I really hate the trend of corporations going in hard for mental health for the express purpose of increasing worker productivity. Like at first you think, "oh that's nice, supporting workers and helping them deal with stress," and then you start to notice this insidious idea popping up all throughout the "mental health resources" that the only reason you should try to improve your mental health or take breaks or be compassion toward yourself is to get you back to work faster.
It’s literally to try and turn us into robots, as they don’t get tired and can keep working, they want humans to get more work done in less time while on minimum pay.
I don’t see a problem with that. We stumbled into a situation where the incentives for both employer and employee are aligned. That seems like a good thing to me.
THIS! I was told “be mindful of how you’re feeling” in therapy but was given NO guidance of what to do next. I have sensory issues and it was excruciating to be mentally present in overwhelming situations so I would dissociate. Being mindful was not the solution, learning to leave or modify bad environments was what I desperately needed. Mindfulness is dangerous when used lazily as a solution, instead of a tool.
Omg I agree w this!!!! It reminds me of a couple sessions where I remember explicitly asking my therapist "what can I do to feel better" because even though it felt nice to get it out and we talked through understanding and feeling my emotions thoroughly together, it sometimes felt like reopening a wound (that I later on didn't know how to close back up) so I ended having some spill over irl
@@isthiscereallife yup! At the time I had undiagnosed autism and was in an abusive relationship. Definitely not the kind of things which mindfulness could solve!!
You know I used to hate Buddhism because I felt like it fit so neatly into an introspective capitalist framework that was uninterested in changing the world around it. It’s also what we come away with when we learn the public school version of Siddhartha’s story. I always felt like his story was one of a rich guy learning to be at peace with the suffering of others. I’m humbled to learn that I was wrong
Siddhartha leaving his wife and kids to live at the woods really was a bro moment ngl. You should read "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse. I read it once and I never stopped thinking about it honestly. Such a powerful story.
Be it known: Through the Holy Spirit, God has put it on me to preach to those lost in the devil's deceit! I tell ye, truly, Jesus of Nazareth is the propitiation for the whole world's sins. He is the anointed one, for he is, Jesus Christ. God the Father has raised him from the dead; who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God! Angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father, but by him. They who believe and are baptized with the Holy Spirit shall be saved; but they who believe not shall be damned. For they who believe not on him, shall die in their sins! I tell ye now to repent of your sins, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit upon asking the Father! There are *NO* sub-divisions of Christianity. You're either a disciple of Christ or not. A Christian is someone who follows God's word, not a religion. Who obey the Father and follow his will; not man's nor their own heart's. Unless you keep Jesus' commandments, think not the Holy Spirit will dwell within you! They who heed this message and did what was stated with an open heart to God... Read the Holy Bible (KJV) daily and every time before you read, pray to the Father and ask: "Lord I ask that you give me understanding of your word, that I interpret it the way you want me to, and none of my own. I ask you in Jesus' name, amen." 1 John 2:2 KJV 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Acts 13:26-33 KJV 26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, *and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.* 27 *For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.* 28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. 29 *And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.* 30 *But God raised him from the dead:* 31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. 32 *And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,* 33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 1 Peter 3:22 KJV 22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. John 14:6 KJV 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Mark 16:16 KJV 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. John 8:24 KJV 24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. Acts 2:38 KJV 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Luke 11:13 KJV 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? John 14:21-24 KJV 21 *He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.* 22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, *If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.* 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and *the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.*
@@Call_Upon_YAH imagine reading the king james new testament and concluding jeepers believed in this intrusive display of evangelism. Truly, evangelists are simply not Christian, since they don't follow the precepts of the Jesus figure in any way.
@@obrotherwhereartliam You are wrong. He and his monks defied the caste system by treating untouchables just like they treated everybody else. That was a radical move. He told his monks that they could eat meat if they wanted to, but only if they were sure that it was table scraps and the animal was not killed for their benefits. He prohibited his followers from practice animal sacrifice, which was the norm at the time. He even did actual civil disobedience by sitting between two armies that were about to fight. He did this twice. There have been so many instances of Buddhist monks who have done political activism that I was able to give a rather long talk on the subject.
When I was in medical school we were required to do multiple mindfulness exercises but were never taught about wisdom or ethics. We ended up just being very mindful of all the issues at the hospital system and school we were in 😂
My daughter is a Lauren Ashley and in the healthcare field (she’s a gerontology psych nurse) . Thank you for your often under appreciated overworked contribution to the world.❤
“if a fascist mediates they’ll come to peace with the concept of eugenics.” this is such a great example of the danger of adopting these practices to make them fit our own worldview without actually learning about them
The Buddha referred to his teaching as dhamma-vinaya, not just dhamma. Dhamma is the body of his spiritual teaching, vinaya is the training. He said vinaya is not dhamma, but there is no dhamma without vinaya. You can see how this is generally ignored today. Modern "mindfulness" teaching is a prime example.
Coming to peace with concepts that are dangerous and bad is the only way to change Just like an alcoholic has to come to peace with the concept of him being addicted to move forward and change his life, same can be said about any "evil" in our lives
as a buddhist leftist and follower of Thích Nhất Hạnh, this video is so important. especially during the last part, you beautifully captured the core idea that we are all interrelated on the basis of our collective suffering… and it saddens me to see mindfulness being co-opted and separated from that core idea, to see non-buddhist working class people be manipulated to dissociate from their own exploitation. there’s still much work to be done but I am grateful that this topic is gaining more attention. thank you for your eloquence and contributions to our enlightenment.
as a Buddhist i didn't have the vocabulary to describe what i saw in capitalist (mainly Western) countries of this bastardisation of my religion, mcmindfulness is the perfect description and i'll go read that book. thank you!
The problem I see is that the goal is not seen as serious as it properly should be. Whether society or monasteries, the seriousness of the situation and effort required is not understood. Little benefits of meditation are irrelevant to Buddhist practice. Trivial. The goal of Buddhism is not compatible with societies rooted in lust+greed. It is originally designed for agrarian supported monastic societies. Societies of peace+concentration where gain is a result of strong arms and sweat, not investments and money scams.
