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Mindful America: The Mutual Transformation of Buddhist Meditation and American Culture 1st Edition
by Jeff Wilson (Author)
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Table of Contents
Introduction: Waking Up in Mindful America
1. Mediating Mindfulness: How Does Mindfulness Reach America?
2. Mystifying Mindfulness: How is Mindfulness Made Available for Appropriation?
3. Medicalizing Mindfulness: How is Mindfulness Modified to Fit a Scientific and Therapeutic Culture?
4. Mainstreaming Mindfulness: How is Mindfulness Adapted to Middle-Class Needs?
5. Marketing Mindfulness: How is Mindfulness Turned into a Commercial Product?
6. Moralizing Mindfulness: How is Mindfulness Related to Values and Worldviews?
Postscript: Making Sense of Mindfulness
Bibliography
Notes
Index
Thirty years ago, "mindfulness" was a Buddhist principle mostly obscure to the west. Today, it is a popular cure-all for Americans' daily problems. A massive and lucrative industry promotes mindfulness in every aspect of life, however mundane or unlikely: Americans of various faiths (or none at all) practice mindful eating, mindful sex, mindful parenting, mindfulness in the office, mindful sports, mindfulness-based stress relief and addiction recovery, and hire mindful divorce lawyers. Mindfulness is touted by members of Congress, CEOs, and Silicon Valley tech gurus, and is even being taught in public schools, hospitals, and the military.
Focusing on such processes as the marketing, medicalization, and professionalization of meditation, Jeff Wilsonreveals how Buddhism shed its countercultural image and was assimilated into mainstream American culture. The rise of mindfulness in America, Wilson argues, is a perfect example of how Buddhism enters new cultures and is domesticated: in each case, the new cultures take from Buddhism what they believe will relieve their specific distresses and concerns, and in the process create new forms of Buddhism adapted to their needs. Wilson also tackles the economics of the mindfulness movement, examining commercial programs, therapeutic services, and products such as books, films, CDs, and even smartphone applications.
Mindful America is the first in-depth study of this phenomenon--invaluable for understanding how mindfulness came to be applied to such a vast array of non-religious concerns and how it can be reconciled with traditional Buddhism in America.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"The definitive catalogue of the ways 'mindfulness' is being used by Americans."--Journal of the American Academy of Religion
"Feature[s] a superb bibliography of contemporary English-language writings on mindfulness...Recommended."--CHOICE
"This book [is] fascinating, eye-opening...I hope that the makers of the mindfulness movement will read [this] and consider its implications for their work and for Buddhism in America. I hardly need add that all scholars of contemporary Buddhism and of American history should do the same."--H-NET
"[A] compelling study."--Journal of Religion
"But true to his word, Wilson never indulges in speculation about whether or not mindfulness delivers on its professed benefits. His unsparing account instead amounts to a spirited cross-examination of everything 'mindful' in America."--Tricycle Magazine
"Despite its intended scholarly audience, this is an accessible and remarkably jargon-free study. Wilson is clearly not a reluctant writer, and his prose is clear without being reductive or dry. The readability, and thus possibility of a larger, non-academic audience, is due in large part to the fantastic organization of his argument. He makes his case clearly and forcefully, without treading into repetition."--Winnipeg Free Press
"Mindful America could not be more timely: mindfulness is widespread, at its height of its influence, and significant both in terms of the history of American religion and of Buddhism. This book is well researched, thoughtfully conceived, provocative, intelligently theorized, and accessible to both scholarly and lay audiences. Any serious consideration of mindfulness in the West must address the issues Wilson brings up in this important book." --David L. McMahan, author of Buddhism in the Modern World
"This is a much-needed guide to the mindfulness movement that has moved onto central stage in American Buddhism over the course of the last two decades. Jeff Wilson demystifies the current mindfulness vogue by setting it in historical perspective and providing insightful analyses of the way in which an Asian Buddhist religious practice and value has been spiritualized, medicalized, psychologized, and secularized as it has been reshaped to address the needs of middle class Americans. General readers, practitioners, teachers, authors, and promoters alike will value Wilson's insights into the way in which mindfulness as a technique to address suffering has come to mean many different things for many different people. Wilson again shows himself to be the leading interpreter of the American Buddhist scene." --Richard Seager, Bates and Benjamin Professor of Religious Studies, Hamilton College
"In this well-honed study, Jeff Wilson explores the mindfulness movement in the context of modern American religion and culture. As he does so, we are invited to reflect upon the multi-faceted phenomena of religious transformation, appropriation, and commodification of old world meditation techniques and new world realities. An engaging and enlightening read." --Jan Willis, author of Dreaming Me: Black, Baptist and Buddhist-One Woman's Spiritual Journey
"Mindful America is a superb study by Jeff Wilson, scholar of American religion, that situates the practice of mindfulness within the lineage of American religious movements. What makes this movement unique, of course, is the central focus on the traditionally Buddhist practice of mindfulness... The study has both breadth and depth―appropriately encompassing of the broad expanse of mindfulness practice yet specific enough to avoid reckless generalization that neglects the nuance and subtlety of mindfulness in America today. No stone is left unturned as Wilson seeks to understand mindfulness in the broadest possible contexts―in light of the aforementioned American cultural tropes―alongside some of its benevolent and dastardly particulars: from mindfulness for suicidality to mindfulness for sex. In the end, it represents an ideal example of the study of religion in America." --U.S. Studies Online
"In Mindful America, Wilson explores the origin of the mindfulness movement. The book offers one of the first critical descriptions of the movement, which is focused on more that the movement's practices... Mindful America does a very good job in exploring the mindfulness movement." --Metapsychology
About the Author
Jeff Wilson is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and East Asian Studies at Renison University College (University of Waterloo). He is the author of Mourning the Unborn Dead: A Buddhist Ritual Comes to America (2009) and Dixie Dharma: Inside a Buddhist Temple in the American South (2012).
