US Politics
Mindfulness and its limitations in a neoliberal society
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Transformation through Inquiry: Mindfulness for the Neoliberal Self
by Ronald E. Purser (co-editor of the Handbook of Mindfulness: Culture, Context and Social Engagement) and Jack Petranker (former Dean of the Tibetan Nyingma Institute)
“It is not a sign of health to be well adjusted to a sick society”
– Krishnamurti
Mindfulness, a practice with Buddhist roots but a contemporary secular face, is today found almost everywhere. From programs in schools, hospitals and prisons; to endorsements by celebrities; to monks, neuroscientists, and meditation coaches rubbing shoulders with CEOs at the World Economic Forum in Davos, it is clear that mindfulness has gone mainstream. Some have called it a mindfulness revolution. There is much that is good in this. Thousands of people in all walks of life attest to the value of mindfulness in dealing with stress, anxiety, and burn-out, not to mention chronic pain, negative and buried emotions, and much more.