Emily Howard
Prof. Oliver
December 7, 2019
The Philosophy of Mindfulness
Mindfulness is something that comes from within yourself after a lot of practice. Through this practice, we are teaching ourselves to change one’s thoughts over time. The actual definition of mindfulness is “The practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis .”
One person that studied mindfulness is Buddha. In some of his earliest sayings he claimed, “Your states (of existence) originate in your mind. Mind is their chief, and they are created by the mind. If you speak or act with a pure mind, happiness will follow you like your own shadow.” In the western areas we can see that the power of constructive thinking is treasured by the ancient philosophers of Stoicism, brought about by thinkers such as Zeno, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. Epictetus stated an example of mindfulness saying, “What concerns us is not the way things actually are, but rather the way we think things are.”
Recently, the amount of studies about mindfulness and how it has a huge impact on feelings of happiness and well-being, but also on the brain itself, has increased significantly. An example I found of this actually being used in realistic context is, “Scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School recently reported that participants who took a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program for eight weeks showed measurable changes in grey matter concentration in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with regulation of emotion, arousal, and responsiveness.” In Buddhism, mindfulness was one of the eightfold paths they use which came from yogic meditation where they utilize the ability to focus one’s attention on the present moment. The royal road to overcoming suffering and finding genuine happiness is what the eightfold path represents. As stated by Rahula Walpola, (a foremost interpreter of early Buddhist practice) “Right mindfulness or attentiveness is to cultivate diligent awareness of activities of the body, sensations or feelings, and activities of the mind.” An interesting observation on intellectual history is that the Confucians taught that a person needs to take eight steps to self-cultivation and social harmony. The third step is “rectification of the mind” and is very similar to the idea of “mindfulness.” It teaches that an inferior person “hears, but does not listen and sees, but does not watch,” because they are just unable to control their erratic emotions. Buddha actually made an interesting comparison about how out of control emotions are similar to a wild horse because they take us away from fully focusing on the present moment.
Buddha and Confucius both bring to mind Martin Seligman’s three tier theory of happiness, but especially the central tier which argues that one of the keys to mental wellness is to “savor” experiences in the present moment.
Overall, mindfulness is a very important aspect of our minds we should be aware of. It does take time to perfect this technique but according to Buddha and Confucius it will definitely be worth your time in the long run.
Quiz questions:
1) What does the eightfold path represent?
2) Who is one of the main philosophers that studied mindfulness?
3) How many steps did Confucius say it takes to create self-cultivation and social harmony?
Discussion:
1) Do you think mindfulness is as important as Buddha and Confucius make it seem?
https://es.coursera.org/lecture/mindfulness/summary-g3dPQ
Sources:
Posts I’ve commented on:
Micah Chapman section 11
ReplyDeleteI think mindfulness is very important in every aspect of life but especially socially.
Corey Creasey Section 11
ReplyDeletei feel as though mindfulness is something that many people need to hear more about for the betterment of themselves and those around them. this was an interesting read on the process of becomes more mindful.
Mindfulness guides us through our problems with our identity. It can help you focus on new things and better define yourself
ReplyDelete"an inferior person “hears, but does not listen and sees, but does not watch” - even Yogi Berra knew you could observe a lot by watching.
ReplyDeleteRapt attention in the present moment is indeed a great skill, and not as easy as it sounds. But there's also a place for attentive foresight and reflection, which take us beyond and behind the present moment. We're a trans-temporal species, after all.