Clearing the Muddled Path of Traditional and Contemporary Mindfulness: a Response to Monteiro, Musten, and Compson

Contemplative Media Studies

“…It is worth noting that there is substantial scholarly debate regarding whether, and to what extent, Buddhist philosophy and mindfulness practices include an ethical or moral component with socio-political implications [2]. Some argue that Buddha had always intended to provoke leaders and initiate a broad social movement [42].…”

“…In fact, Purser's ongoing work [2], as well as my own [3], is aimed precisely at calling into question Silicon Valley's idiosyncratic blend of free market libertarianism and spirituality. Drawing from McChesney's critique of digital capitalism, but engaging more substantively with its moral and religious dimensions, I have described this distinct set of beliefs about the nature of technology, markets and human virtue as the "catechism of Silicon Valley" [4].…”

Still Exploring the Middle Path: a Response to Commentaries

“…This constellation of issues is perhaps most clearly demonstrated in Purser's (2015) critique of Monteiro et al (2015), where we made the case that the Eightfold Path, of which mindfulness is but one limb, refers to a universal cosmic law of nature and is therefore not something that is owned by Buddhists. We comment on this critique, using Purser's challenges as our reference point.…”

“…If this is the case, then attempts to fathom Buddhist mindfulness from the perspective of Western psychology are doomed because the lens is not wide enough to view what is being observed-the contours of the model are too tight. In a similar vein, Purser (2015) argued against loosening mindfulness from its Buddhist moorings, suggesting that such a decontextualization is both philosophically and ethically problematic.…”

“…In particular, in response to Purser (2015), we explore the question of whether Buddhist teaching, of which mindfulness is a major component, is based on an understanding of a certain lawful structure of reality that exists whether a Buddha (or anybody else) had described it or not, or whether it is a concept that is a cultural invention of the Buddha-a BBuddhist teaching^that is only meaningful in the context of other Buddhist teachings and concepts. This is not a trivial point.…”