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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by stan_the_man70 on August 3, 2015, at 9:47:08
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http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/mindfulness-capitalisms-new-favorite-tool-maintaining-status-quo
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Mindfulness: Capitalism's New Favorite Tool for Maintaining the Status Quo
The meditative practice is being used in a way that betrays its anti-materialist roots.
By Kali Holloway / AlterNetJuly 11, 2015
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Strip away all the fuzzy wuzzy, and one glaring fact stands out about mindfulnesss proliferation across the corporate world: At the end of the day, the name of the game is increased productivity. In other words, the practice has become a capitalist tool for squeezing even more work out of an already overworked workforce. Buddhisms anti-materialist ethos seems in direct odds with this application of one of its key practices, even if it has been divorced from its Zen roots. In an article about McMindfulness, the pejorative term indicting the commodified, secularized, corporatized version of the meditative practice, David Loy states [m]indfulness training has wide appeal because it has become a trendy method for subduing employee unrest, promoting a tacit acceptance of the status quo, and as an instrumental tool for keeping attention focused on institutional goals.A 2013 piece from the Economist titled The Mindfulness Business compares mindfulness to the culture of self-help, previously held as the cure-all for a business culture looking to maximize worker usefulness. The piece points out that this recontextualized version of meditation seems, cynically, to miss the point of the practices original intent:
Gurus talk about 'the competitive advantage of meditation.' Pupils come to see it as a way to get ahead in life. And the point of the whole exercise is lost. What has parading around in pricey Lululemon outfits got to do with the Buddhist ethic of non-attachment to material goods? And what has staring at a computer-generated dot got to do with the ancient art of meditation? Western capitalism seems to be doing rather more to change eastern religion than eastern religion is doing to change Western capitalism.Its a valid point that drives home the schism between the roots of the practice and the warped interpretation of it.
For now, there seems no end to the spread of mindfulness which isnt such a bad idea. The notion of self-care in an era of constant digital distractions, as well as midnight and weekend work email exchanges, is a welcome one. But what of the halfhearted appropriation of a noble, anti-capitalist practice to thicken the bottom line? As Loy notes in his Huffington Post piece, American Buddhist monk Bhikkhu Bodhi warns that "absent a sharp social critique, Buddhist practices could easily be used to justify and stabilize the status quo, becoming a reinforcement of consumer capitalism." Thats a pretty good summation of whats already happening. Until corporate America discovers its next trendy panacea, the practice will continue to spread, its miraculous effects touted and often overstated as a booster of profits and more. Its a bit like oms for making better worker drones; or rather, Zen done the American way.
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Posted by Christ_empowered on August 4, 2015, at 12:37:30
In reply to Mindfulness: Capitalism's New Favorite Tool, posted by stan_the_man70 on August 3, 2015, at 9:47:08
+1
Posted by BrainDamage on August 5, 2015, at 12:05:01
In reply to Mindfulness: Capitalism's New Favorite Tool, posted by stan_the_man70 on August 3, 2015, at 9:47:08
This seems to be the new thing in the UK at the moment
Ten years ago it was CBT, now its "Mindfulness"...........
Posted by linkadge on August 5, 2015, at 16:06:50
In reply to Re: Mindfulness: Capitalism's New Favorite Tool, posted by BrainDamage on August 5, 2015, at 12:05:01
There is nothing wrong with increasing productivity through an activity which promotes a integrative wellness perspective.
If a company let me have a nap in the day, I would be more productive. I'm happier, they're happier, what's the problem?
Linkadge
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