Mindfulness (2020) 11:472–479

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01264-x

ORIGINAL PAPER

The Myth of McMindfulness

Bhikkhu Anālayo 1

Published online: 10 December 2019

# The Author(s) 2019, corrected publication 2020

Abstract
This article examines to what extent the teaching of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) can accurately be referred to by
the term “McMindfulness.” The application of this term appears to rest on the expectation that teachers of MBSR and similar
mindfulness programs, in order to be true to their Buddhist heritage, should inculcate political awareness in their patients,
motivating them to resist the neoliberal capitalist system. Moreover, another assumption seems to be that present-moment
awareness, viewed as another departure from ancient Indian Buddhism, prevents critical thinking and thereby supports obedient
submission to exploitative conditions. Closer examination shows that expecting mindfulness teachers to stimulate political
activism is not in keeping with relevant Buddhist antecedents. The relevant sources even testify to the employment of mindful-
ness for mere health benefits already in ancient India. Besides, the same textual sources show that mindfulness of the present
moment is not a later innovation. The belief that such mindful presence disables critical thinking appears to mistake the goal of
the cultivation of mindfulness for the mere absence of thoughts. At least as far as MBSR and related programs in healthcare are
concerned, the term “McMindfulness” is not justified and its recent indiscriminate application to any contemporary mindfulness
practice appears to have turned it into a myth. Rather than being merely a tool to ensure subservience to the neoliberal capitalist
system, in view of the impending climate catastrophe, mindfulness can offer an important resource to face the ravages caused by
unbridled exploitation of the environment.

Keywords Capitalism . MBSR . McMindfulness . Mindful eating . Neoliberalism . Present moment . Rumination .
Satipaṭṭhāna . Time

The development of mindfulness-based stress reduction legitimate criticism of particular employments of mindfulness
(MBSR) has been the starting point for a global spread of does not apply wholesale to all mindfulness-based programs.
mindfulness-related practices into various areas of modern This raises the question of whether MBSR and similar
society (Wilson 2014). This has resulted in a mindfulness- mindfulness programs in the field of healthcare indeed deserve
hype (Van Dam et al. 2018), with often disconcerting conse- the application of the catchy phrase “McMindfulness,” a term
quences. Mindfulness has become a commercialized product employed by Purser and Loy (2013) to highlight entrepreneur-
and as such has been taught, for example, to improve the ial strategies similar to those of the fast-food chain McDonald’s
combat skills of soldiers, a development that is rather prob- with the result of “decontextualizing mindfulness from its orig-
lematic from a Buddhist ethical perspective. inal liberative and transformative purpose,” evident in its em-
The various employments of mindfulness in contemporary ployment in ancient Indian Buddhism. According to a recent
society span a very broad and diverse spectrum. The fact that and detailed articulation of this criticism by Purser (2019, p.
they have MBSR as their common starting point does of 21), such decontextualization leads to the following query:
course not imply that those involved with MBSR are directly
responsible for all of these varied applications. For this reason,
Should we celebrate the fact that this perversion is help-
The original version of this article was revised due to a retrospective ing people to “auto-exploit” themselves? This is the core
Open Access order. of the problem. The internalization of focus for mind-
fulness practice also leads to other things being internal-
* Bhikkhu Anālayo
ized, from corporate requirements to structures of dom-
1
Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, 149 Lockwood Road, inance in society … while paying no attention to civic
Barre, MA 01005, USA responsibility.
Mindfulness (2020) 11:472–479 473

The Final Goal of Buddhism and Dependent such removal is on working with the conditions found within
Arising one’s own mind.