I’m not a buddist, but this breakdown touches on a lot of what has pissed me off about the way a lot of jobs tackle mental health. When I’ve heard ‘mindfulness’ touted in work it’s been a way to shift blame for stress and drops in productivity to workers. They take no account of the fact people are overworked, underpaid and burned out because of systematic failings from management, it’s just the workers didn’t do mindfulness correctly. Before mindfulness was the buzzword we were told to be ‘resilient’, to get better at ‘multi-tasking and time management’. It’s always cheaper and easier to make a person blame themselves for crumbling under pressures they have no realistic way to change.
Correct. I've also worked for companies that promote talking directly with employees about discrimination instead of going to HR.... Therefore relieving them of any responsibility to the employees whatsoever
This was totally awesome! I used to be a psychologist, and although there's a lot of benefit to mindfulness, there are all these problems you pointed to! We have studies literally saying that for people with extreme depression, mindfulness-based approaches SHOULD NOT be used, because... yeah. It's like locking a kid in a room with their bully to "resolve their differences." And the mental health industry has SO many problems that basically amount to, "Which side are we on?" I've worked for organizations that made me feel like the ringside medic at a boxing match. People would come to me, get their wounds patched up and bruises iced, and then sent back into the ring to get beaten up even more. Corporations don't actually care about the mental health of their workers; they just like mental health techniques that make workers shut up. If they actually cared, there'd be way more talking about reasonable accommodations for mental health issues the same there are for physically disabled workers. But no, they use mindfulness so that when workers express anger, discomfort, or unhappiness, they can blame the worker's own inability/unwillingness to "be mindful" and "not focus on the emotion." I absolutely loved all your dives into the history of Buddhist scholarship, the broad range of belief systems, the ethics of it all, and how Buddhism intertwines with 20th and 21st century history. Great stuff.
Wait. I had therapists blame me when mindfulness didn't work for extreme depression. Tbh, they also are attempting to say mindfulness now can overcome physical disabilities. Apparently I should just mindfully turn away from spinal bone tumor pain and I'll suddenly be abled
Thank you for pointing this out! I've tried to meditate and do breathwork when I'm in a depressive mood, and I honestly felt worse. I'm glad I'm not an anomaly. Not to mention the way people sometimes suggest that meditation should replace my medication or that a routine of simple breathwork can suddenly empower me to be a more stable human (when I also have trauma and trigger attacks, social anxiety, and ADHD and occasional depression to deal with internally). I like to meditate and be mindful, primarily for spiritual reasons, but it can never replace therapy and meds in my life, and it bothers me when people suggest it be used as this fail proof panacea.
mindfulness also doesnt really work with chrinic pain... because not being mindful of your body means less pain is felt... and my ocd would beat the piss out of me if i focused on my inner thoughts.
In middle school, we had a mindfulness week before standardized state testing to try to relax us. Because we were so stressed out that kids were vomiting and opting out en masse. It didn’t help btw.
I've seen standarized test for the younger generation. The tests are the easiest they have ever been with the most ammount of time and resources to study the subjects. Its just that the kids are so fried by social media and so entitled that any modicum of inconvenience and challenge instantly makes them crumble and fall to pieces. Its a mind broken generation that won't ammount to anything, the world is fucked in the next few decades when they are the main market and labour force.
If there can be right mindfulness, then there can be wrong mindfulness. And that's wrong mindfulness. The purpose of mindfulness meditation is to be conscious and present and let go of other overaching objectives. Correct me if I'm wrong; I've learned from Theravada monks and am not very well versed in Buddhism overall.
@@bake-io1cf Okay, boomer. You obviously don't understand these kids and/or have zero desire TO understand them in actuality, so it's pretty disingenuous of you to speak about them as if you do.
I always felt like something was missing with all these "self help" and "mindfulness and meditation" advice apps/programs. Like sure, being able to understand yourself and meditate on things is a really important skill to have in life. You're better able to understand and communicate what you really feel, but it always felt like half of the process. When this philosophy is limited to only personal changes and self improvement, you will find that there are alot of problems we face that cannot be solved by just improving one's self. This hyperindividualistic attitude is what drove me away from alot of this stuff. But recently now, I've been discovering that this isn't what the original philosophy was about at all. Really good deep dive into the corporatization of buddhism and philosophies like it. Couldn't really articulate what was so off putting about it until now.
I think a lot of our problems do resolve upon self improvement and personal changes. I mean the common denominator in all our interactions is us, and by changing how you react to and view things you end up solving a lot. Too much is based on fixing what is outside rather than inside, though both are still important.
@Ian Corral there is definitely a balance that must be struck between introspection and outward action. It reminds me a lot of the more recent Philosophy Tube video about Stoicism and what is missing from pop Stoicism when we exclude the spiritual/religious and (at that point in time) scientific aspect of the philosophy. If you liked this video, you might also like that one. It was pretty neat if I do say so myself.
I don't know if you know the trauma researcher Gabor Maté but his newest book perfectly covers how individual efforts don't do shit. I mean they do but it is not enough, it can't be enough because we are mammals who thrive in groups and need a healthy social, economic and spiritual environment. Edit: Also "love" how not even buddhist monasteries, at least ones in Europe, are not committed to creating community. They don't allow you in if you have mental health issues (who hasn't in today's day and age?) and if you are disabled and not able to work for them for free, you are also not welcome.
Wonderful video! I’ve spent a number of years practicing Buddhist meditation and many of my best friends are cognitive scientists so I felt like leaving a comment from my own experience with McBuddhism. In 2019 I was working a lower level job in a tech company that really focused on productivity. In March 2020, we started working from home and sensing that sh*t is gonna get real, I applied for and got a lead position that came up because I didn’t fully trust the higher ups to consider the needs of my colleagues during this time. Well… turns out I was right because during the following year, the demands of productivity just got worse and worse basically because “data shows that it can be done comfortably so let’s challenge ourselves for the sake of our customers”. While my knowledge of meditation and Buddhist thought enabled me to give some coping tips, what helped my team the most was my ability to just listen to them. Not me teaching them how to focus more. At the same time, hearing how higher ups were actually talking about the people they are supposed to guide and take care of, really taught me that in a corporate structure (even tho we were assured it’s a flat hierarchy lol) the people doing the majority of the work are really just seen as numbers. During official sessions they were using this corporate mindfulness speak but in private group conversations the same people outright said that others are just lazy and they need to get it together while most of the issues we were having were caused by the higher ups not understanding what the work we were doing actually was but still making decisions about it. And this is common in most tech companies (not my first rodeo and I have many friends now working in AI etc). But surprise surprise: this does not fix issues on the long term. People were so stressed out (I talked way too many people down from anxiety attacks and had too many myself even though I had years of mindfulness practice under my belt), they became distrustful of the decisions of higher ups so it became harder to actually fix issues and our employee retention also went down (when I started working most people had been there for 3-4 years and in the span of 2 years, we were averaging about a year of working before they applied for positions in other departments. And this was a job that required a minimum of a year to train). I ended up leaving the company because I couldn’t morally justify how employees were being treated and saw there was little that I could actually change. So long story short: only using the band aid of mindless mindfulness to get your workers to comply long term will actually end up costing the company more in the end.
