METAPHORS OF MINDFULNESS
Bee Scherer, Jeff Waistell
Contemporary Buddhism May 30, 2018 DOI: 10.1080/14639947.2018.1479557 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key points | Argues that Morgan's lasting contribution is the insistence that organisational theorising requires new metaphors, and that Hanh's extended metaphors of mindfulness, though transferable from Morgan's images, mediate different messages: they foster psychological and practical understanding of organisational members as ontologically interpenetrated, with mindfulness and metaphor complementarily realising awareness of this interconnectedness. |
Abstract
This critical comparison of Morgan’s ‘Images of Organization’ and Hanh’s ‘Work’ considers whether Hanh offers new insights and metaphors. Morgan’s legacy resides not in his images but in showing that the dynamism of organisational theorising requires the generation of new metaphors. His images transfer onto Hanh’s psychology but largely mediate different messages. This study extends Morgan’s imagery and his understanding of the role of metaphor. Morgan’s heterogeneous, archetypal metaphors proliferate epistemologies in order to theorise organisations and broaden possible actions, whilst Hanh’s more specific, vivid, prescriptive, humanistic, homogeneous and extended metaphors explicate mindfulness across epistemological, (inter)ontological and performative dimensions—mediating the message that mindfulness provides psychological insight to human interconnectedness and guides relationships at work. Hanh’s extended metaphors of mindfulness foster a deep psychological and practical understanding of organisational members as ontologically interpenetrated. His mindfulness and metaphors are complementary in that both coherently mediate and realise awareness of this.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 5
- Mindfulness, by any other name…: trials and tribulations of sati in western psychology and science Contemporary Buddhism May 1, 2011
- Mindfulness in higher education Contemporary Buddhism May 1, 2011
- Yogic Perception, Meditation and Altered States of Consciousness Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften eBooks 2009
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy: culture clash or creative fusion? Contemporary Buddhism May 1, 2011
- Some reflections on the origins of MBSR, skillful means, and the trouble with maps June 14, 2011