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Mindfulness is a wonderful practice that has gone, like yoga, mainstream.

Predictable consequences have followed, all the ones that generally accompany the plucking of a discipline out of a domain native to it.

Often, in its contemporary setting, mindfulness is as poorly understood as Tantra by a large portion of its advocates, advocates who profess its benefits. In the Buddhist sense, mindfulness practice extends far beyond its modern billings, as much so as, for example, Tantra practice extends its domain beyond sex.

It is a familiar trope in many businesses to adopt a well-known description or name and apply it to a new product, method, or device. Often the borrowed terms or description are embedded in ways not at all relative to the offerings peddled.

To illustrate, as a child I got a Christmas present which before the magic day arrived I had pressed its wrapping this way and that way with a mind bent toward some sort of revelation as to its contents. Alas, I could decipher “Rocket Socket” and my imagination went wild wondering what it may be. Needless to say, it had little to do with either rockets or sockets but was rather a spring-loaded projector of little plastic darts with suction cups on the end that would stick nicely to an unlucky friend’s forehead.

Actually, our discriminating public has come increasingly wary of highjacked descriptions used in the manner of a lure. Often such products are purposely avoided in a favor of those products which offer precise hints on their labeling. Recently, I received as a gift from my daughter, a pair of socks carrying the label “Wool Socks” in big fat letters. When I buy “wool” socks under a well-known label, I have learned the value of being suspicious enough to look into the percentage of wool woven into the weave, a habit keeping my feet warm. My “Wool Socks” were to my surprise just wool and have turned out to be my favorite socks, and I now realize “Wool Socks” is their label and they are 100-percent wool.

A good product can sell itself by having a label that describes what it is or hints as much. Bringing the above to bear upon the topic at hand, mindfulness, within the past two decades the term mindfulness, once a term associated exclusively to the disciplines connected to a life dedicated to dharma practice, has become a panacea for all forms of mental unease, stress, anxiety, depression, and so forth. It is also a favorite offering of large corporations who offer “mindfulness” training to maximize the productivity of their employees.

However, mindfulness practice even in the spiritual sense when isolated from the many other disciplines a spiritual life demands will almost for certain fail. Mindfulness training is likely to initially exaggerate stress, anxiety, negative emotions, and so forth, as a magnifying glass would dust. Not recognizing the advantages of our privileged view, we are inclined to think our afflictions have increased, rather than our having increased our awareness of them, which is the primary cause mindfulness practice is abandoned when it is practiced in isolation with many other disciplines whose aim it is to increase awareness.

As far as corporate-mindfulness practice goes, it will be successful in the domain it operates, but it is not mindfulness, but rather “attentiveness.”

Traditional mindfulness practice necessarily takes place within the context of a lifestyle dedicated to the dharma. It was and remains a small, though important, aspect of a broad spiritual quest with many limbs of practice integrated to make a whole and powerful system of awakening. “Attentiveness” is what corporations teach as “mindfulness,” but this is deceptive. The reach of attentiveness has a narrow scope compared with mindfulness. While spiritual traditions such as Buddhism and Hinduism warn of the consequences of isolating mindfulness practice from its greater domain, the fact is that many are led to believe they are engaging in a much richer practice than they are. The consequence is the persistent confusion that mistakes attentiveness for mindfulness.

Mindfulness in the sense of dharma is not attentiveness. If we practice mindfulness a commitment is required and a willingness to bring everything we do into dharma practice. Mindfulness will be a support to a lifestyle committed to liberation, however far off and out of reach that goal may seem. Mindfulness will enable and be a primary support for meditation, reflection, and study, and take these traditionally tedious exercises to a level where we begin to enjoy them.

Attentiveness can improve our productivity, but it cannot remove negative mental states, nor can it lead to illumination. The unfortunate consequence of calling attentiveness, mindfulness, is that it may mislead those practicing the former into thinking that they are practicing the latter, with the consequence of not diving into the latter. Whew! We should not wish to be stuck like that, but we may know no better.

As a sidenote, tantra fares no better than mindfulness, and probably worse. Sex sells and connecting tantra to sex has been a windfall for cults, books, and products in the name of tantra. The imagery of deities in union which authentic tantric texts use as metaphors for the internal energy channels in each man and woman, which can unite in each individual without a physical partner, has been used for profit by those who do not disclose the fine print associated with tantra. In the process, they lead many afield and profit handsomely at the expense of others, who willingly find in tantra a means of justifying sexual gratification, unaware or turning a blind-eye to the terrible cost to themselves.

So, what is mindfulness in a Buddhist sense (or other spiritual tradition)? Mindfulness is a facilitator; it enables other aspects of the spiritual path. To use a familiar analogy from health and fitness, there are a class of enzymes that enable vitamins to be absorbed and put to use in our bodies. One such enzyme is the popular CoQ10 or (Ubiquinone). CoQ10 is an enzyme that is responsible for enabling a host of nutrients to be used by the body. By itself, it does nothing. It is sold in the vitamin section in stores because as we age we produce less of it. Moreover, those who take supplements regardless of age will find their supplements work more effectively if CoQ10 is taken along with their vitamins.

Mindfulness in a spiritual sense is much like CoQ10 because it enables all aspects of the path of meditation to integrate and support one another. Mindfulness needs to be integrated into a meditative lifestyle before its transformative abilities are fully enabled. By itself, no doubt, mindfulness will help us perform whatever we wish with a greater sense of presence and therefore more effectively. Whether we are a physician, a chemist, a teacher, a thief , or murderer, mindfulness will make us better at what we do across the board. Hopefully, we will put it to good use.

If we wish to develop kindness, compassion, generosity, and joy, a complete meditative lifestyle is necessary with many limbs of practice involved. It is mindfulness that helps us to develop spiritual qualities that are uncontrived and straight from the heart. Our ordinary means of reflection, well intentioned though they may be, cannot dive deep enough to reveal the means to develop uncontrived spiritual qualities. Instead, our good qualities will seem artificial to others. Moreover, wisdom penetrating beyond intellectual comprehension is possible only in an effort that employs mindfulness in every corner of our daily life and blends together our spiritual and conventional worlds.

It is mindfulness that unites us with a sense of purpose that makes us aware that even the most mundane activities can be profoundly spiritual and help us to function in the realization 24/7. Mindfulness merges our daily affairs and dharma activities. When mindfulness is successfully practiced, the separation from our ordinary day-to-day routine and our spiritual practices dissolves, and we feel everything in life is awakening us. To achieve that, mindfulness must work in conjunction with all our actions and is never an isolated practice.

First, we must commit to a spiritual path and only then bring mindfulness practice in. I hope it is clear that mindfulness is a total program requiring an enormous commitment and is not the side dish it is often presented to be.

If you’re interested in learning more, here’s a video on mindfulness I shot with my daughter, Mudra:

References:

Murray, Michael T.; Pizzorno, Joseph. The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine Third Edition (For Fans of Holistic Healing) (p. 88). Atria Books. Kindle Edition. 

Murray, Michael T.; Pizzorno, Joseph. The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine Third Edition (For Fans of Holistic Healing) (p. 90). Atria Books. Kindle Edition.

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