i think also theres an aspect of 1) changing how people think about how they think, when everything is mindfulness and kindness then theres no excuse for failure and enforces that workers are just another number 2) de-americanizing american workers by replacing every possible christian value 3) making the ceo of your company into a psuedo spiritual figure
@@SugarCrazedInsomniac yes and also lol my example has nothing to do with America at all. wild to think capitalism can affect workers outside the us as well
This stripped down meditation discussion reminds me of how yoga has been a practice that got stripped of its spirituality and philosophy and other practice components to make it marketable to the “that girl” girlies. Similar, also, to how the maslow’s hierarchy of needs model was taken from indigenous culture and misappropriated, with parts of the pyramid left off and/or re-ordered… so now it says you must secure shelter & food & financial security before pursuing your identity, meaning, purpose, etc. (which was not the case in the original indigenous teachings)
@@moethemoon look up “Before Maslow’s Hierarchy: The Whitewashing of Indigenous Knowledge” there’s nuance there if you dig into other articles on this topic. some people feel like maslow did a neutral/scientific thing. for another perspective, you can read “The Blackfoot Origins of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”
Oh I did t know that! That honestly makes so much sense! Because if you were put in a survival situation and had to find water and shelter you'd first need to have a reason or purpose for wanting to go on and live. Otherwise you'd just lay there till you died with no purpose.
I went to a lunchtime mindfulness webinar at my former employer, and the presenter literally said, “We’ve known how great meditation is for the last decade.” *stares in the entire history of Buddhism*
That right there is the single most "Out of touch white guy tech sector management" sentence ever uttered. Like it's something you'd expect to hear on an episode of Silicon Valley.
@@tjenadonn6158 It was brutal. My last straw at that company was when, during COVID, the disability diversity and inclusion group invited one of the board members of Autism Speaks to talk about strategies to deal with autistic kids during lockdown, for Autism Awareness month.
@@Millenimorphose Trust me, as an autistic woman who's been working with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network since she was in eighth grade I'd be doing some very unmonetizable things to whoever brought Autism $peaks on board. It's like bringing in KFC's board of directors for advice on how to keep pet chickens.
@@tjenadonn6158 Self-identified autistic enby here. I literally called them out on the company forums for (a) inviting a h8 group to talk about the subject and (b) not following the format of literally every DE&I event I had seen advertised in five years at the company, which is, “Employee(s) who belong to a group/community discuss culturally relevant topic.” This was an aerospace company with tens of thousands of employees in the region, full of engineers and people who clearly have had special interest: airplane since the day the were born, and they didn’t think they would find a single autistic employee who would want to share. Telling.
24:51: “Compromise is a part of functioning…I-really, I lost part of my soul saying that. Because I am very stubborn.” IT’S NOT SELF-DEPRECATION IF YOU CALL ME OUT BY NAME & ADDRESS Jokes mostly aside this was a brilliant video from start to finish. Everyone should listen to Elliot always, at all times, without exception.
Great insight into Buddhism. Loved your nuanced approach to the subject. I think there’s a lot to learn when you examine these doctrines/teachings beyond what is typically sold and commodified by the mainstream.
I am glad RUclips suggested this. I’m a Quaker, so we are spiritual cousins of sorts. I also liked how you used various aspects of Christianity as an analogy to specific ideas. The concept of McMindfulness is kind of similar to how various critics (myself included) of a specific denomination (that ironically calls themselves non denominational) within Evangelical Christianity call that denomination “Fast Food Salvation” among others. The concept is that you just go there to satiate your hunger without any nutritional (spiritual) value. That it’s a quick and fulfilling in the moment only to be forgotten later on.
Be it known: Through the Holy Spirit, God has put it on me to preach to those lost in the devil's deceit! I tell ye, truly, Jesus of Nazareth is the propitiation for the whole world's sins. He is the anointed one, for he is, Jesus Christ. God the Father has raised him from the dead; who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God! Angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father, but by him. They who believe and are baptized with the Holy Spirit shall be saved; but they who believe not shall be damned. For they who believe not on him, shall die in their sins! I tell ye now to repent of your sins, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit upon asking the Father! There are *NO* sub-divisions of Christianity. You're either a disciple of Christ or not. A Christian is someone who follows God's word, not a religion. Who obey the Father and follow his will; not man's nor their own heart's. Unless you keep Jesus' commandments, think not the Holy Spirit will dwell within you! They who heed this message and did what was stated with an open heart to God... Read the Holy Bible (KJV) daily and every time before you read, pray to the Father and ask: "Lord I ask that you give me understanding of your word, that I interpret it the way you want me to, and none of my own. I ask you in Jesus' name, amen." 1 John 2:2 KJV 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Acts 13:26-33 KJV 26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, *and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.* 27 *For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.* 28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. 29 *And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.* 30 *But God raised him from the dead:* 31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. 32 *And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,* 33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 1 Peter 3:22 KJV 22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. John 14:6 KJV 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Mark 16:16 KJV 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. John 8:24 KJV 24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. Acts 2:38 KJV 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Luke 11:13 KJV 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? John 14:21-24 KJV 21 *He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.* 22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, *If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.* 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and *the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.*
Theravada Buddhism teaches ultimate truths called Paramartha Dhamma. Those teachings are the fundamental teachings in Buddhism. The stories in Sutta teachings are not enough to understand the nature of reality as it is.
