On the Buddhist roots of contemporary non-religious mindfulness practice: Moving beyond sectarian and essentialist approaches

Mindfulness-based programs like MBSR are entering Western institutions as secular approaches, yet their Buddhist roots are often discussed narrowly through Theravāda Buddhism or essentialist views of 'classical Buddhism.' Historical and textual analysis shows that Theravāda is neither the original context nor the exclusive Buddhist source of MBSR, and such one-sided presentations oversimplify Buddhist doctrine and distort comparisons with contemporary non-religious mindfulness. To move beyond sectarian and essentialist approaches tied to the 'world religions paradigm,' the discussion would benefit from a lineage-based approach that examines historical continuities and phenomenological similarities at the level of specific Buddhist teachers and their lineages.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Mindfulness-based practice methods are entering the Western cultural mainstream as institutionalised approaches in healthcare, education, and other public spheres. The Buddhist roots of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and comparable mindfulness-based programmes are widely acknowledged, together with the view of their religious and ideological neutrality. However, the cultural and historical roots of these contemporary approaches have received relatively little attention in the study of religion, and the discussion has been centred on Theravāda Buddhist viewpoints or essentialist presentations of ‘classical Buddhism’. In the light of historical and textual analysis it seems unfounded to hold Theravāda tradition as the original context or as some authoritative expression of Buddhist mindfulness, and there are no grounds for holding it as the exclusive Buddhist source of the MBSR programme either. Rather, one-sided Theravāda-based presentations give a limited and oversimplified picture of Buddhist doctrine and practice, and also distort comparisons with contemporary non-religious forms of mindfulness practice. To move beyond the sectarian and essentialist approaches closely related to the ‘world religions paradigm’ in the study of religion, the discussion would benefit from a lineage-based approach, where possible historical continuities and phenomenological similarities between Buddhist mindfulness and contemporary non-religious approaches are examined at the level of particular relevant Buddhist teachers and their lineages of doctrine and practice.