its potential merits. Indeed, it is our personal belief that had mindfulness not been operationalized in this manner, it would not have experienced the same popularity or been assigned the same level of scientific value that it currently enjoys (Edo-Shonin, 2015).
However, this can create some misunderstandings. One of the most common misunderstandings about MBSR and the other mindfulness-based interventions is that they consist of meditation practices, techniques and exercises that have somehow been extracted or divorced from its Buddhist roots. From this standpoint, critics have referred to mindfulness as McMindfulness or “Buddhism lite,” as a simple gimmick to reduce stress and, therefore, a terrible denuding of Buddhism’s moral, ethical and existential grounding (Knickelbine, 2018). Buddhism has thrived in so many settings, including its current incarnation as the MBIs, because its truths are grounded not in any set of teachings or metaphysical understandings, but in these universal characteristics of human beings.
A remarkable testament to this is Beth Ann Mulligan’s new book, The Dharma of Modern Mindfulness. A physician assistant who became an MBSR teacher after years as a Zen practitioner, Mulligan uses anecdotes from the course of an 8-week mindfulness class to illustrate the core concepts of Buddhism.

The Dharma of Modern Mindfulness is an extraordinary book that shows us, in a simple way and in a very accessible language, the bridges between Buddhist Philosophy / Psychology and MBIs.

It gradually reveals that the truths of the Three Marks of Existence, the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and the Four Immeasurables, are not dogmas to which we must conform ourselves but potentials that reveal themselves spontaneously when we learn to pay attention to our lives. (Knickelbine, 2018)

The Dharma of Modern Mindfulness: Discovering the Buddhist Teachings at the Heart of Mindfulness and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

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Deeply embedded in the practice of contemporary mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)

are concepts drawn from the ancient wisdom of meditative traditions. The Dharma of Modern Mindfulness uncovers the essential Buddhist teachings at the heart of this powerful anti-stress program, enabling you to deepen your historical and spiritual understanding of MBSR and nourish your practice. The Dharma of Modern Mindfulness illuminates these cornerstones, communicating previously esoteric teachings with language that makes them easily accessible and applicable to your complex daily life. The book follows the structure of an eight-week MBSR class, paralleling the participant’s journey with that of the Buddha for the alleviation of suffering. With real-life examples, guided reflections, and practices throughout, this book will show you the connections between the ancient wisdom of Buddhism and contemporary MBSR.

As Mulligan puts it:

For Siddhartha, taking his seat under that tree was a radical act, one that reverberates throughout time. He committed to look within, to thoroughly examine his own experience and to see what truth and freedom could be realized through this investigation. In the same way, when people come to MBSR, they are in fact taking this radical act of taking their seat, a front row seat on their own lives. They are breaking free from the tendency to look outside for answers, for ways to escape the human condition – an even stronger pull now, perhaps, than in the Buddha’s time. In MBSR we turn inward, honoring and rediscovering the wholeness already present in all of us.

As she takes us through each of the eight sessions and the daylong retreat that make up the MBSR curriculum, she uses anecdotes from each, supported by the teachings of her Zen master Tenshin Roshi and other Buddhist teachers, to illustrate each of the core concepts of Buddhism. Here, for example, she shows how the Four Noble Truths manifest in one of her MBSR students:

Take Brian, for instance. He has indeed a very tough situation. His hip replacement failed. But his suffering is in part because he is having difficulty accepting that. He is caught in repetitive, if understandable, thoughts about how “it shouldn’t have gone that way, it wasn’t supposed to go that way, the usual recovery time is five weeks, and I should be back to work by now.” He is caught in his thoughts—his aversion toward the way things are and his craving for things to be different, which in turn create powerful emotions. When he put the thoughts down even for a few minutes and simply felt his body in the moment, his suffering was greatly reduced.

Or the concept of impermanence:

When Jean practiced the body scan for the first time, she became aware that sensations are not constant, that they do indeed “rise and pass away,” quite differently than the original description of her pain, which was, “My body hurts all the time.” This realization alone reduced some of her suffering . . . . When we become more aware of, and comfortable with, the changing nature of reality, we suffer less. We’ll continue to explore the important Buddhist teaching on impermanence as we go forward.

In summary

Regardless of your background, status, or education, and whether you’re a practitioner, teacher, or trainer, this invitation to explore the essential Buddhist teachings at the heart of modern mindfulness — such as the four noble truths, the noble eightfold path, and the four brahmaviharas: loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity — will expand your understanding and enhance your practice, and, in doing so, connect you with your inner wisdom and deepest humanity.
So, although MBSR’s view and practice draw from Dharmic vision, it does not seek to be exhaustive. Nor can it be. Rather, MBSR, for example, intends to guide participants towards the essence of what the mindfulness teachings are also pointing to: “the richness of the present moment held gently in awareness, and the profound and authentic authority of each person’s own experience, equally held with kindness in awareness” (Kabat-Zinn 2013).

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See more about Beth Mulligan:
Beth Mulligan
Mindful Way

References
References
- Kabat-Zinn, J. (2013). Some reflections on the origins of MBSR, skilful means, and the trouble with maps. In Mindfulness: Diverse Perspectives on its Meaning, Origins and Applications, edited by J. Mark G. Williams and Jon Kabat-Zinn(pp. 281–306). Abingdon: Routledge.
- Mulligan, B. (2017). The Dharma of Modern Mindfulness: Discovering the Buddhist Teachings at the Heart of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. Oakland, New Harbinger Publications.
- Knickelbine, M. (2018, March 3). The Dharma of Modern Mindfulness: A Review. Retrieved from https://secularbuddhism.org/the-dharma-of-modern-mindfulness-a-review/
- Shonin, E., Van Gordon, W., Singh, N. N., & Griffiths, M. D. (2015). Preface. In E. Shonin, W. Van Gordon, & N. N. Singh (Eds.), Mindfulness in behavioral health. Buddhist foundations of mindfulness (pp. 7–10). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18591-0_9

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Meditation and mindfulness are everywhere

The Dharma of Modern Mindfulness: Discovering the Buddhist Teachings at the Heart of Mindfulness and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Advance Praise for The Dharma of Modern Mindfulness:

Highly recommended!

This book has the power to transform our individual and collective lives.

What a gem of a book!

This beautifully structured, wise, and compassionate book

Deeply embedded in the practice of contemporary mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)

In summary

References

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