Regarding the original purpose of Buddhist mindfulness,

Purser (2019, p. 249) argued that The Buddha’s Attitude to Politics

The idea that it is delusional not to pay attention to political

In his final words, the Buddha is said to have urged his conditions that contribute to suffering does not appear to be
disciples: “Strive to attain the goal by diligence.” reflected in the early discourses. Instead, according to these
However, the goal includes seeing all things as being texts, the Buddha eschewed the possibility of becoming a
connected: the insight of interdependence known as world ruler, whereby he could have ensured peace and safety
pratitya-samutpada. So while some of our delusion is over the whole world (as known to ancient Indian cosmolo-
in our heads, tuning out of the conditions that cause us to gy). By going forth, he instead opted to follow the alternative
suffer is also delusional from a political point of view. career open to someone possessing a particular set of auspi-
cious bodily features, namely becoming a Buddha (Anālayo
The idea appears to be that the goal of diligent practice, as 2017, p. 44). This recurrent trope shows that the very career of
conceived by the historical Buddha, should include a political becoming a Buddha is based on the decision to refrain from
awareness of societal conditions that cause suffering. Such an taking an active part in politics; it unmistakably places spiri-
awareness was presumably lost in the transition from early tual above political concerns.
Buddhist mindfulness to its employment in MBSR and related Another relevant passage involves a depiction of bad rul-
practices. ership, which results in poverty among the populace. Poverty
Regarding the actual quote, the phrase “to attain the goal” leads to theft, whose prosecution stimulates those engaged in
is a supplementation by the translator unsupported by the robbery to commit murder so as to cover up their deeds (DN
original. The Pāli text that forms the source of the quote 26, DĀ 6, MĀ 70; Anālayo 2019d). Commenting on this
simply reads appamādena sampādetha, “strive with dili- depiction of moral decline, Gombrich (1988, p. 84) reasoned
gence” (SN 6.15). Although the Pāli commentary relates this that
injunction to mindfulness, thereby confirming its relevance
to a discussion of mindfulness practices, it also does not
have any explicit reference to an attaining of the goal (Spk this text states that stealing and violence originate in
I 223). poverty and that poverty is the king’s responsibility;
More importantly, perhaps, is that the goal set by the his- punishment becomes necessary only because of the
torical Buddha for mindfulness practice, as testified by the king’s earlier failure to prevent poverty. This humane
“early discourses,” the source material to which we nowadays theory, which ascribes the origin of crime to economic
still have access to reconstruct early Buddhism (Anālayo conditions … is not typical of Indian thinking on such
2012), is not insight into interdependence. The goal is rather matters … this idea is so bold and original that it is
to bring to cessation the specific conditions delineated in the probably the Buddha’s.
teaching on dependent arising (Pāli paṭicca-samuppāda,
Sanskrit pratītya-samutpāda, Chinese 因緣, Tibetan rten cing In spite of such political acumen, according to this dis-
’brel bar ’byung ba). The notion of a general interconnected- course the Buddha delivered this depiction of moral decline
ness of phenomena appears to become prominent only with to encourage his disciples to become self-reliant, rather than
Buddhavataṃsaka/Huayan Buddhism (Schmithausen 1997), take political action. The advice given by the Buddha to his
many centuries after the time when the Buddha lived. listeners was that they should take refuge in themselves and
Although the idea of such interconnectedness has become the Dharma. Such taking refuge can be achieved by cultivat-
popular in contemporary Buddhist circles in the West, the ing the four establishments of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna,
teachings of the historical Buddha are rather concerned with smṛtyupasthāna, 念處, dran pa nye bar gzhag pa). Given this
progress to individual awakening. The early discourses often excellent opportunity to encourage political and social activ-
expound dependent arising by way of a chain of twelve con- ism, according to this discourse, the Buddha rather chose to
ditions, none of which refers explicitly to political or societal commend mindful self-reliance.
causes of suffering. Instead, the emphasis is on the individual The general attitude informing the practice and final goal
who can attain liberation by removing from his or her own advocated by the historical Buddha, according to the textual
mind the root cause of ignorance and its outgrowths in the witnesses we have, was decidedly not concerned with politics.
form of craving and clinging. Although such removal has If contemporary mindfulness-based practices do not explicitly
repercussions beyond the individual, the focus for achieving direct attention to political causes of suffering, then, in that
474 Mindfulness (2020) 11:472–479

respect, they are simply following the precedent set by the the instructions given by the Buddha do not, of course, fall
Buddha. into the opposite category of “wrong mindfulness,” it becomes
clear that since the beginnings of Buddhism there has been a
scope for employments of mindfulness that are not explicitly
A Buddhist Precedent for Mindfulness aimed at progress to awakening.
in Health Care

