Importance of Morality in Mindfulness Practice

Abstract

As the result of secularization and adaption of mindfulness practices from Buddhism, elements specific to culture and religion have been removed, now drawing criticism that mindfulness training has lost its original ethical characteristics. This article argues that the lack of formal coverage of morality in mindfulness-based programs does not imply that morality plays no part, and that participants independently contextualize their mindfulness practice by drawing on their own sense of morality. Therefore, awareness of the role of morality in mindfulness practice is important for counselors, who can assist their clients with integrating their mindfulness practice with their own worldviews and ethical frameworks.

Network Analysis of Mindfulness Facets, Affect, Compassion, and Distress

“…With a now well-established evidence base for the benefits of a mindful disposition and mindfulness training, the research literature has extended to explore the relevance of wider contextual factors. One of these factors is the role of compassion, and in the context of Buddhist ideas that inspired the development of MBIs, compassion may be regarded as the intrinsically motivated expression of ethical guidelines (Krägeloh 2016). Criticisms of MBIs of being too focused on individual therapeutic goals that are in contrast with Buddhist teachings of cultivating mindfulness alongside ethics and wisdom (Stanley et al 2018) have resulted in a variety of responses.…”

“…Criticisms of MBIs of being too focused on individual therapeutic goals that are in contrast with Buddhist teachings of cultivating mindfulness alongside ethics and wisdom (Stanley et al 2018) have resulted in a variety of responses. On one hand, it has been argued that MBIs provide a shortterm approach that establishes the basis for deeper practice that includes compassion, while arguments have also been advanced that ethics and compassion are likely to develop naturally even in the absence of specific instructions (Krägeloh 2016). However, to recognize the trend for a larger variety of mindfulness programs with specific themes and orientations, Singh et al (2014) introduced the distinction between first-and second-generation MBIs.…”

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial for a Videoconference-Delivered Mindfulness-Based Group Intervention in a Nonclinical Setting

“…The lack of an effect on compassion for others may be a reflection of the focus of the present program more on personal observations and self-compassion, although some loving kindness practice had been incorporated. While the link between mindfulness and compassion has been argued conceptually (Krägeloh 2016), empirical evidence suggests that a fair amount of explicit practice focusing on compassion for others is required to develop this characteristic (Brito-Pons et al 2018).…”

The Construction of Moral Symbols in Murwakala Text and Its Entanglement in Javanese Community Order

“…The second type is norms imposed on individuals by external forces and thus not freely and voluntarily adjusted [13]. In religious discourse, a sense of morality is integral to religious belief and practice [14]. Meanwhile, in the context of literature, morality is deemed as a part of life meanings and messages that any literary work should carry.…”