{"id":3993,"date":"2015-05-27T18:35:19","date_gmt":"2015-05-27T22:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=3993"},"modified":"2015-05-27T18:35:19","modified_gmt":"2015-05-27T22:35:19","slug":"mindful-america-are-you-part-of-the-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2015\/05\/mindful-america-are-you-part-of-the-movement.html","title":{"rendered":"Mindful America: Are You Part of the Movement?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"9780199827817<\/a>I have just finished reading Jeff Wilson’s Mindful America: The Mutual Transformation of Buddhist Meditation and American Culture<\/a><\/em>. Wilson is an associate professor of Religious Studies and East Asian Studies at Renison University College (University of Waterloo).<\/p>\n

It’s a thought provoking read and the first of its kind scholarly analysis of the rise of the mindfulness movement in America. It’s well written, entertaining, and features an extended discussion of the metaphors from my first book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Wilson makes a compelling case to show that mindfulness is the new face of American Buddhism and that the science and practice of mindfulness is influencing the future direction of Buddhism.<\/p>\n

It’s a fascinating history about how mindfulness came to be so prominent in this country. After initial exposure from Buddhist monks, the three main influences that started the mindfulness movement were 1) the establishment of insight meditation practice centers such as IMS that were founded by Americans who studied with Asian monks, 2) the popularity and success of Thich Nhat Hanh writings and teachings, and 3) the establishment of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) by Jon Kabat-Zinn. ‘<\/p>\n

Over time is that mindfulness has been emphasized as a form of practice that was not the present in traditional Asian contexts and then it was explanted from its Buddhist context, principally in the MBSR work.<\/p>\n

Now, there are many people who read and even practice mindfulness who do not know about its Buddhist origins. This makes it more accessible on the one hand, and raises a lot of questions on the other–questions that are explored in Mindful America. This book is mostly descriptive but now without its critique of all the possible applications mindfulness enjoys today.<\/p>\n

Mindfulness has, indeed, become a buzzword and is now being incorporated into the mainstream. My work was cited as contributing to this mainstreaming of mindfulness and that is certainly what I intended to do when I wrote Wild Chickens.<\/p>\n

My understanding for mindfulness has evolved over the six years since that book came out. I appreciate its Buddhist context much more now, especially as it is described in the Abhiddhamma, which were ancient manuals of the Buddhist psychology.<\/p>\n

Mindfulness is not just paying attention to the present moment. It is a particular way of paying attention that does not involve grasping and aversion–the constant pushing away and pulling towards of experiences that the mind engages in, and much more. When we meditate, we can see that process in action. Mindfulness in this larger sense is instrumental in deconstructing our sense of self in a way that can not just make life more vivid or satisfying but free us from suffering.<\/p>\n

This radical vision is usually absent in treatments of mindfulness but I am trying to revive that connection and you’ll see that in evidence in my forthcoming book, Mindfulness A to Z: 108 Insights for Awakening.<\/a><\/em> Like Wild Chickens, it contains 108 short chapters but instead of being organized by metaphors it is an index of terms and concepts relevant to mindfulness and the teachings of the Buddha, colored with many personal stories of my successes and failures with mindfulness practice. It will be out in September and you can preorder your copy now<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have just finished reading Jeff Wilson’s Mindful America: The Mutual Transformation of Buddhist Meditation and American Culture. Wilson is an associate professor of Religious Studies and East Asian Studies at Renison University College (University of Waterloo). It’s a thought provoking read and the first of its kind scholarly analysis of the rise of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12,4,8,9,14,16],"tags":[1002,1001,1004,1003,1000],"class_list":["post-3993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-shelf","category-buddha-101","category-buddha-beat","category-mindful-living","category-mindfulnesss","category-recommended","category-wild-chickens-and-petty-tyrants-108-metaphors-for-mindfulness","tag-jeff-wilson","tag-mindful-american","tag-mindfulness-a-to-z","tag-mindfulness-in-mainstream-culture","tag-mindfulness-movement"],"yoast_head":"\nMindful America: Are You Part of the Movement? - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mindful America: Are You Part of the Movement? - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I have just finished reading Jeff Wilson’s Mindful America: The Mutual Transformation of Buddhist Meditation and American Culture. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3993"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3998,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3993\/revisions\/3998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}