A significant precedent for mindfulness-based practices in Mindfulness of the Present Moment

health care can be found among the early discourses, accord-
ing to which the Buddha taught mindfulness explicitly aimed A concern with remaining anchored in the present moment
at mere health benefits. The episode in question involves a through mindfulness is another element that has precedents in
local king by the name of Pasenadi who was in the habit of early Buddhism. Of course, the question here is not just whether
overeating. The Buddha gave him a brief instruction on the the phrase “present moment” has an exact equivalent in the
cultivation of mindfulness in order to know measure with food ancient texts, but rather if the corresponding idea is found.
(SN 3.13, SĀ 1150, SĀ2 73; Anālayo 2018a, b). The king A closer inspection of the instructions given in the Discourse
asked a young man, present on that occasion, to memorize on the Establishments of Mindfulness (Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta) and
the instruction and recite it every time he took his meal, prom- its parallels for the systematic cultivation of mindfulness brings
ising a payment for such service. Being regularly reminded of to light that these are predominantly concerned with what hap-
the need to be mindful, the king no longer overate and, as a pens in the present moment (Anālayo 2019b). The same holds
result, lost weight. The discourse concludes with the king for instructions in the Discourse on Mindfulness of Breathing
expressing his gratitude for the benefit he had derived from (Ānāpānasati-sutta) and its parallels (Anālayo 2019c). Clearly,
the Buddha’s instruction. an emphasis on the present moment in mindfulness practices is
A perusal of other discourses involving this king gives the not a later innovation.
impression that this episode might be the only recorded in- The memory connotation of mindfulness does not stand in
stance of him receiving meditation instructions (Anālayo contrast to such concerns. As already clarified in contributions
2020). The overall impression conveyed by relevant textual to the ground breaking collection of essays on Mindfulness
sources is that Pasenadi was also not a paragon of Buddhist and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism (Gyatso
lay virtue, as he appears to have pursued the activities typical 1992), the term we nowadays translate as “mindfulness” was
of a petty king in ancient India, including sensual indulgence from the outset of its Buddhist usage not confined to recall of
and engaging in warfare. The last involves intentional killing the past. This much even holds for its pre-Buddhist anteced-
and thereby runs counter to the first of five precepts to be ents, as already in the most ancient of Indian sacred scriptures,
observed by a Buddhist disciple. The early discourses are in the Ṛgveda, a verbal form related to the same term conveys a
fact quite outspoken on the dire repercussions a soldier can meaning related to paying attention to what happens in the
expect from engaging in battle (Anālayo 2009), leaving little present moment (Klaus 1993).
scope to support a just-war ideology or in some way excuse Purser (2019, p. 23) argued that “the true meaning of mind-
killing if it is done at the command of others. fulness is an act of re-membering, not only in terms of
The mindfulness practice taught by the Buddha to Pasenadi recalling and being attentively present to our situation, but
was specifically aimed at noting one’s measure with food; it also of putting our lives back together, collectively.” This is
was not presented as part of a meditative program aimed at not an accurate reflection of the significance of mindfulness in
progress to awakening. Moreover, it was taught to someone the teachings of the historical Buddha and his personal disci-
who does not appear to have had the kind of firm ethical ples. In such usage, the term was not confined to an act of
foundation required of disciples who dedicate themselves remembering and the notion of a collective putting together of
wholeheartedly to progress on the path to liberation. Finally, our lives is not found at all.
the actual implementation of this mindfulness practice in-
volved a paid mindfulness instructor.
An evaluation of MBSR or other mindfulness practices in The Temporal Breadth of the Present Moment
contemporary health care against mindfulness employments
in early Indian Buddhism would need to take into account the Purser (2015, p. 683) also argued that
precedents set by this episode.
It clearly shows that, already at the time of the Buddha, the
employment of mindfulness was not confined to a cultivation the instruction to pay attention to the present moment,
of all four establishments as an implementation of “right and a conception of mindfulness that aims for the subject
mindfulness” in the context of progress to awakening. Since to “be in the present,” can in actuality lead to a freezing
Mindfulness (2020) 11:472–479 475