Product details
Publisher : Oxford University Press; 1st edition (August 1, 2014)
Language : English
Hardcover : 280 pages
#9,189 in Meditation (Books)Customer Reviews:
4.3 out of 5 stars 24 ratings
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Top reviews from the United States
SkepticMeditations
4.0 out of 5 stars How has Asian religion been adapted for mainstream America?Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2015
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Mindful America is an exploration of the mindfulness phenomena, concerned with large-scale trends that can be observed within the movement, and the forces behind these trends.
Wilson argues that mindfulness over the last three decades has gone from an obscure Asian religious technique to a widely touted panacea and a serious money making industry. Today, mindfulness is touted as a cutting edge technique said to produce everything from financial success to mind blowing orgasms.
This 260 page book is well-researched and easy to read for the lay person. I'd give this book three stars for writing style but four stars for the author's leading-edge research in this wildly popular phenomena, the mindfulness movement in America.
Wilson’s treatment of his subject is often predictable and formulaic. Sometimes his critiques of the movement's advocates get repetitive chapter to chapter. Nevertheless, he weaves hundreds of interesting facts, quotations, and sources from the mindfulness movement and addresses six questions.
Mindful America explores six questions under these chapter titles (I provide a few quotes from the chapters):
Chapter 1 Mediating Mindfulness: How Does Mindfulness Reach America?
In this classic presentation [of the Satipatthana Sutta] mindfulness is taught to the monks, not the general Buddhist community, and it is clearly associated with traditional transcendent monastic concerns, such as nirvana. Mindfulness meditation is to be pursued as a way to disengage from clinging to the everyday world of suffering and turn toward a rigorous discipline, resulting in breakage of the cycle of rebirth. p21
Chapter 2 Mystifying Mindfulness: How is Mindfulness Made Available for Appropriation?
For foreign religious practices to be successfully appropriated by mainstream American society, they need to be rendered spiritual and personal to best fit into the prevailing trends in religious orientation...Hinduism is appropriated as yoga, Islam as Sufi poetry, Daoism as tai-chi, Japanese folk healing as reiki, and Buddhism as mindfulness.
The historic authority over these practices of Asians, Middle Easterners, and other groups coded as non-white in American society must be dissolved so that white Americans can claim authority over them, an authority that issues from the fact that these are now self-evidently universal, spiritual, or medical practices available to all comers, which new constituencies have a right to use, and to sell, as they wish. p61-62
Chapter 3 Medicalizing Mindfulness: How is Mindfulness Modified to Fit a Scientific and Therapeutic Culture?
Buddhist monks were supposed to preach, chant, and performed blessings. Too much meditation was believed to cause mental illness. And, anyway, the proper Buddhist methods for dealing with psychological issues, sickness, and other health impairments were exorcism and chanting, not mindfulness. p76
Buddhist practice has been removed from the realm of religion and professionalized to become the property of psychologists, doctors, scientists, and diet counselors, to be engaged in by clients rather than believers, who are not expected to take refuge, read scriptures, believe in karma or rebirth, or to become Buddhist. p103
Chapter 4 Mainstreaming Mindfulness: How is Mindfulness Adapted to Middle Class Needs?
At the heart of OneTaste is Orgasmic Meditation (OM), a form of mindful clitoral stimulation that OneTaste devotees practice daily, either in a group setting or at one of the OneTaste centers, or at home if they have taken OneTaste workshops. As the OneTaste website states, “Practitioners experience benefits similar to other mindfulness practices such as sitting in meditation, as well as the well-known benefits associated with orgasm”. p122
[In] the Satipatthana and Mahasatipatthana Suttas...the Buddha tells the reader to think of one’s own body as a rotting, oozing corpse eaten by worms and disintegrating into its component parts. Mindful-eating authors never quote these passages. p118
Chapter 5 Marketing Mindfulness: How is Mindfulness Turned into a Commercial Product?
Here's nine of the many commercial mindful "products" discussed in the book:
Mindful Horsemanship: Daily Inspirations for Better Communications with Your Horse (sport)
Tennis Fitness for the Love of It: A Mindful Approach (sport)
OneTaste: female orgasm through the practice of Orgasmic Meditation (sex)
The Heart of Buddhist Meditation (religion)
The Mindful Brain (science)
Mindful Therapy (therapy)
Mindful Knitting (hobby)
Mindful Mints (breath freshener)
MindfulMayo Dressing and Sandwich Spread (food)
Chapter 6 Moralizing Mindfulness: How is Mindfulness Related to Values and Worldviews?