I recently saw an article about how work is taking the place of religion. Now work is starting to teach about mindfulness, etc because religion is being replaced and many people are no longer having the time to actually go to religious centers or spend time in their communities. As a result workplaces are “replacing” this need. Also as someone who practices Buddhism, a huge problem with the mindfulness thing is that it’s separate from the context of all the other things that make mindfulness actually enriching. I once saw a post that said “ if you are meditating for yourself then you are doing it wrong “ and I found this very true. Buddhism is huge on cultivating virtues like generosity, wisdom, honesty, good-will, among many others. It’s often said that true mindfulness can’t even be achieved until you are far enough in your practice with obtaining the “perfections” and mindfulness has to be understood through this lens for it to be truly understood.
Despite being atheist it's disturbing to me how true this is. Religion gives community, mutual aid, faith, mindfulness. Corporate culture takes all of these beautiful and human traits to use them for profit instead of fulfillment. I've literally had to convince my friends that mindfulness and religion are fulfilling when they're not being puppeted by corporations or politicians.
But to let go of thoughts removes the you and I and the separation of this and that. Shedding our layers is different for everyone, if we say there’s a right way of doing Buddhism or spiritually we’d already be caught in dualistic thinking. We are allowed to have opinions towards this and that but letting it go also happens. Why should we worry about how the next person approaches the gate when the noticing of that distinction creates turmoil for our own spirituality already by the separation we create in our minds?
My partner of 6 years is a dedicated Chan Buddhist who volunteers with a local Order, and it’s been so fascinating for me to try and learn from him from the outside in. I think it’s very fitting that he never evangelizes or quotes parables or ever tried to push the beliefs on me, I’ve always had to ask him to share more with me. But I quickly learned how extremely limited and filtered my understanding of Buddhism had been as a white American. I’d read up on it a little bit out of curiosity, but being raised as a Christian, I’d made the incorrect assumption that Buddhism must have a big core of beliefs that they all had to adhere to, the way that denominations of Christianity have lots of disagreements but all essentially prioritize the same core tenets. I hope this video does well. I feel like I still know so little, and I’d love to hear you talk more on Buddhist theory in the future, or even on how different schools of ethics can be skewed and perverted by capitalism and those in power, vs the historical context and how they were practiced by their originators. Thank you for making this.
Everyone's understanding of spirituality is different, because our viewpoint to perceive from is equally different. Even if our goal is the same place, a person cannot give you a doctrine to follow rigidly and without question and expect you to find your way. That is why one must give such teachings great and well-considered thought. You cannot give someone their spiritual relationship with a religion, you can only give them the tools with which to find it.
I’m glad you made this video. As someone who specialized in Buddhist philosophical traditions and is in the psychological research field, I’ve strongly felt a strange hollowness in places mindfulness appears within American space. There are two major issues I observe in my problem with mindfulness in American culture. The first point goes along with what you say in this video about the absence of the philosophy that roots the practice of mindfulness. To me, spirituality that roots Buddhist mindset (as well as a lot of religious experiences) holds a level of awe in it and that awe is what allows for that transcendental experience you feel when you actually engage with the dharma. You are taking the practice based on centuries of philosophical discourse that creates meaning to the practice and the mythology that creates the sense of awe which leaves the experience of spiritual self-transcendence experience entirely empty. (Though perhaps in a sense that critique itself is entirely Buddhist 😂) The second problem is that Buddhist practice is a discipline that takes a long time to build. But in a lot of modern American places I see it in, it feels like it’s used as instant gratification to solve issues in the immediate when that’s not the purpose of it in its basis. But things that take a long time to cultivate is not as marketable because it is much less addictive. You don’t have the immediate hit of reward and then stagnation to drive a desire for another hit that would lead to capital gain if you were trying to market the practice.
That anecdote about the homeless man, in the wake of Jordan Neely's death is just... holy shit man. Some people really do believe that when homeless people become upset or act hostile, that makes them "less worthy" or something, that they all must be meek and "know their place." Of course they'll lash out, they're in the worst possible position they could possibly be in, and everyone else is too caught up in their own shit to help the dude! Anybody with any rational thought would be upset to be in that situation.
Violence is dangerous, no matter how "reasonable" it might seem. If someone is lashing out towards random innocent people in a public area, that needs to be stopped.
@@hagoryopi2101 Very cool that your reaction to a homeless man going through the lowest point of his whole life is "well he was dangerous and had to be stopped", despite the fact he did not actually physically touch anybody. Fuck off.
In my therapy sessions ny whole life, I was presented with mindfulness. It can be like, kinda helpful, but it was a bandaid so the people who had any ability to help me out of abuse as a kid didn't have to actually do anything helpful. It was more important to teach me to "breathe" than get an abused kid out of an awful situation.
or its just a baindaid to help the kid "realize" that they arent being abused... or "didnt have it so bad"... or its even used on adults when the therapist has no other way to help but still wants the clients patronage
I'm going to out myself right now as a "white man looking into Eastern religion" and say that I went into this video with a considerable level of fear that I was going to be called out and that my healing journey was going to be described as fake and shallow cultural appropriation. I was very relieved to listen and realize the problems you describe are the most basic obstacles anyone could see coming if they actually cared about the world and others.
Buddhism is a spirituality that has been adopted by very wide range of different cultures over centuries, adopting it for yourself is nothing new. As with everything, just invest yourself into the learning process with a beginner's mind.
I'm also a white guy who has been helped by the teachings of certain Theravada Buddhist monks for several years now. "My healing journey was going to be described as fake and shallow cultural appropriation." Well, people do have the tendency to be unreasonable in that way, and it might hurt us. And we have to accept that hurt and feel it, but not be swayed by it in our actions. If the teachings of Buddhism are healing to you, then you should take them unapologetically. But you should of course keep trying to learn more about Buddhism. I still know very little but I keep learning.
