Can Silicon Valley Save Us?
Can Capitalism and Buddhism Serve the Same Goals?
According to Buddhism, the root cause of suffering is desire. It is also the root foundation of capitalism, an economic system that relies upon the unquenchable needs of its populace. If we all collectively decided that we had enough, whether it be clothes, cars, or corporations, the system would collapse. As the population grows, the economy must grow as well, meaning more products, more jobs, and more consumption. This cycle of want is fueled by advertising, which tells us about all the things that we need and will be unsatisfied without. It is hardly surprising, given how much this cycle drives our daily lives, that even those that have plenty remain unsatisfied.
But can the same system that produces rampant dissatisfaction help extinguish it? This is a question many start-ups in the booming mindfulness industry are facing. As more people turn to mindfulness to help alleviate their own suffering, more companies are cropping up to help turn the wheel of the dharma, and turn a profit as well.
At Core, a company that produces a softball-sized meditation trainer to help ground meditators by offering a soothing pulse, guiding audio, and biofeedback tracking, founder Sarah McDevitt is aware of this paradox. “It’s a really interesting line to walk,” said McDevitt, who came up with the idea while pursuing a Master’s in Education at Stanford. As part of her degree McDevitt had been working on how practices like meditation might be used in the classroom. The notion of a tangible method for helping nurture meditation practice was an unexpected outcome of this work.
“I think one thing that we can all agree on is that more people meditating would benefit us all,” explained McDevitt. “People have often heard that the best workout is the one that you’ll do. We agree with that in the sense that if we can help people stick to a meditation habit that helps people take a few moments to practice breathing exercises, that really benefits everyone.”
Core combines the data potential of a fitness tracker with the sensory feedback of a meditative anchor. Packaged in a sleek object that looks sharp on a nightstand and fits in the palm of one’s hands, the trainer is designed with the modern practitioner in mind, data driven without overemphasizing outcomes. “We’re very conscious of not getting in the way of your meditation experience itself,” said McDevitt. “Our biofeedback is not about measuring the performance of meditation, it’s really geared towards giving people confidence in the connection between their mind and body.”
Instead, Core is focused on the way meditation can fit into the broader spectrum of a whole and happy life. This is evident in the way McDevitt describes Core’s direction as one of supporting mental health rather than say, seeking enlightenment: “Ultimately our goal is to cement mental wellness as a pillar of modern life. Just as we take care of our physical wellbeing we want to make sure there is effective mental wellness support in all of the spaces that we navigate in daily life.” Meditation, from this perspective, is not necessarily a way of life, but part of a larger recipe for overall health.
Secularization and accessibility tend to be the cornerstones of mindfulness start-ups. If the idea of monks and robes and rules doesn’t appeal to you, that doesn’t mean you need to be excluded from the benefits of meditation. Mindfulness has been linked to increased performance, reduced anxiety, better sleep, and even better sex. By separating the practice of mindfulness from the rich spiritual traditions in which it developed these start-ups are hoping to offer all of the benefits with none of the dogma. But does this cleaving of the act from the context damper it’s impact?
Shripriya Mahesh, a partner at Spero Ventures, the lead investor in Core, believes that technology can respectfully and positively adapt spiritual practices for a 21st century audience. In fact, just as we expect the separation of church and state, the separation of church and product might be a benefit, allowing for the democratization of wellness. “Technology shouldn’t necessarily put a stake in the ground on beliefs,” explained Mahesh. “I think it should offer a platform and users should be able to adapt based on their individual beliefs. I don’t think about it as taking a religious practice and distorting it. I think we are taking the best of a practice and making it accessible to anyone who would benefit.”
Erric Solomon, a Buddhist teacher and co-author of the book Radically Happy: A User’s Guide to the Mind (along with Phakchok Rinpoche), knows a thing or two about what drives start-ups. He spent much of his career as a tech entrepreneur in Silicon Valley before devoting his time to intensive practice, study, and teaching. Despite being driven primarily by dollars, Solomon believes that mindfulness start-ups still have a lot to offer. Like McDevitt, he subscribes to the idea that the more meditators, the merrier. “While people have pointed out some legitimate concerns with today’s mindfulness movement, recent scientific research makes it pretty clear that, despite some pitfalls and drawbacks, if the whole world did mindfulness practice, the world would be a healthier, happier, more peaceful place.”
Solomon is also careful to draw a distinction between mindfulness and Buddhism. “The goal of secular mindfulness practice is what Buddhists would call the ornaments, or side effects of meditation,” explained Solomon. “Things like inner calm, mental flexibility, clarity, and a sense of wellbeing are not the point of Buddhist meditation, they are the fringe benefits. The real point of meditation is to become more and more familiar with the nature of what knows the experiences of peace or clarity or anything else that arises within the mind.” In other words, mindfulness might help with anxiety, but it won’t lead to profound realization. Still, attracting users with fringe benefits may have its benefits. “I have met many people who came to Buddhism through the ‘gateway drug’ of mindfulness,” noted Solomon. A mindfulness app or product might be the proverbial foot in the door to a deeper, more traditionally authentic practice.
Solomon also sees promise in the ingenuity Silicon Valley can bring to the burgeoning science of mindfulness. “Although we aren’t there yet, I think the potential of biofeedback devices is the most exciting way that technology could help with mindfulness practice,” said Solomon. “When I think about the best technologists and entrepreneurs I have met in Silicon Valley, the one thing that they have in common is the ability to change their mind when presented with new data. Recent research suggests that, for most of us, this kind of flexibility is one of the hardest things to do.” He continued, “I have found that the more I can pay attention to the aware quality of mind rather than what I am aware of, the easier it is for me to be flexible, creative and tap into intuitive wisdom.” Being flexible of mind and intuitive can be useful attributes, not only when practicing but when designing the tools that might aid the practice of others.
Can Silicon Valley save us? Probably not in the way that we hope to be saved, conditioned as that hope is by the same cravings that lead to suffering. But it is entirely possible that it can help spread and make accessible a practice that can lead to the alleviation of that suffering. Capitalism is not the first ideology that has co-opted the practice of mindfulness and it probably won’t be the last. “I don’t think capitalistic intent and doing good are disconnected in businesses that have a huge impact on the world,” said Mahesh. Or, as Solomon put it, “The light of the dharma manages to shine through in all kinds of situations and things.”