In mindfulness movement writings the present moment becomes both savior and heaven: the vehicle for salvation and salvation itself. As Thich Nhat Hanh asserts in You are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment: “The only moment in which you can be truly alive is the present moment. The present moment is the destination, the point to arrive at”. p174
...Mindful civil religion does not call for mandatory participation in mindful activities, radical changes to the economic structure, aggressive or combative politcial struggle, or class warfare. Rather, for many it is apparent that mindful capitalism will be sufficient, as will mindful politics, mindful consumption, mindful work, and so on. p183
We might call this secular religion, one devoid of the supernatural and the afterlife yet operating as a deep well of values, life orientation, and utopian vision. p185
Those who do attach morals to or derive values from their mindfulness practice are often people with a connection to a religious tradition, especially Buddhism. p185
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Mark J. Knickelbine
4.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Look at the Evolution of Buddhism in AmericaReviewed in the United States on December 18, 2014
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The first full look at the impact of Buddhism and the mindfulness movement on American culture makes for a fascinating and important read. Wilson tells the story of how both Asians and Westerners contributed to the evolution of Buddhism from a supernatural religion based in monasticism to a secular movement based on the personal benefits of meditation. As he relates, Buddhism has always been enmeshed in the economic and cultural dynamics of every society in which it existed; the "selling of mindfulness" in American market capitalism is an extension of that process. Wilson loves to detail some of the lurid ways mindfulness has been used to promote better sex, a better golf swing, better performance in the board room and on the battle field, etc. He sometimes overgeneralizes from these juicy tidbits, and paints the entire mindfulness movement with salacious characteristics as a result. Wilson also focuses on commercial marketing of mindfulness without observing the many free and low-cost resources available to those who wish to practice. And his conclusion that American mindfulness is a form of metaphysical religion akin to Christian Science was hard for me to swallow. But this book is indispensable for anyone who wants to know how the practices and ethics of Buddhism are changing American culture, and how Buddhism is being transformed in return. Plus it's fun to read!
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Nick Y.
2.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad! Some good points. Disappointing overall.Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2015
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PROs:
- Claims to be an objective study;
- Plenty of facts and observations;
- Mentions many books that can orient one's research;
- Addresses an important social phenomenon;
- Quotes diligently various significant authors;
- The first two chapters are most informative.
CONs:
- Although the author claims to be objective (p.11: "In this book, I do not attempt to push a hard sell for any particular viewpoint on any particular part of the mindfulness movement, or the movement as a whole"), the overall tone is a slightly sarcastic one, and clearly but subtly leaning against the social value of mindfulness.
- Many inconsistencies. Very often it is hard to understand what Wilson is trying to say. I understand the need to be objective, and I certainly appreciate it, but clarity seems to suffer at the expense of the so-called "objectivity."
- Misunderstanding of mindfulness itself. For example, on page 118, Wilson quotes the Satipatthana, and openly demonstrates a misunderstanding of the quote: "In this body there are head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, hearts, liver, diaphragm, etc... In this way he abides contemplating the body as a body internally, externally, and both internally and externally... And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world." Wilson interprets this quote as follows: "This traditional source for mindfulness practice advocates viewing the body as impure, full of guts and disgusting substances, and recommends detachment from - not love for and acceptance of - the body." Wilson clearly misses the point of the quote he himself mentions, which, rather than expressing aversion towards the body promotes equanimity. BIG difference.
- Overall, I found myself confronted with two alternating scenarios:
1. Ambiguity when the author tries to be "objective";
2. Gentle sarcasm when the author expresses his own opinions.
- One of Wilson's main point can be roughly expressed as follows: The mindfulness movement is a sneaky phenomenon that, although originates in Buddhism, seeks to deny its origins for marketing purposes.
It is a good book to read for the serious student of Mindfulness, the student who is planning on reading all the books there are on the subject, but it is certainly a waste of time if you are new to the subject. Most of the ideas could have been expressed in less than half the amount of words used.
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WH
3.0 out of 5 stars Readable but by no means a classic.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 29, 2015
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A slightly strange book in that its written by an academic really for academic consumption but will of course I suspect be ended up read mostly by practitioners of mindfulness themselves... so the readership will probably be keen practitioners, the author more ambivalent towards mindfulness.
On the plus side, this is a readable work with good chapters on how mindfulness reached America/the west from Asia and towards the end an excellent chapter on Morals and Values - including politics. It does sag however in the middle somewhat and tends towards a repetitive tone with 4 chapters looking respectively at Mystifying, Mecalising, Mainstreaming and Marketing Mindfulness - The language is big on the word 'appropriation' i.e. how mindfulness has been 'appropriated' in America... and mystified - when most would say 'demystified'. Of the three main streams of American mindfulness the author mentions - Jon Kabat-Zinn, Thich Nat Hanh and neo-Theravada (Vipassana, IMS, Sprit Rock etc) - The latter is largely ignored (perhaps because it might undermine his general thesis) and the most time is spent on MBSR with an emphasis on 'consumer mindfulness'. So one might argue that much of this book is taken up with the lighter end of the mindfulness spectrum - which I sense is probably intentional given the authors semi-critical stance.
On the whole I would have preferred more scope and less repetition but a worthy effort nonetheless on a subject that has not been greatly written about yet in academia or religious studies field.