Be it known: Through the Holy Spirit, God has put it on me to preach to those lost in the devil's deceit! I tell ye, truly, Jesus of Nazareth is the propitiation for the whole world's sins. He is the anointed one, for he is, Jesus Christ. God the Father has raised him from the dead; who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God! Angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father, but by him. They who believe and are baptized with the Holy Spirit shall be saved; but they who believe not shall be damned. For they who believe not on him, shall die in their sins! I tell ye now to repent of your sins, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit upon asking the Father! There are *NO* sub-divisions of Christianity. You're either a disciple of Christ or not. A Christian is someone who follows God's word, not a religion. Who obey the Father and follow his will; not man's nor their own heart's. Unless you keep Jesus' commandments, think not the Holy Spirit will dwell within you! They who heed this message and did what was stated with an open heart to God... Read the Holy Bible (KJV) daily and every time before you read, pray to the Father and ask: "Lord I ask that you give me understanding of your word, that I interpret it the way you want me to, and none of my own. I ask you in Jesus' name, amen." 1 John 2:2 KJV 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Acts 13:26-33 KJV 26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, *and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.* 27 *For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.* 28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. 29 *And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.* 30 *But God raised him from the dead:* 31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. 32 *And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,* 33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 1 Peter 3:22 KJV 22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. John 14:6 KJV 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Mark 16:16 KJV 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. John 8:24 KJV 24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. Acts 2:38 KJV 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Luke 11:13 KJV 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? John 14:21-24 KJV 21 *He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.* 22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, *If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.* 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and *the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.*
Wow. You simply tell a pwrsonal story about how you experience buddhism in your life snd you get some christian evangelist nut Job word vomitting on you people like that give christians a bad name. Hi Chante. I agree americans do receive a watered down version of buddhism AND most americans try to look analyze it through a christian lens. that cannont and will not work. I am still new to buddhism and i admit i dont practice. However, as someone with a christian background i found it helpful to focus on enlightenment, the four noble truths and the eightfold path as guideposts. The quest for enlightenmwnt has really helped me alot in my life. Goos luck.
Amazing video. McMindfulness always leaves out the "Non-Self"/"Anatta"/emotional attachment... when that's the whole point of real Mindfulness. I feel that the problems with a 'Self' (in Buddhism) are made even worse by unjust societies. For example: - In ultra-nationalism and caste systems, the government enforces a permanent ethnic identity which most people become emotionally-attached to. - Everyone's financially-attached to huge debts just to afford housing or education, because the economy depends on it. - The justice system attaches blame to individuals, when many crimes are really caused by systemic issues. - Rich individuals are credited and rewarded for success, which was actually generated by society and other people's work. I can't really explain it. But it feels like a lot of emotional-attachment is forced onto you in unjust societies. And it hijacks our ideas of identity, property, and responsibility.
@@LowestofheDead I must apologize. I did not fully follow all the implications of your post as I was speedreading thru the thread. I'll delete my first reply to your post as it is erroneous, non-specific and clutters the thread. However, I would caution readers about the dedicating themselves to social causes. Remember that there is a flip side to the four social conditions you mention. Good deeds are fine, but the mental activity and focus required for dedicating oneself to a "cause" diverts the mind from the Buddhist path. For lay persons, the training would start with the 5 Precepts to the 8 Precepts and on from there. It is notable that the Tathagata did not teach meditation to lay persons. Perhaps that was necessary at the early stages, but the application of mindfulness a la mode is evidence of the problem he sought to avoid-- disordered training (vinaya). He taught Right Mindfulness, not mere mindfulness. One cannot have Right Mindfulness without Right View. He described the path to stream entry and beyond. If you enter the stream, you will save a being countless lifetimes of suffering. Your post points out the modern problem of cherry picking a practice, mindfulness in this case, without adequate regard for the gradual training for lay persons and monks set out by the Tathagata.
yes, this is what all the quacks mean when they talk about how the population is being forced down. it’s impossible to gain enlightenment or spiritual progression in our modern first world society, it was designed that way. it’s hard to detach when you’re drowned in debt and taking care of children with no help, being abused by the system.
i'm what we call "culturally buddhist" like a western christian who grew up with church but doesn't go, so thank you for such a nuanced overview! i think most people don't even have a basic understanding of buddhist history or teachings and even all the different perspectives it contains. incredible work!
Thank u for always notifying us when there are ad breaks. I brace myself for them and it s much less disturbing than just randomly being interrupted so suddenly
As someone who's raised a Theravada Buddhist and continues to practice it, this was a really refreshing video that not only showcases a thoughtful and nuanced take on Buddhism that furthers my own engagement with the practice, but also addresses some of my frustrations of how its teachings have been stripped of its context and translated as a means to and end for Capitalism. (I can also rant all day about how much I hate seeing Buddhist imagery being commoditized in the west, but I won't clog your comment section with that lol.) Great job.
Western kind doesn't take kindly to pacifist ideals that theravada pushes for, they are funfamentally Nietzschean and only ideals that obliges its code of conduct such as shinto Buddhism can ever thrive.
Do clog are comments section with that (if you don’t mind), it increases engagement for the video feeding the all powerful algorithm, and also sounds interesting and would contribute all of the discussion already happening down here
@@KnzoVortex I see it all the time with "health food" marketed to new agey ppl. There's a popular coconut water brand for example that has "Buddha" in the name and even the whole "Buddha bowl" trend is disheartening. Anything with value is appropriated by capital, and that includes belief systems, especially ones that are unknown to the largely white consumers of these products. The irony is unreal that people are appropriating imagery of somebody who renounced wealth (in favor of greater purposes) for profit. But also it's super sad cause I think people then take Buddhism less seriously because they see it as this stereotyped image
@@maxdewaele9660 Yeah tbh it kinda pisses me off how gutturally antagonistic a lot of people’s reactions are to “spirituality” broadly. I feel like it is in part due to this gross appropriation of every marketable part of it into consumable forms, on top of appropriation by conspiracy brained or politically reactionary people to make them seem more aesthetically pleasant, on top of this general hippie kind of obnoxious “just relax and have a good time” kind of philosophy which also appropriated Indian spiritual culture for themselves. People broadly hate or have problems with every one of these things but instead of just disliking these things and recognizing that they are bastardizing Indian spirituality for their own aims they just harbor a resentment for Indian spirituality in general. I personally find many of the ideas of Indian spirituality to be some of the most powerful things humanity has come up with, honestly Western philosophy doesn’t even hold a candle to it in terms of the mind boggling sophistication of some of their concepts, in fact, my biggest quarrel with Indian spirituality in general is that so much of it is so lofty and advanced it’s kind of hard to apply a lot of it to the average struggling working person today. But people have all the respect in the world for Western Philosophy, which is great and all of course, because people value the power of thinking, but the immense value for humanity of Indian spirituality is utterly overlooked. And by Indian spirituality to be clear I mean the various “religions” or “philosophies” which have been developed in India since millennia ago, Buddhism, the many branches of Hinduism (Yoga, Vaisheshika, Vedanta) etc. There’s just so much valuable stuff all of these traditions have to offer the world but because when people think “spirituality” they think the crazy conspiracy brained RUclipsr who wants to sell you crystals, or the annoying hippie person you know, or worst of all McMindfulness itself, people just don’t want to even hear it.
