Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World
Mindfulness June 29, 2017 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-017-0758-2 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThe author offers a personal perspective on the original core aspirations behind introducing mindfulness into mainstream society, initially through medicine and healthcare as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and later into education, business, social justice, politics, and global environmental responsibility. The paper reflects on the practice's spread and growing evidence of its multifaceted efficacy, emphasizing its potential as a way of being and a moral imperative for addressing planetary challenges.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Dystopia Ignorance Environmental ethics Cynicism Skepticism |
| Citations | 113 |
| Key finding | Argues that the core aspirations behind introducing mindfulness into mainstream contexts were initially focused on medicine and health care via MBSR, and later extended to other domains as evidence of its efficacy accumulated. |
Abstract
Excerpt: What I intend to do in this paper is offer a non-exhaustive perspective on the original core aspirations, as I experienced them, behind introducing mindfulness as a practice and as a way of being into the mainstream world, initially through medicine and health care in the form of MBSR, and then—as the meme and practice took root and interest spread with increasing evidence of its multifaceted efficacy—to varying degrees into education, business, social justice, politics, and the more global domain of acknowledging a moral and exceedingly practical responsibility for the planet on the part of our species as a whole.