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===
Mindful America: The Mutual Transformation of Buddhist Meditation and American Culture
by Jeff Wilson
3.68 · Rating details · 56 ratings · 11 reviews
Thirty years ago, mindfulness was a Buddhist principle mostly obscure to the west. Today, it is a popular cure-all for Americans' daily problems. A massive and lucrative industry promotes mindfulness in every aspect of life, however mundane or unlikely: Americans of various faiths (or none
at all) practice mindful eating, mindful sex, mindful parenting, mindfulness in the office, mindful sports, mindfulness-based stress relief and addiction recovery, and hire mindful divorce lawyers. Mindfulness is touted by members of Congress, CEOs, and Silicon Valley tech gurus, and is even being
taught in public schools, hospitals, and the military.
Focusing on such processes as the marketing, medicalization, and professionalization of meditation, Jeff Wilson reveals how Buddhism shed its countercultural image and was assimilated into mainstream American culture. The rise of mindfulness in America, Wilson argues, is a perfect example of how
Buddhism enters new cultures and is domesticated: in each case, the new cultures take from Buddhism what they believe will relieve their specific distresses and concerns, and in the process create new forms of Buddhism adapted to their needs. Wilson also tackles the economics of the mindfulness
movement, examining commercial programs, therapeutic services, and products such as books, films, CDs, and even smartphone applications.
Mindful America is the first in-depth study of this phenomenon--invaluable for understanding how mindfulness came to be applied to such a vast array of non-religious concerns and how it can be reconciled with traditional Buddhism in America.
(less)
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Published August 1st 2014 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published July 1st 2014)
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Carolyn Harris
Aug 09, 2022Carolyn Harris rated it really liked it
Shelves: healthy-living, philosophy, audiobooks
Thought provoking analysis of how Buddhist spiritualism developed into current ideas of mindfulness and how mindfulness has been interpreted in a variety of different contexts including healthy eating and workplace culture. The writing style is quite dense but covers a wide range of topics. The audiobook is well read.
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Chanelle
Oct 06, 2017Chanelle rated it liked it
This book was very informative but also highly critical of the modern Mindfulness Movement. While I agree with Wilson's perspective on the watering down of Buddhist practices to fit into the American mainstream, I'm not so sure I agree with his generally negative view of the overall impact. I would, however, recommend this title to anyone interested in the roots of the Mindfulness Movement (especially MBSR and other related programs). (less)
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Robert
Jun 06, 2019Robert rated it really liked it
Shelves: health
Meditation is becoming more and more popular in the US. Not only is it recommended by mainstream self-help gurus like Tim Ferriss, it is increasingly recognized by the medical community as a useful treatment for stress and PTSD.
I am a meditator too. I started experimenting with meditation about 2 years ago and I still try to meditate every day but before reading this, all the books I'd read on meditation were written to encourage Americans to meditate, e.g:
-Catching the Big Fish by David Lynch
-The Art of Living by S.N. Goenka
-Strength in Stillness by Bob Roth
-Where ever you go, there you are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Wilson is not against meditation, but he does not advocate for it either, he only focuses on examining the spread of meditation in the US as a social phenomenon.
Some things I learned:
(1) He makes a big point of emphasizing meditation's Buddhist roots. Most Americans know that meditation has some vague religious roots, but books targeted towards Americans typically don't mention religion at all.
Wilson argues that meditation is very much an intrinsically Buddhist practice and that the fact that meditation popularizers don't mention this is very deliberate.
(2) It was extremely interesting seeing how Buddhism was packaged and sold to Americans.
-Aspects of Buddhism that were "weird" were deemphasized.
-Aspects of Buddhism that seemed "scientific" were emphasized.
-Meditation is presented as the ultimate self-help tool: something that will make you slimmer, happier, richer and all other desirable things.
(3) I was really surprised to learn that for most of history Buddhists thought of meditation as a difficult advanced technique meant for monks trying to achieve nirvana, not something easy for every housewife and office drone trying to manage their stress.
(4) I was very intrigued by the idea that "American Buddhism" is changing "Original Buddhism". The popularity of the American spin on Buddhism is filtering back to the source and is changing how Buddhism is practiced in Asian Buddhist communities.
Will meditation continue to increase in popularity in the US?
Will Americans become more familiar with "original buddhism" and correspondingly change their values?
(less)
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Russell Eric Dobda
Oct 27, 2020Russell Eric Dobda rated it liked it
Shelves: philosophy
Densely written book explores how Buddhism has been appropriated into America's "Mindfulness" movement through a systematic approach: Mystifying Mindfulness to strip it of religion and its Buddhist Roots so as to attract a wider audience, including Christians who think yoga is of the devil; Medicalizing Mindfulness to break its benefits down into digestible pieces with "scientifically proven benefits" that can be more easily consumed in the world of "self help," Mainstreaming Mindfulness to make it appeal to the middle class by even going so far as the concept of "mindful consumption" and "mindful luxury" or any other mainstream activity. Marketing Mindfulness gets the word out through western marketing methods, and Moralizing Mindfulness to tie the processes into western world views and even push some of them forward. The one part they left out is what this book is: Academicizing Mindfulness -- this is a very academically written book, but the concepts are enlightening and it's a good read for anyone in the "Mindfulness Industry" whether they by yoga teachers, youtube stars preaching mindfulness, or practitioners like myself who sell meditation albums that "distill" ancient practices into pieces more suited for western consumption. (less)
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ジェイミー
Sep 04, 2018ジェイミー rated it it was amazing
Shelves: psychology, religion-philosophy
"It's about time somebody wrote this!" - Not Jon Kabat-Zinn
The book is a thoughtful counterweight to the dominant influence of mindfulness in American culture. The author asks the reader to reflect on the cultural context and values from which mindfulness was originally derived in light of its contemporary usage. I think the book is important b/c it essentially highlights the mutual transformation of two societies and the incentives that keep those within each group from evaluating the consequences of such actions. As a psychologist and researcher of psychotherapies that incorporate Kabat-Zinn technology, I found Wilson's evaluation to be fair and, if anything, too kind to the possible consequence of what it means to extract core beliefs from a group of people while simultaneously diminishing elements it dislikes. (less)
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Shaun Terry jr.