When I was younger I read Buddhist books and was really interested in following the eight fold path. As an adult I’ve forgotten most of what I learned but this video has reinvigorated my want to learn further
There is really no greater fruit, no higher goal, no stronger joy in the universe than spiritual progress, but man is it difficult to commit to sometimes.
Loved this one, as always great work covering the topic with nuance and not looking for any simple answers. I really hope people take away that element of how capitalism hollows things out to remove them from their ethical and moral contexts and how ideologies are used by people. 💜
I don't think you need to be insecure - you smoothly said shit I laboriously spent several years shakily putting together myself, and that ofc felt incredible to witness. Very excited to watch the rest of your videos!
Thank you so much for this Elliot! I studied with a couple of Buddhist teachers through my grad school program and it confirmed what was missing in a lot of the modern programs I came across. Buddhism does have a strong community orientation (as shown by the story of Kuan Yin) as well as calls for social change where necessary (Prajapati - the Buddha’s aunt & Tara). Mcmindfulness hyperfixates on individuality for the sake of productivity rather than for the well-being of self and the community all around you. Of course, not every system is perfect, as you showed with the military example. There is also always going to be the balance of our attention between society and ourselves. The big issue of Mcmindfulness is not acknowledging the source and thinking about its intentions (or as my teacher would put it, using unskillful means - something that happens way too often in the West.
27:28 it warms the cockles of my heart to hear that liberation theology has not been forgotten and there are still people talking about it. My parents raised me under those values, modelling after Carlos Mugica and with its flaws I still think I got the best possible set of values within Christianity.
I still don’t know a lot about Bhuddism, I’ll be honest, but I find it so funny that capitalism equates meditation with being sedated. If anything, taking time to slow down to be aware of yourself and the space you’re in *in silence* makes you feel more connected to this one being called the Universe. Surprisingly, one of the reasons capitalism has such a stronghold of us is because it keeps rushing and distracting us with noise and work so we don’t poke holes in its stupid ‘logic’. I’ve always been weary about the West’s sudden adoption of Eastern religions/philosophy, I’m glad someone else here felt the same.
@@j.2512 Dang that’s a real substantive argument you got there. The comment above definitely alluded to poor treatment of workers broadly and consumerism, are you trying to tell me those are not greatly fueled by capitalism?
This was a breath of fresh air in a lot of mediocre video essays I've been watching recently. You brilliantly articulated a nagging feeling I had about the self-help mindfulness trend, and I came away with a lot of new questions and caveats to consider which I think is a sign of an important work.
This is a really lovely video, I’ve spent a lot of time in circles of individuals who co opt Eastern religion as an aesthetic and “lifestyle”. However they only practice preaching platitudes about peace and meditation, while being entirely individualistic and self absorbed in every aspect of their life. I remember one such individual decrying the homelessness epidemic in Seattle while we were there, but her main complaint was how bad she felt for a business storefront being “overrun” by the homeless. “They’re losing so much business because no one wants to wade through the bodies, how sad.” Many of these people are deeply inhumane and callous to all human life outside of their own.
I'm a white Canadian raised Buddhist, and this video is so spot on! I can recognize a lot of effects of this co-option in how my mom relates to the world, stress, and capitalism, and it's making me think more deeply about my own relationship to Buddhism. plus, your sense of comedic timing and editing is great lol. subbed!!
thank you for being so considerate and kind towards everyone and everything you talk about. i am so grateful for finding your channel. i genuinely think you are a good person. love you.
I have to say, this vid was refreshing. Not only was it more level-headed than I expected (it’s a topic easy to be reactionary about), but it exposed some of my own hypocrisy. It was a bit uncomfortable, but very important. Thank you!
Very good analysis. I was very surprised to hear the name of Kan'non-sama appear in the middle of your video, you truly have done plenty of research into this subject and greatly summarized the most important historically events in relevance to the current phenomena without resorting to any form of mysticism. Well done.
I just got doing a literature review on this very topic actually, and you nailed it right on the head and are in line with the research! From my research, right mindfulness isn't even primarily about improving focus, which is what employers and ceo's keep drooling over- its about awareness and presence. and you aren't supposed to be "thoughts empty" and "still" during it, you're supposed to use mindful judgement to make ethical decisions, its a learning process. Even psychologists get this wrong and prescribe mcmindfulness often. CEO's use it to take cuts on actual mental health care while burning out their employees, while trying to make their employees even more focused and productive for their bottom line. From the research i've seen, right mindfulness is more focused on improving the resilience and ethics of the mind particularly to work towards helping the community. a far cry (almost opposite) from what ceo's use it for. great video!
As soon as I heard you talk about your hesitation with mindfulness because of ADHD, I knew this video was going to be so perfectly welcome in my recommendations. Amazing video. Can't wait to watch your backlist
I think you're making a great point here and I am going to think about what you have presented long after the video is over. Very balanced and thoughtful!
I was introduced to Buddhism through the marines back in 04. Didn’t wanna go to church, didn’t wanna clean the barracks, so I went to Buddhist temple. To the the recruit who ran it, you were an absolute G. Wherever you are, I hope you’re good. We were given a translation of the eightfold path, which I still read to this day. And yes, meditation and breath control involved with it, were extremely helpful on the range. Edited for grammar and spelling
I think that you have a great amount of insight and I want to thank you for presenting the Dharma in an accessible and engaging way. Coming to Buddhism in my 30s, about 40 years ago, I've been through a similar journey. People who are happy in their lives don't come to Dharma, especially if they were not born into it. Most of us come for self-help of sorts, and because we have not yet understood the "view," we adapt by process of what Trungpa Rinpoche called "spiritual materialism." Here we take on the external manifestations of Buddha Dharma because this is all we can understand. Now the trappings are gone, and meditation has become divorced from Buddha Dharma altogether. This McMindfulness is something that Dzongsar Khentse has described as using gold leaf to wipe your ass. Khentse Rinpoche turned down google because they didn't want him talking about "enlightenment". For some meditation will open a door to Dharma and they will see through the illusion of meditation as a capitalist tool. The amazing book Zen at War, describes the support of the Zen establishment during WW2, and remember that the Samurai tradition grew out of Buddhist training. Buddhism is as susceptible to being co-opted as any other religion. Some people will find their way through the obstacle to find liberation, but most unfortunately won't. The important thing for all of us to do is to see the illusion, and then continue to question. The danger is in thinking that we "know something". All of the wisdom is contained in not knowing, and finding kindness and compassion for all of the other idiots out there who think they know something. peace&love
This is a perfect summary of the inner debate I've been having in my own brain for the last 3+ years.. Thanks for this it's amazing and love your vid essays! This is prob my fav one so far
Yep, a startup I worked at had forced 20 minute mindfulness sessions in order to get people to focus and be more productive. I hated seeing my coworkers fooled into believe that the firm cared about them. The game room, the fully stocked kitchen and bar, the catered lunches - these were all ways to keep people in the office instead of taking breaks. Same with the mindfulness sessions.