effect by an attempt to shut down experiential time and Inasmuch as early Buddhist thought does not subscribe to
the passage of ordinary time. The direction of attention to the doctrine of momentariness, it presents a precedent for a
one momentary object … does not lead to any fundamen- conception of the present moment that does not shut down
tal or significant change in the way the temporal order is experiential time and is certainly experientially possible, in-
viewed and experienced. deed advisable. This goes to show that mindfulness of the
present moment as such need not be considered problematic
Purser (2015, p. 682) concluded that “a mindfulness prac- at all.
tice that aims to attend to the ‘present moment’ is problematic, By way of further clarification, from an early Buddhist
if not experientially impossible.” perspective the notion of “time” can be considered as simply
The reference to paying “attention to one momentary a conceptualization of the fact of change (Anālayo 2019f).
object” suggests that the reasoning could be based on a This fact can be distinguished into three dimensions in the
conception of momentariness. According to this theory, continuum of the flow of impermanent phenomena: what
which arose during a later phase of Buddhist history, all has changed (past), what is changing now (present), and what
phenomena without exception disappear as soon as they will change (future). The three periods of time that emerge in
have arisen. On adopting this widespread perspective, it this way are entirely compatible with the notion of mindfully
would make sense to assume that attending to a single attending to what is changing now, in the present moment.
momentary object involves a shutting down of experien- Such an emphasis on the here and now can come in conjunc-
tial time. From the viewpoint of the fully developed doc- tion with an openness to past and future, which is also
trine of momentariness, to direct mindfulness to the pres- reflected in recent research on the temporal dimensions of
ent moment can indeed seem to be “problematic, if not mindfulness-based practices (e.g., Rönnlund et al. 2019;
experientially impossible.” As explained by von Rospatt Samani and Busseri 2019).
(1995, p. 80) in a detailed study of the early phases of this
doctrine,
Mindfulness and Thinking

by reducing the duration of momentary entities to such The tendency to problematize the present moment apparently
an extreme that it entails the denial of any duration, led Purser (2019, p. 111) to the conclusion that “mindfully
including the time taken for coming into being and fixating on the present moment means tuning out of thoughts
vanishing, the[ir] entire existence may be effaced. In about the past and the future. Thinking is considered a distrac-
other words, the reduction of the moment to a point- tion, detrimental to ‘being’ in the here-and-now.” Purser
instant may be carried so far that the point itself becomes (2019, p. 40) summed up his impression by stating that “crit-
erased. ical thinking is pathologized in mindfulness. It is seen as a
diversion from the practice.”
In contrast, early Buddhist thought recognizes that some In order to explore the perspective of MBSR on this matter,
phenomena can last for quite some time as changing process- an explanation by its founder Jon Kabat-Zinn on the relation-
es, between the time of their arising and the occasion of their ship of mindfulness to thinking can be consulted (Kabat-Zinn
eventual passing away (AN 3.47 and EĀ 22.5; Anālayo 1990/2013, p. 66), which proceeds as follows:
2013). From this viewpoint, the present moment can have
considerable breadth, comprising in its purview both the re-
cent past and the impending future. It’s important to reiterate that letting go of our thoughts
Such breadth is evident in the canonical instructions for does not mean suppressing them. Many people hear it
mindfulness of breathing, for example, which “relates to the this way and make the mistake of thinking that medita-
three periods of time (past, present, and future) in a way that tion requires them to shut off their thinking or their
allows them to be connected to the experience of the breath feelings. They somehow hear the instructions as mean-
in the present moment” (Anālayo 2019e, p. 44). The same ing that if they are thinking, that is “bad,” and that a
temporal breadth is also evident in instructions on the estab- “good meditation” is one in which there is little or no
lishments of mindfulness (Anālayo 2019b). For example, thinking … mindfulness does not involve pushing
mindful contemplation of the hindrances or the awakening thoughts away or walling yourself off from them to quiet
factors requires a clear recognition of their presence and your mind. We are not trying to stop our thoughts.
absence in the present moment. Building on that, the task
of mindfulness also comprises exploring conditions that have The above quote shows that mindfulness cultivated in
led to their arising (in the past) and that will lead to their MBSR does not involve considering thoughts to be detrimen-
overcoming or strengthening (in the future). tal as such, which appears to be rather a reflection of popular
476 Mindfulness (2020) 11:472–479