Aug 26, 2017Shaun Terry jr. rated it it was amazing
This book should be required reading for anyone who wishes to take up mindfulness, meditation, Buddhism, or even just yoga. It does an excellent job of pointing out how it is that many of the very problems that mindfulness attempts to solve are actually made worse by the deployment of mindfulness. I've read no book that's clearer—or more interesting—on theses subjects. ...more
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Elizabeth
Jun 17, 2022Elizabeth marked it as to-read
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kylie (allegedly)
Aug 05, 2019kylie (allegedly) rated it it was amazing
Shelves: research
jeff wilson TY!! ur gonna be bright big star in the dark dark night of my research paper
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Danny Stofleth
Sep 30, 2014Danny Stofleth rated it liked it
In his book, Wilson does a great job of critiquing the commercialization of mindfulness and sketching a history of the evolution of the concept. I particularly enjoyed his discussion of the rhetoric of science being applied in the Western world as a selling point.
However, there were many inconsistencies in the book that were frustrating. Wilson is a religious scholar and has significant knowledge in Buddhist studies, so it puzzles the reader when he seems to be ignorant about the most basic connections in Buddhist thought (for instance, that desire and insecurity are considered inherently linked rather than being separate concepts altogether, pg. 167).
I was also surprised at how poorly he misrepresented his argument about it being only Western mindfulness leaders pushing the "science" of mindfulness. This is definitely worthy of investigation, but in his quest to defame these leaders, he misrepresents the evidence by not citing non-Western authors, including the Dalai Lama's numerous commentaries on this exact point. He did such thorough research, but I got the impression he was purposefully ignoring evidence - in several cases - simply to further his arguments. He also cites random "mindfulness teachers" to support his points or poke fun at their "ridiculous" words, many times without explaining who they are or why their comments are relevant.
In general, it seemed like a very condescending attempt at a take-down of mindfulness, with particular defaming (and often puzzling) words aimed at popular mindfulness teachers, such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Jack Kornfield, and Jon Kabat-Zinn. There were parts where I wondered, "Why is this relevant?" On pg. 140, he attacks Jon Kabat-Zinn for posting his academic credentials in a bio on a book sleeve.
There are definitely some interesting parts to this book and some useful history. But having seen how often Wilson misrepresents the evidence, I'm hesitant to believe much of what I read, without authenticating it all through other sources. (less)
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Sarah
Oct 21, 2015Sarah rated it liked it
Shelves: read-in-2015
While this is largely an academic text (i.e. dry and sleep-inducing in several parts), the description of the evolution of the mindfulness movement in the US was thoroughly informative and interesting.
===
Journal of Global Buddhism Vol. 17 (2016): 25-31
Corresponding author: Per Drougge, Dept. of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University, per@drougge.eu
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ ISSN 1527-6457 (online).
B o o k R e v i e w
Mindful America: The Mutual Transformation
of Buddhist Meditation and American Culture
By Jeff Wilson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014, 280
pages. ISBN 978-0-19-982782-7 (hardcover), $29.95; ISBN
978-0-19-982782-4 (eBook)
Reviewed by Per Drougge, Stockholm University
he first thing to be said about Jeff Wilson’s latest book is that its appearance was
extremely well-timed. While several trend-spotting journalists and other
observers of the psycho-spiritual marketplace dubbed 2014 as “the year of
mindfulness,” the last couple of years have also seen an upsurge in critical engagement
with the mindfulness phenomenon. The number of lively debates provoked by articles
published in popular media also indicates a growing willingness—as well as the need—to
think critically about mindfulness and the global mindfulness industry. Mindful America is
the first book-length study of mindfulness as a social and cultural phenomenon, and with
its wide scope and accessible style, it is likely to become an important reference for
further discussions on the subject.
Wilson does not spend much time dealing with the various criticisms that have been
directed at the mindfulness movement by Buddhists, scholars, and theorists over the
years. In fact, he goes to great pains avoiding anything resembling a polemical stance.
The book is nevertheless structured around two basic assumptions on which not
everyone will agree. The first is that we can meaningfully talk about a singular
mindfulness movement, encompassing everything from the docile pieties of Thich Nhat
Hanh to masturbation manuals and MindfulMayo™. The second is that the proliferation
of mindfulness-labeled products and services is a paradigmatic example of how
Buddhism adapts to and gains mass appeal in a new host-culture by offering practical or
worldly benefits.
