Recontextualizing “mindfulness”: Considering the phenomenological enactment of clinical, spiritual, and religious realities.

Abstract

Mindfulness within Western psychology and American culture is typically defined and practiced according to metaphysical assumptions associated with secular humanism. However, historically, the practice of mindfulness and meditation has been situated within worldviews of spiritual and religious traditions that assume different metaphysical assumptions about what is "reality," influencing what forms of experiences are labeled as "mindfulness" and the context of its use. This article explores some of the differing influences on the phenomenological experiences of mindfulness within the context of varied worldviews and gives suggestions on how to work ethically with the corresponding religious and spiritual diversity in clinical practice.

Spiritually integrated psychotherapies in real-world clinical practice: Synthesizing the literature to identify best practices and future research directions.

“…For example, while mindfulness can be clinically useful for many patients, some highly religious individuals may experience this practice in its traditional form as humanistic or unhelpfully self-focused. Yi (2017) notes that, “within a more theistic worldview, beyond the typical areas of foci of mindfulness such as the body, feelings, and mind, mindfulness may be used as a method of either merging with Godhead within a mystical worldview or encountering God within a numinous worldview” (p. 213).…”

Mindfulness and the cultural psychology of personhood: Challenges of self, other, and moral orientation in Haiti

“…While on the one hand this “sanitization” of some contemporary versions of mindfulness such as MBSR permits wider appeal and use, is something meaningful or even essential lost in this process? This question has informed a recent debate regarding the ways in which secularized mindfulness neglects the strong ethical and moral dimensions of its roots in Buddhism (Greenberg & Mitra, 2015; Hyland, 2015; Kirmayer, 2015; Monteiro et al., 2015; Ozawa-De Silva, 2015; Panaioti, 2015, Yi, 2017). Yi (2017, p. 212) argues that the kind of mindfulness practiced in the American context is typically strongly influenced by secular humanism, in which there is a great emphasis on the personal self without a consideration of the larger cultural and social context.…”

“…This question has informed a recent debate regarding the ways in which secularized mindfulness neglects the strong ethical and moral dimensions of its roots in Buddhism (Greenberg & Mitra, 2015; Hyland, 2015; Kirmayer, 2015; Monteiro et al., 2015; Ozawa-De Silva, 2015; Panaioti, 2015, Yi, 2017). Yi (2017, p. 212) argues that the kind of mindfulness practiced in the American context is typically strongly influenced by secular humanism, in which there is a great emphasis on the personal self without a consideration of the larger cultural and social context. O'Donnell (2015) suggests that while acknowledging benefits of mindfulness, attention must also be paid to the ethical framework as well as the outer conditions that shape daily experiences; efforts to secularize mindfulness, while well-intentioned, may actually serve to impoverish it as an educational endeavor (p. 187).…”