notions about what meditation in general implies. The clarifi- MBSR and similar mindfulness-based practices in healthcare
cation offered by Jon Kabat-Zinn implies that a cultivation of and therefore can be considered to have by now become a
mindfulness of the present moment is not invariably meant to “myth.”
prevent critical thinking. The point is only that, during early
stages in mindfulness training, there is a need to learn to re-
main in the present moment by making an effort not to be Compulsive Thinking
carried away by the habitual proliferation of thoughts. Once
that has been achieved at least to some degree, however, mind- Additional information on the problematization of
fulness of the present moment can coexist with thinking mindfulness and thinking can be garnered from the report by
activity. Purser (2019, p. 104) of his own participation in an MBSR
In other words, the main concern of directing mindfulness course, during which he reacted to the arising of a memory in
to the present moment is neither to discourage nor to encour- the following manner: “disregarding the instructions to be in
age critical thinking but to train in continuity of mindfulness. the present moment, I decide to indulge the memory, at least a
Such continuity in turn enables the freedom to decide whether little,” followed by noting that “being a bad MBSR student, I
or not to engage in reflection, rather than just being began ruminating further” (p. 105). “That was a little too much
overwhelmed by thinking. The monitoring function of mind- thinking; I brought myself back to the present moment” (p.
fulness can steer critical reflection, thereby enhancing its po- 105). “I tried to stay in the present moment—really, I did—but
tential, just as it can alert when the mind is getting carried this ‘mind-wandering’ seemed to be leading somewhere,
away by irrelevant thoughts. To fulfil this purpose, however, connecting dots, yielding ‘ah-ha’ moments” (p. 107).
mindfulness needs to be anchored in the present moment and Needless to say, Ronald Purser is of course entirely free to
remain a quality of uninvolved observation. indulge his memories, ruminate, and mentally connect dots
Such remaining uninvolved relates to another important after dots while in an MBSR class. But the decision to indulge
dimension of learning to attend mindfully to the present mo- his memories and disregard the instructions has consequences,
ment, which finds an expression in the qualification “non- as it can prevent learning what an MBSR course is trying to
judgmental.” Kabat-Zinn (2011, p. 291), explained: foster: mindful presence.
Regarding his experience during the same MBSR course
(p. 114), he also reported that at a certain point “I realized that
Non-judgmental does not mean to imply to the novice I had drifted off into a pleasant nap. But nobody around me
practitioner that there is some ideal state in which judg- was judgmental, or seemed to care.” This almost gives the
ments no longer arise. Rather, it points out that … we do impression that the alternative to indulging in memories and
not have to judge or evaluate or react to any of what ruminations was for him to fall asleep. That would indeed be
arises … this can lead naturally to the directly experi- contrary to the development of critical thinking.
enced discovery that the liberative choice in any mo- Of interest here is also a report of his participation in a
ment either to cling and self-identify or not is always mindfulness workshop. During a talk by the teacher, the fol-
available, always an option. lowing happened: “I decided to accompany his homily on
mindless addiction to devices by checking my iPhone. I got
What emerges from this explanation can be related to a key a few dirty looks from the people across from me” (p. 153).
element in early Buddhist descriptions of the formal cultiva- Such a defiant attitude makes it simply more difficult to ben-
tion of mindfulness (Anālayo 2019a), according to which each efit from a workshop on mindfulness.
of the four establishments involves staying free of greedy Apparently based on his personal experiences, Purser
desires and discontent (abhijjhā-domanassa, abhidhya- (2019, p. 8) then asserted that, in the way taught currently,
daurmanasya, 貪憂, brnab sems dang yid mi bde ba). This “mindfulness is nothing more than basic concentration train-
would indeed require avoiding judgmental reactivity to what- ing.” Moreover, “the general emphasis is on awareness of the
ever arises. present moment, which means tuning out of feelings and
In sum, the premises of the “McMindfulness” critique tak- thoughts” (p. 190). This gives the impression that his appar-
en up for examination in this article appear to reflect a lack of ently defiant attitude and seeming unwillingness to follow the
acquaintance with relevant ancient Buddhist antecedents. instructions has indeed prevented him from appreciating key
Judging from the textual sources, already at the time of the aspects in the cultivation of mindfulness.
Buddha mindfulness was intentionally employed for health The MBSR curriculum also comprises the exercise of
benefits and its cultivation in general came with a clear-cut mindfully eating a raisin, a skillful means employed to help
emphasis on the present moment but without any evident con- patients realize the potential of being fully present during the
cern for political conditions. In that respect the term act of actually and fully tasting something they have eaten
“McMindfulness” fails to offer a convincing assessment of many times before. Purser (2019, p. 103) noted that this was
Mindfulness (2020) 11:472–479 477

