I'm curious about your choice of title, given that the article goes in a very different direction (and is excerpted from a book whose title literally draws the opposite conclusion). But more broadly, I think this is a good intro to the idea, and is actually a good defense of mindfulness and meditation generally. It seems like most of the criticisms boil down to some folks' practice not being traditional enough (which isn't really a valid criticism on its own), or that there are other ways to do the same thing. I like that the author doesn't dispute this last. The whole point is that mediation is one tool among many, and like with most things involving the mind, it'll work differently for different people. Incidentally, if anyone's interested in the topic, I cannot recommend this book enough. It's the first time Zen has ever made sense to me, and is something I find myself returning to regularly.
I copy pasted the title.. because it was so good. Did you notice the lacking 'i' .. not mindful enough ;) More seriously. The point he make at the beginning hold: -Meditation as a stress reliever, is not better than exercise -Meditation as a spiritual tool, is highly inefficient. No Nirvana anytime soon -Meditation as a fad, is tiresome.. everyone I know and their dog are meditating.. And keep Zenplaining to me how good and aware they became
I may not be mindful enough either, but that YES in your post title is not in the header that it looks like you copied. That YES is what is misleading given what the article says. For those who are not clicking on the article, here's what I saw: The header: "Is Mindfulness Meditaton BS?" The title: "Going Up Is mindfulness meditation a capitalist tool or a path to enlightenment? Yes" The article on the question in the header: "All of which raises a question: Is mindfulness meditation, as it’s practiced by millions of Westerners, bullshit? Not bullshit in the sense of being worthless. Even Adam Grant admits that meditation has benefits and that, for some people, it’s the best way to get them. But has meditation practice strayed so far from its Buddhist roots that we might as well just call it a therapy or a hobby?" While I may agree with your point to an extent, that's doesn't seem to be the basic point of this article. I tried mindfulness meditation for a couple years. It didn't work for me for a number of reasons. Everyone kept telling me that I wasn't doing it right or that I needed to give it more time. It was annoying. For a while, I wasn't a big proponent of it. I'm still not its biggest fan, or more accurately, I'm not a fan of its biggest fans. The hype for it has gone over the top. That said, I'm considering trying it again. In some ways, it's just a different way of looking at things.I copy pasted the title.. because it was so good. Did you notice the lacking 'i' .. not mindful enough ;