Western Mindfulness Analysis

Buddhism originated in the early Fifth century BCE, from the teachings of Siddhartha Buddha (Fisher, 2005). Plagued by the desire to help end human suffering, Buddha reached a state of pure enlightenment showing him the way to end earthly suffering. Through meditation, people can control the desires of their human nature. By gaining control of our desires we can end our suffering. He taught his wisdom to all that wanted to learn. After his death, three main forms of Buddhism emerged; there was the Theravada’s, the Mahayana’s, and the Zen Buddhists (Fisher, 2005). For the sake of this report, the local Buddhist

In chapter 4 it talks about how we can practice being mindfulness with connecting mind and body together. To able to take in every moment in life one needs to enjoy every moment without our mind wandering off when we are doing an action. The body is great to practice being able to be mindfulness because it is something that will not go away. The author explains in the chapter that sometimes a way to came back to the mindfulness state is by breathing in and out, which leads to concentrate again. Another point made is that mindful attention to sensation requires you to take the time to actually experience the sensation. An example is when cooking you can practice mindful attention by smelling the different faces the food you are cooking goes

Buddhism teaches tolerance to their followers (Van Voorst, 2013). One of their defining characteristics is meditation. A majority of their followers believe that the meditation contributes to an out of body experience, dreams, visions, answered prayers, and healing (Thanissaro, 2015). Another defining characteristic of the Buddhism religion is for their followers to become enlightened when their beliefs become parallel with the institutional authority and scriptural authority. The Buddhist principles of the search for truth, beauty, and justice should always be maintained in the center of their lives (Kabilsingh,

Segal, Williams, and Teasdale (2013) share Jon Kabat-Zinn’s definition of mindfulness. Mindfulness involves purposely paying attention. It involves being in the present moment. It involves being nonjudgmental (p. 38-39). When coupled with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques, mindfulness helps the user to disengage from powerful depressive thinking. This helps the user prevent a recurrence of depression without the use of antidepressants. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an intervention that was developed as a way to teach people who continue to relapse into depression how to maintain their wellbeing on a long-term basis (Kuyken, et al., 2015).

Zajonc (2009) cited several examples of contemplative practice in the Christian tradition including meditative reading, reflection, and a prayer to ‘center’ the mind. He also highlighted the contemplative silence of the Benedictine Order as part of their focused attention on sacred text (Zajonc, 2009). Christ, as reported in the Bible, exhorted his followers that ‘the kingdom of God is within’ which suggests a contemplative practice (Sharples, 2003). It is also recorded that Christ spent forty days and nights in the wilderness, possibly in contemplative thought, meditating. Many Christian traditions also practice contemplation to develop positive qualities such as compassion and forgiveness through reflection (Sharples, 2003). In summary, the literature highlighted above indicates that ‘present-moment awareness’ and contemplative practice are evident in the philosophy and practice of many religions. This contemplative practice was designed to ponder religious texts, discover new insights and experience a sense of calm for individual practitioners. Next I review definitions of mindfulness from other philosophical traditions, before considering the influence of western culture on mindfulness and contemplative

At one point in the documentary, a monk is asked to describe Buddhism in two words. He chooses, “Practice mindfulness.” The entirety of the Buddhist religion is very much based on awareness and mindfulness. Throughout his childhood, the Buddha was

As a matter of fact, the Third Mindfulness Training creates a connection to unite with the Buddha’s belief and a deep meaning of our morality. According to The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings, it describes as “Aware of the suffering brought about when we impose our views on others, we are determined not to force others, even our children, by any means whatsoever – such as authority, threat, money, propaganda, or indoctrination

In this day and age practicing mindfulness has become more common in pop culture, but many eastern cultures have had mindful practice embedded in their culture for centuries. Some may achieve a mindful state of mind when they aware of the present moment, can calmly acknowledgment others feelings, and bodily sensations. Many people use in their everyday life to help them with physical and mental health issue they may have. Some benefits are reduced anxiety, improved sleep, OCD, reduce chronic may, and many more. However, researchers have said that over practicing mindful thinking could actually harm you more than it is helping you.

Stress is an emotional state that is difficult to define because everyone experiences stress in different ways. Pathologically speaking, stress is the brain’s response to certain demands for change and can be positive or negative depending on the individual. This state of mind is induced by physical and emotional stimuli; this in turn generates a response that affects many aspects of a person’s wellbeing. Psychological, behavioral and biological stressors all play a role in an individual’s mood, sense of well-being, behavior and health (Schneiderman, Ironson, & Siegel, Stress and health: psychological, behavioral, and biological determinants, 2005). These factors can threaten our internal homeostasis which

God wants us to live in the present because of how, as Screwtape has said, an intersection of our time with eternity. What this means is that by being in the present, we realize how we are in the presence of God. Living in the Future means to focus of our own future well being while living in the present means to be grateful of the things that are and focus on not only our own well being but of others. Only in the present can we truly see God.

It is mindfulness that teaches us to listen-instead of merely talk-to our patients, recognize our strengths and our weaknesses, acknowledge our values and prejudices and own our mistakes. When we practice medicine mindfully we become more compassionate and more insightful; even better, our mindfulness becomes a moral compass that directs us to act professionally.

Mindfulness has been a practice to alleviate human suffering, Jon Kabat-Zinn definition of mindfulness is often quoted in Western Psychological teachings on the subject matter. He describes mindfulness as the, “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, and nonjudgmentally, to the unfolding of experience moment to moment” (as cited in Segal, Williams, &Teasdale, 2013, p.38). His definition while at the epicenter of the understanding of mindfulness is not an all-inclusive definition because in western psychology mindfulness it is not a one size fits all approach and has been

The purpose of ER #12 is to illustrate the true purpose of meditation and the ways in which one can achieve this true purpose, however, when this purpose is juxtaposed against the modern, Western interpretation of the art of meditation, one thing is clear; these are not the same. The popular, western meditation, at its heart, attempts to reach the same things that the Buddhist meditation tries to reach: peace, tranquility, and happiness, but those that reach their goals in western meditation practices are not reaching the same goals as those who practice Buddhist meditation. Buddhist meditation at its heart is an attempt to reach nirvana, while those who practice western meditation are reaching a relaxed state that helps to promote peace, tranquility, and happiness.

To prove the benefits of incorporating Buddhist philosophies into Western psychotherapy, I will examine three specific Buddhist ideas: the connection of experience and meaning, the idea of emptiness and the loss of the ego, and the true nature of the mind.

Mindfulness is a learnable skill. It is a capacity we all possess, by virtue of being human.