“an exercise I was honestly not looking forward to doing,” understanding of mindfulness. But criticism that lacks balance
followed by reporting that “the ritual of eating slowly was can undermine the credibility of whatever reasonable critique
not new, but it’s hard to be sure I was eating mindfully.” His there may have been.
final assessment takes the following form (p. 220): “never There is indeed a need to beware of the current hype around
mind how the raisin looks, feels, smells and tastes,” instead mindfulness and of its commercialization, and even more so
of which one should rather reflect on of its employment in ways that run counter to basic Buddhist
ethics. However, drawing attention to such issues would be
more effective if it could embody the quality that it wishes to
the farm where the raisin was grown by Hispanic immi- foster: mindful presence. This requires paying attention to the
grants doing back-breaking work … earning a cent for complexity of the processes involved, rather than opting for a
every two-hundred grapes harvested. Reflection on the simplistic black-and-white view and consequent othering of
raisin could call to mind units from US Immigration and all those who do not subscribe to one’s personal agenda. It will
Customs Enforcement rounding up workers like cattle hardly do justice to the cultivation of mindfulness if the world
and deporting them … what about the grocery store staff is divided dualistically into the good ones, who oppose the
that unloaded, unpacked and stocked raisins on the destructive forces of neoliberalism, and the bad ones, a cate-
shelf? gory arrived at by lumping together everyone else, from those
who do not actively resist these forces to the main protagonists
The suggestion to reflect in this way is directed at someone of capitalist exploitation.
else, in this case the US congressman and mindfulness prac-
titioner Tim Ryan, as a more appropriate way of going about
the exercise of mindfully eating a raisin. This seems to exem-
plify a general pattern in Ronald Purser’s criticism, which Neoliberal Capitalism
appears to be based on turning his personal decision to rumi-
nate into a normative stance, in the sense of demanding that Critical reflection, supported by mindfulness of what is hap-
others should follow his example. The recommendation ap- pening at present, rather than just remembering what seemed
pears to be that practitioners of MBSR and similar right in the past, might even pose the challenging question of
mindfulness-based practices stop their attempts to be mindful whether neoliberal capitalism is indeed the most pressing is-
of the present moment and instead engage in reflections and sue we face nowadays. Pursuing this question could draw
associations, especially of the political type. In this way, they attention to the degree to which capitalism has grown a “can-
would be able to avoid what Purser (2019, p. 23) considers cer” over the past decades, with a gradually increasing likeli-
succumbing to “social amnesia that leads to mindful servants hood that this cancer will turn out to be terminal. The name of
of neoliberalism.” that cancer is global warming.
Yet, the function of the raisin exercise is to facilitate a According to Wallace-Wells (2019, p. 164), the future im-
different way of experiencing, distinct from the habitual ten- pact of global warming “assaults the economies of the world
dency of the mind to run an auto-commentary on anything that with extreme weather and natural disaster at an entirely un-
happens. Such a commentary can at times provide rather in- precedented rate and—just in the diminishing downtime be-
teresting perspectives, no doubt, but it is necessary to learn to tween hurricanes and floods and heat waves and droughts—
step out of it at will. Without developing this ability, one might also threatens to devastate agricultural yields and cripple
remain at the mercy of unending mental chatter and an endless worker productivity.” He further reasoned that (p. 166),
proliferation of thoughts that keep confirming and reinforcing
personal biases and prejudices.
Worthy of note are also comments made by Purser (2019, p. if what you meant by “capitalism” is not just the opera-
10) on Jon Kabat-Zinn, relating his presumed political philos- tion of market forces but the religion of free trade as a
ophy to the “compassionate conservatism” of George Bush, his just and even perfect political system, you have to ex-
supposed subservience to “the requirements of neoliberalism” pect, at the very least, that a major reformation is com-
to Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan (p. 27), and his al- ing. The predictions of economic hardship, remember,
leged invitation for others to abandon ethical discernment to are enormous—$551 trillion in damages at just 3.7 de-
Donald Trump’s “flinging morality to the winds” (p. 241). grees of warming, 23 percent of potential global income
Drawing relationships in this way goes beyond the bounds of lost, under business-as-usual conditions, by 2100. That
reasonable criticism and shades into personal attack. is an impact much more severe than the Great
Needless to say, criticism as such is highly welcome. Depression; it would be ten times as deep as the more
Critical feedback by peers, critical thinking, and self- recent Great Recession, which still so rattles us. And it
criticism are indispensable for scientific progress in our would not be temporary. It is hard to imagine any system
478 Mindfulness (2020) 11:472–479