While certainly not unproblematic, I find these approaches to the subject matter both
refreshing and illuminating, for a number of reasons. The extremely inclusive view
(anyone using the word “mindfulness” for marketing purposes belongs to Wilson’s
mindfulness movement), effectively avoids the normative trap of deciding what is
proper or authentic mindfulness. Placing mindfulness firmly in the context of North
American Buddhism also brings into focus the close connections between “religious”
Buddhism and “secular” mindfulness and the many similarities which easily become
T
Per DROUGGE | 26
JOURNAL OF GLOBAL BUDDHISM | Vol. 17 (2016): 25-31
obscured by both the bells and smells of the former and the increasingly medicalized
language games of the latter. (Wilson does not explicitly make the point, but many of his
examples suggest that much of the mindfulness movement could be seen as extreme
forms of “modernist” Buddhism.)
The Introduction opens with a few examples illustrating how deeply mindfulness has
penetrated North American mainstream culture, followed by a discussion of how this
success story can be seen as the most recent example of the selective adaptations and
modifications by which Buddhism moves into new cultures. Drawing parallels both to
pre-modern China and contemporary Japan, Wilson emphasizes the importance of
practical benefits in these processes, and points out the peculiar irony at work in the
case of mindfulness. While sutra chanting and lucky charms have played an important
role for the dispensation of security, health, and prosperity among Asian Buddhists for
centuries, few contemporary North Americans have much faith in their power. Instead
they turn to meditation—a practice which only recently was divorced from a monastic
context and a rhetoric of asceticism, other-worldly aspirations, and magic.
As someone thoroughly exposed to the afterglow of the “reflexive turn” in the social
sciences, I was a little puzzled by the three-page section called “A Personal Reflection”
where the author describes the aims of his study and position vis-à-vis the mindfulness
movement. Wilson insists that he is “neither an advocate for nor an opponent of
mindfulness” (10) but a “chronicler and analyst,” (11) and he does this in a way which
seems to suggest that his theoretical commitments, biases, and personal reactions are
both unproblematic and irrelevant for his results. Although I sympathize with the refusal
both to define mindfulness (linked with the inclusive view mentioned above) and
evaluate its efficacy, I fail to understand how one could make a selection of empirical
material (most of it consisting of books, articles, and various electronic media)—much
less attempt an analysis of that material—without making judgments affected by such
factors as commitments, biases, and reactions. Or, to put it slightly differently, “trends”
and “storylines” do not simply “present themselves,” as Wilson suggests (12). Having
made this obnoxiously obvious point, I hasten to add that I often found the examples and
storylines in Mindful America both compelling and thought-provoking.
The rest of the book consists of six thematically arranged (and wittily alliterated)
chapters, followed by a Postscript. Each chapter focuses on a particular adaptation
process, and although these tend to overlap somewhat, resulting in some repetition, the
outline is generally clear and easy to follow.
Chapter one, “Mediating Mindfulness,” provides a historical background, highlighting a
few trends, events, and people of particular importance. The chapter begins with an
account of how the slightly quaint word “mindfulness” came to be the preferred
translation of sati/smṛti, followed by a description of how both the concept and practice
of mindfulness were understood within North American Buddhism prior to the 1970s.
The concluding sections focus on key individuals paving the ground for the subsequent
mindfulness boom (a handful of meditation teachers associated with the Insight
Meditation Society, Thich Nhat Hanh [whose best-selling The Miracle of Mindfulness was
first published in 1976], and Jon Kabat-Zinn) and swiftly summarizes how “mindfulness”
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went from being part of a relatively obscure sub-cultural jargon to something very
different: a “basic part of the spiritual landscape of North America; authorized by
science, endorsed by Oprah, marketed by Buddhists, appropriated by self-help gurus”
(40). Here and throughout the book, Wilson provides the reader with an almost
mind-numbing abundance of examples of books (including Mindful Knitting) and other
commodities, such as Jurisght® (“the mindfulness-based teaching developed specifically
for law students and lawyers”). While such litanies can be an effective stylistic device,
they also tend to become tedious.
The chapter traces early western interest in mindfulness and Buddhist meditation back
to the lay-oriented reform movements in Southeast Asia known as modernist (or
Protestant) Buddhism, via figures like Nyanaponika Thera, Walpola Rahula, and various
teachers in the lineages of Ledi Sayādaw and Mahāsī Sayādaw. While this genealogy is
well-known to students of western Buddhism, it is a most welcome corrective to the all
too common claim that MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) and other forms of
mindfulness represent the “essence” of the Buddhist tradition as a whole. I was both
surprised and a little disappointed, however, that Wilson avoids the important question
as to why and how the particular interpretation of sati/mindfulness as “non-judgmental
awareness” and “bare attention” came to be dominant, and why it is so enormously
attractive today. While idea(l)s of pure apprehension and “living in the here and now”
were important features of Buddhist modernism (and fit nicely with both the
perennialism and the anti-intellectualism that are strong undercurrents of
contemporary “spirituality”), they are deeply problematic and have been criticized on
both epistemological and ethical grounds, from without and within the Buddhist
tradition.
