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Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World

Jon Kabat‐zinn

Mindfulness June 29, 2017 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-017-0758-2 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed
Topics Buddhism
Keywords Dystopia Ignorance Environmental ethics Cynicism Skepticism Meaning existential Enlightenment Global warming Law Aesthetics Psychoanalysis Epistemology Climate change Politics
Citations 113
Key points 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.