How the Malaise of Modernity Birthed the Mindfulness Movement
Peace of mind is a rarity in the Western world. It is often conflated with achievement, ambition, and narratives of success, such that we may only allow ourselves peace of mind when it is convenient, or attached to the completion of a goal. This way of thinking became ubiquitous in Western culture when societies began separating religious practices from work.
With the advent of capitalism and modern societies, work evolved into a competitive market where everyone produced different commodities at a high exchange value, and individuals moved from subsistence to specialized work. Work involved less of a collective effort, and bared less significance to the group. While this new mode of work seemed to be increasing standard of living across the board, people still experienced malaise, alienation, and discontent due to the individualized forms of work that lacked the unifying spirit existing within more primitive forms of work, such as subsistence agriculture.
This birthed an unprecedented search for meaning in the Western world by people apart from the nobility class. And with changing attitudes towards traditional forms of religion, the corporate world began experiencing a void that the Mindfulness Movement would soon occupy.
Mindfulness appeared in the West in the 1960s and 1970s, and entered the corporate setting at the turn of the century. Mindfulness promised increased focus, productivity, and calm, in a short period of time. While this seemed like a solution to the modern malaise on the surface, it did not contain the original context of Mindfulness that allowed people to profoundly benefit from the practice.
In many cases, the practices of Mindfulness were stripped of their cultural background and religious underpinnings, and employed as a method to both reinforce and bypass the mind-dominated culture we continue to inhabit. This book investigates the origins, consequences, and efficacy of bringing the Mindfulness movement to the Western world.