Chapter 2, “Mystifying Mindfulness,” begins the book’s extended discussion of how this
particular understanding of a technical term in the Pali canon became such a powerful
floating signifier in late capitalism. The word “mystification” is not used in a Marxist
sense here, however, but refers to the way “Americans alter, diminish, obscure,
eliminate, or simply ignore the historic connection between Buddhism and mindfulness”
(44). A succinct summary of how this works is presented in the chapter’s conclusion:
Buddhism is first made palatable via mindfulness in order to sell Buddhism.
Mindfulness is then made palatable via eliminating Buddhism in order to sell
mindfulness.
Mindfulness is finally made so appealing and denatured that it can be used to sell
virtually everything (including financial services and products like
MindfulMayo™.
A few examples of this mystification are discussed in some detail. Certain aspects of
Buddhist cosmology have been ignored or radically re-interpreted by proponents of
mindfulness, typically in the psychologizing way here exemplified by the way notions of
preta or “hungry ghosts” have become a widely used trope within mindfulness-related
discourses of addiction and eating habits. The process by which Buddhist meditation
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practice has been transplanted from its pre-modern, monastic context is shown to have
had significant consequences for popular understanding of both mindfulness and
Buddhism in general. The ideal of renunciation has become thoroughly marginalized,
and even the intensive meditation retreat (still a common practice among lay-followers
of modernist forms of Buddhism) is extremely uncommon in the practice of secular
mindfulness (which, on the other hand, has created a market for books with titles like
5-Minute Mindfulness: Simple Daily Shortcuts to Transform Your Life). A final example is the
even more radical removal of any Buddhist context in the packaging of mindfulness—a
move which typically takes one of two distinct forms: either mindfulness depicted as a
core feature of any and all religious or spiritual traditions, or mindfulness presented as a
fundamental human faculty which, in itself, has nothing to do with any form of religion.
This final form of mystification is an important theme in Chapter 3, “Medicalizing
Mindfulness,” where the essential humanity of mindfulness is linked to an equally
radical re-contextualization of mindfulness “as a psychological technique intended to
provide physical and mental benefits” (76). Both strategies were necessary (if not
sufficient) for the remarkably successful infiltration of what is arguably a form of crypto
Buddhism into ostensibly secular spheres, such as public schools and hospitals.
Reasonably enough, the chapter focuses on the case of Jon Kabat-Zinn and the MBSR
technique, although the latter’s many offshoots (DBT, ACT, MBCT, MB-EAT, MBAT, MBRE,
et cetera) are also mentioned.
The ambiguous relation between (secular, medicalized) mindfulness and (religious)
Buddhism raises many interesting issues, including some that challenge the distinction
itself. The almost universal acceptance of MBSR as a biomedical, psychological technique
becomes even more striking when considering how up-front Kabat-Zinn has been with
his (crypto) Buddhist aspirations, and how shot-through the MBSR discourse is with an
eclectic, Buddhist jargon. Wilson does not follow this particular line of thought, but I
would suggest that this can, at least partly, be explained by two closely related
phenomena: current western buddhaphilia and the century-old idea that Buddhism is
less a “religion” than a kind of “science” (miraculously always in sync both with current
interests, e.g., evolutionary theory, quantum mechanics, or neuro science, as well as with
white, middle-class norms and values). Wilson does bring up a related point, though:
Kabat-Zinn (like quite a few other western Buddhists) seems to be fond of making a
subtly chauvinistic distinction between a naturalized “true Dharma” and “Buddhism”,
where the latter is seen as an inferior, distorted expression of the former, contaminated
by (Asian) cultural accretions.
Chapter 4, “Mainstreaming Mindfulness,” brings to the fore Wilson’s general point that
the current proliferation of mindfulness, in all its forms, is an example of how Buddhism
moves into new socio-cultural contexts and is itself changing in the process. By focusing
on the way a few, culture-specific issues haunting North American middle classes
(particularly eating and sex) are targeted by the mindfulness industry, Wilson
simultaneously demonstrates both the absurdity of the claim that mindfulness is a
timeless, universal practice and how fundamental Buddhist teachings can be
mainstreamed into almost complete inversions of their traditional forms.
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Two examples stand out here: first is how an explicit suggestion to “heal one’s soul” (sic)
by “giving it what it craves” (sic) has found its way into a popular book on “mindful
eating.” Second is how the Theravāda practice of systematic contemplation of body
parts, carried out in order to cultivate revulsion and detachment, is given a very different
spin by advocates of “mindful sex.” Less spectacular, but arguably more significant, are
the ubiquitous references to innate, positive qualities that can be actualized and made
manifest through mindfulness practice, and which seem to suggest a soul-like essence or
atman. Although this “theology of human nature” as “unambiguously good” (170) is
brought up in a later chapter, it is a subject which deserves a more thorough treatment
as it is closely linked to popular ideas of mindfulness (and Buddhist) practice as a process
of de-conditioning (bringing us back to a supposed original and pure nature), rather than
re-conditioning (merely replacing current conditioning with another, more palatable,
form).
Chapter 5, “Marketing Mindfulness,” focuses on the commodification of mindfulness and
the various marketing strategies utilized for selling it in an increasingly competitive
market. As the thing itself (if there is such a thing—here it is simply described as “the act
of awareness”) cannot be packaged and sold, peddlers of mindfulness have to sell either
auxiliary products or their own expertise (or, in some cases, a combination of both).