surviving that kind of decline intact, no matter how engaged Buddhism is first of all practicing mindfulness in
“big.” all that we do.”

From the perspective of the looming climate catastrophe, Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attri-
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In addition to the potential of facilitating receptivity to the Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory
complexity of the present situation, mindfulness can also offer regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permis-
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repercussions of global warming. By now, the time to prevent
the dire consequences of climate change is already past. But
there is a pressing need to take swift action immediately to
Compliance with Ethical Standards
mitigate its repercussions. Here, mindfulness can turn out to
be a major asset, by countering denial just as much as resig- Conflict of Interest The author declares that he has no conflict of
nation and thereby help facilitate that the urgency of the cur- interest.
rent predicament is realized on a large scale (Anālayo 2019g).
Another potential for mindfulness lies in providing resil- Ethical Approval This article does not contain any studies performed by
the author with human participants or animals.
ience in the face of the actual unfolding of the imminent cli-
matic catastrophe. Kaza (2014, p. 87) reasoned that
Abbreviations AN, Aṅguttara-nikāya; DĀ, Dīrgha-āgama (T 1); DN,
Dīgha-nikāya; EĀ, Ekottarika-āgama (T 125); MĀ, Madhyama-āgama
(T 26); SĀ, Saṃyukta-āgama (T 99); SĀ2, Saṃyukta-āgama (T 100); SN,
mindfulness practice has become very popular and well Saṃyutta-nikāya; Spk, Sāratthappakāsinī; T, Taishō edition
known in the west, with active movements to bring
mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) techniques
to schools, hospices, prisons, and business places. References
Through deliberate attention to body, breath, and mind,
the mindfulness practitioner becomes more fully en- Anālayo, B. (2009). Yodhājīva sutta. In W. G. Weeraratne (Ed.),
Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, 8.3 (pp. 798–799). Sri Lanka:
gaged in the present moment. This sort of grounded
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