As an example of the first category, Wilson describes the supplies for sale by companies
like DharmaCrafts and Dharma Communications (a wide range of familiar Buddhist
paraphernalia including a sublimely absurd item which has been around for at least 25
years now: a CD recording consisting of nothing except a long period of silence followed
by three chimes of a bell indicating the end of a meditation session) as well as the niche
offerings from OneTaste (a “female genitalia-oriented mindful sexuality organization”).
Another section, “Showing What Can’t Be Seen,” is devoted to an iconographic
mini-study of mindfulness-related book and magazine cover art. The section on
mindfulness expertise returns to one of several threads running through Mindful America:
how the authority to define and to teach mindfulness have moved away from the
monastic community, via lay Buddhist teachers, into the hands of people with
increasingly diverse backgrounds. This section is followed by a few, relatively lengthy,
examples of niched and branded mindfulness, ranging from Momfulness to the
controversial Mindfulness-Based Mind Fitness Training™ developed specifically to be
used by the US military.
Chapter 6, “Moralizing Mindfulness,” deals with values and worldviews commonly
expressed by the mindfulness movement. Wilson demonstrates once again how it would
be both futile and misleading to uphold a clear distinction between “religious” and
“secular” registers within the context of mindfulness. Using numerous examples, he
shows how a significant segment of the mindfulness movement “continues to operate in
a religious or quasi-religious fashion, despite its advocates’ insistence that it is not (or, at
least, need not be) connected to religion” (161). Wilson also suggests that mindfulness
has come to function as a kind of civil religion, “written into the teleological evolution of
the human race itself, destined to flower in democratic, freedom-loving societies such as
America. So America leads to mindfulness, and mindfulness in turn will save America”
(179). Juxtaposed quotes from Kabat-Zinn and his student Congressman Tim Ryan are
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quite revealing in this respect. (More than once, these pages made me think of Slavoj
Žižek’s famous dictum about the “meditative stance” of western Buddhism being the
“most effective way for us to fully participate in capitalist dynamics while retaining the
appearance of mental sanity”.
1
Mindful America ends with a brief but dense Postscript, part summary, part deepened
theoretical engagement, part suggestions for further research, where each of the three
main sections easily could function as a starting-point for a comprehensive study.
Other observers have noted the emergence of a generic, eclectic kind of “American” or
“Western” Buddhism but, as far as I know, Wilson is the first to stress how important the
mindfulness phenomenon has been in this formation. In the chapter on mystification he
makes the cogent observation that “Hinduism is appropriated as yoga, Islam as Sufi
poetry, Japanese folk healing as reiki, and Buddhism as mindfulness” (61). In the
Postscript, he persuasively suggests that this understanding is having a profound
influence on already existing forms of Buddhism. (One typical example is how
mindfulness-style meditation has been introduced in the Jōdo Shin Buddhist Churches of
America.)
In the second section, Wilson expands the theoretical frame by considering how the
mindfulness movement fits into the context of North American religion as a whole,
arguing that it can be understood as an example of Albanese’s category “metaphysical
religion.” It is also suggested that mindfulness is a descendant of 19th century
phenomena like spirituality and liberal religion. This assertion that mindfulness (or
“western Buddhism,” for that matter) seems to fit so suspiciously well with pre-existing
religious traditions will likely seem troubling to some of its advocates. Wilson, however,
asserts that not only has Buddhist mindfulness benefitted from being assimilated into
already existing ways of thinking; those ways of thinking influenced what elements of
Buddhism were appropriated, “and without them Buddhism might be so thoroughly
foreign as not to be capable of finding a place here” (192).
The short and aptly titled third section, “All Things to All People,” highlights the
seemingly endless adaptability and heterogeneity of the mindfulness phenomenon, as
well as its often contradictory and more or less grandiose claims. While some critics
(myself included) have contended that “mindfulness” is an empty or “floating” signifier,
Wilson declares this amorphous nature a demonstration of the “central Buddhist insight
that all things are empty of self-nature, including every single element of Buddhism and
the tradition as a whole” (195), before listing a number of possible outcomes of
mindfulness. (Clearly, like other human practices, mindfulness can be used for many
different ends. Whether it actually accomplishes what it purports to do is another
question altogether, and I can only guess to what extent this final litany was written
tongue-in-cheek.)
1
Žižek, 2001, “From Western Marxism to Western Buddhism,” Cabinet Magazine, Issue 2
http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/2/western.php, accessed 11/28/15].
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Considering the amount of information packed into just under 200 pages of main text
(including a comprehensive list of suggestions for further research), it would be
uncharitable to complain about the inevitable lacunae. I have already mentioned a few
quibbles I have with Mindful America. A more substantial criticism has to do with its
impressionistic style. The book as a whole tends to stay on a descriptive level, and while
there are many interesting observations, these are often left undeveloped. I could be
wrong, of course, but I suspect Wilson’s non-judgmental, “objective” stance is to blame
here, as it is likely inhibiting a more far-reaching analysis.
Nevertheless, that last critique does not detract from the importance of this work.
Mindful America will be valuable not only for anyone interested in the mindfulness
phenomenon, but also for students of North American Buddhism and religious
appropriation in general.