@@Uarehere . Really though, there are a lot of stuff to criticize in this merchant controlled materialist world, but complain about stuff that's objectively good for you and your employee is beyond stupid
@@Uarehere I’m afraid YOU’RE missing the point, dearie. Having 20 minute mindfulness exercises forced on one because it’s going to make you possibly “more productive” for the companies bottom line to be able to force you to stay at work longer is not good for us in the long run. It puts a bandaid over labor exploitation. And in the long run employees need time off, time with their loved ones, and not to be told to engage in eastern spirituality for the good of the company’s profits. One should be able to choose what they do - be it prayer, or yoga, or meditation, with their minds
Thank you for this video, this resolves an argument I've been having for some time with my husband about meditation, budhism and politics. You explained it perfectly, the thoughts of both sides of the argument were present here. I'll leave you a phrase that I don't know how to translate but I guess you understand spanish, one that I think describes that unifying feeling of all of us being part of a same thing: "Lo que das, te lo das, lo que no das te lo quitas"
I'm so happy I found a channel by a young lad whose knowledgeably Buddhist! Also one thing I'll contribute that I feel is important for Buddhists: How the Forefront of archaeology on matriarchal cultures makes the point that life is not inherently suffering, and when systems of community leadership work correctly humans tend to make life awesome. Having studied some of the best literature and back-and-forth debates about matriarchal cultures, it really seems that for most of human history there have been times where most cultures have enjoyed relatively easy farming and living... UNTIL climate changes like "mini" ice ages or just shifts of temperature patterns really wrecked our s***** ( farms and animal Migration patterns) causing a lot of peoples to start becoming raiders, or to elect more of the newly-formed warrior cast of dudes to becoming leaders in order to better defend their communities, thus Shifting the Paradigm of leadership towards patriarchy and " Life as a battle".
Great video! One thing I want to mention is that meditation and mindfulness are not unique to buddhism or even the dahrmic religions for that matter. Christianity also has it's own history of meditation practices which go back at least to the middle ages in which practitioners focus their minds on an aspect of God. My grandma does this every morning. I thought it's worth mentioning because you used the phrase "saffron washing" and I believe that painting mindfulness as an exclusively Buddhist or eastern practice is an aspect of saffron washing (especially since the mindfulness practices they sell have so little to do with buddhism). Midevil christian practices are not as marketable to the mainstream secular people who want to be "spiritual" and above all else productive since most of those people think that they dislike "organized" religions. This is another aspect of both orientalizing and secularizing. Since they seem to think Buddhism is both more spiritual and more secular than other religions even though it's a religion like any other. It's got it's own benefits and shortcomings just like all religions. I also find it funny that a lot of westerners who claim to dislike "organized" religion seem to love buddhism. This is also a form of orientalizing as well as playing into the "Nobel savage" trope because a lot of forms of buddhism are highly organized! Some sects have leaders like the Dahli Lama and in some parts of Asia, they have the infrastructure to support monasteries, which not even most protestant sects of christianity can support! They have doctrine and dogma just as much as the christian sects that these secular people seem to dislike and are highly organized. But most of these western people are not aware of this because the dont have as much interaction with buddhism as they do with christianity so they dont see many of its negative aspects or dont experience them as directly. Therefore, they are able to believe it's a more secular, more spiritual, less organized, more liberating religious philosophy (and not a religion). While ignoring the fact that it has a lot in common with the religions that they have experience with and take issue with. Its not because they're bad people, but because they lack education. It just annoys me that McMindfulness tries to take advantage of this orientalism to sell people a secularized form of buddhism which is more marketable than any religion, but far less complete. I'm not saying this because I'm a christian (I'm not although I was raised catholic) or that i want to promote christianity, but I am generally pro-religion and even more pro religious education. I dont like to see people pushing an incomplete version of religious teachings that oversimplify and fetishize religious teachings and pretend that this one religious practice will "fix" you without even providing context for why it's really beneficial! That's how you get harmful dogmas and cult like behaviors.
Wow this is eye opening, I used to be a fan of Zinn for some years until I had a realization meditating, that it was leading me nowhere. I felt like I was wasting my time and never figured out what was wrong until today, nearly 5 years removed from my daily hour long meditations. Thank you.
I recently saw a video by Doug's Dharma about "Can we be too equanimous?" and what the Buddha said about it applies very well to croporate mindfulness. Passivity and pure equanimity isn't good behavior. One must know when to engage, when to enact change, when to use force, and when to let go and feel equanimous. Letting go is important. But letting go of everything is also letting go of compassion. Compassion is more important than equanimity. Equanimity is a way to be compassionate towards others and oneself. But it's not THE way.
I sent this video to everyone I know who I think would appreciate it lol, including my therapist who has shared a lot of really cool thoughts on this phenomenon while still incorporating mindfulness grounding techniques in my sessions :) this dude did NOT MISS ONCE!!! fr
Thanks Elliot. As a fellow ADHD'er I appreciated/admired your clean professional delivery. And it was funny. Inspiring actually so nice work all round.
without the religious crap is just a silly exercise, with it yoga is cult indoctrination. Surprise surprise, lots of coastal liberals end up in new age cults that way.
Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there were a lot of practitioners who took meditation to the corporate world with stripped-down versions without any religious or spiritual context. It was sold as an alternative to taking anxiety drugs or self-medicating with alcohol or marijuana. There were similar things with yoga that just became a physical workout and all the “spiritual” aspects were trimmed away. New Age came concurrently with Milton Friedman and the neoliberal revolution starting first with Thatcher, Carter, and Reagan. I felt at the time it was a replacement religion because the religions at the time were counter to Chicago School’s hegemonic aspirations of unregulated capitalism, It also struck me that New Age medicine was a poor man’s alternative to regular medicare that he or she would not be able to afford as the new capitalism evolved and created more poverty to sustain more consolidation of wealth. The idea was coping for coping sake. BTW, the New Age project was not as successful as hoped. It was the reason why so much effort and money were spent to transform protestant and traditional catholic religious values to fit the values of neoliberal economics and politics and reinforce the acceptance of wealth consolidation by the 1 percent. A lot of Calvinism was injected into evangelical christianity which was a big aspect of New Age philosophy if you recognize the ideas of predestination are both. The New Age is not gone and I see Jordan Peterson as a continuation of that project with the focus on the individual rather than on the toxic culture.
So a couple years back i was kinda fascinated with meditation and to a certain exctent was even interested in buddhism. I tried to learn about meditation and relied mostly, thought not exclusivly on secular sources. The whole "passive nature" of meditation was something that always seemed a contradiction to me and discourraged me from looking deeper into it, thought i attributed it (wrongly it seems) to buddhist doctrine. Your video really hit a nail there and im wondering if maybee i didn't look deep enough. You certainly encourage me to look at meditation and mindfullness from a different perspective, maybe im gonna take another dive into buddhism. Thank you for that :)
I love the topic of this video. I have been on sick leave from work and now back half days. I was told to try a meditation app, for which we get a premium subscription. I mean that's neat and all, but I couldn't help but feel weird about my employer providing me with tools to better cope with problems they participate in creating. Although sure I started at the company "pre burnt out" from my previous job, and I am the only one who "broke" for now, but I can tell other people are very heavily flirting with burnout too, it's just a question of when. Long story short, I am definitely getting McMindfullness vibes and the impression that I just have to fix myself.
Anytime a job recommends its employees get a meditation app, i say you run far away. that usually means theyre gonna put you in toxic situations but do nothing themselves to ensure you're mentally protected.
As a buddhist myself, it really hurt for me to see people in the west trying to make money out of mindfulness and meditation by collecting money from monthly subscription to meditation app and some of the teachings in the app might not even accurate. In my country, people can learn meditation for free at buddhist temples no need to pay any money at all because Buddha’s teachings are supposed to be free and accessible by everyone else.
Well thought and cogent. Thank you 🙏🏼 I appreciated hearing your discernment of the variables present in this discussion. I enjoyed the breaks and many of your background effects.
i'm not buddhist but i have been learning about it (in formal education settings and in my personal time) for around four years, and engaged buddhism specifically appeals so much to be as a school.
Such a great video thank you for emphasizing the teachings of buddhism at the end. Mindfulness without an ethical framework is just a baby in a crib. Helpless people flailing for some way to get out.
I need to rewatch this after letting it sink in for a week. your level of insight, the complexity of your opinion is mind expanding honestly. you put words to ideas that I just feel, but can't explain
What mindfulness does when you do it truly, without constructing a self to become mindful, without considering yourself "a meditator" strengthened by "meditating", is not disengage from the reality around you but instead *completely* engage totally and swiftly, without hesitation or attachment. If you have lied, you immediately confess, not toil it over. It is the ending of psychological time.
On the matter of helping people that you alluded to, a very important eighth century Buddhist philosopher called Śāntideva had this to say: "I must combat others' suffering [simply] because it is suffering, just like mine. I must do good for others because they are living beings, just as I." - Bodhicaryāvatāra (Entry into the conduct of the Bodhisattva), VIII 94. That being said, what a wonderful video! I specialise in Indian Buddhist Philosophy and I just don't have the time nor the energy to engage with the flaming trash heap of conformist pro-capitalist propaganda that is "McMindfulness." So thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart ♥🙏 Your analysis of the whole phenomenon is really well thought out and I'm glad that something like this is now available for people to see. I was also glad to see you mention Kamalaśīla, what a surprise! I study one of his philosophical texts, but he actually authored three manuals on "meditation" which are very celebrated. For him buddhist practice is meant to be very analytical, a detail which gets periodically ignored by many.
This is what I like about more ethical side of Buddhism, no matter if it's Vajrayana or Sutrayana or Mahayana... It's very dialectical and intuitive. Anatman really points to collective lack of fixed essence and thus a potential for collective action and compassion.
I actually read John Kabat-Zin’s work upon recommendations from others when struggling with mental health. What you described is exactly how it played out. Becoming mindful without further direction can have a negative impact because you are suddenly confronted with all the negative thoughts you were struggling with in the first place. This is why I combined this mindfulness practice with a cognitive behavioral therapy approach. After you identify the negative thoughts that are bothering you and focus on them through mindfulness, you have to work to find the flaws in them, recognize that they’re untrue, and stop believing them. This breaks the thought to anxiety pattern. I haven’t seen anyone else identify that problem with mindfulness only in mental health treatment. Great video!
Thanks for this video Elliot, it always felt weird when corporations big and small co opt eastern spirituality, whether it be practices or imagery. I couldn’t put my finger on why but you laid it out really clearly.
WOW. Wow. Such a unique take it felt like to me. In a sea of blind criticism, your nuance is such a gift. You candor and your authenticity are felt. When we help ourselves or others; they are one in the same. Duality is real and it’s also not. Nothing in the universe can be separated from the divine, from god, from source, from the most high. It’s ALL connected. It is when we try to dogmatically pick and choose our truths that we get into running in circles. Thank you for sharing this video; your channel is so refreshing.
I find it a bit weird how mainstream leftist circles are very against individual self-work. You can and should acknowledge the systemic problems contributing to individual problems, and you can do that while working on coping mechanisms to deal with problems in your life. Focusing on finding peace with yourself isn't a bad thing, and it doesn't mean you're somehow hurting the fight for justice. That sort of framing almost feels cruel, like individuals should suffer and refuse to feel any sort of contentment or happiness in life until systematic change is enacted.
Thank you so much for this. You did an amazing job of describing the vast depth of the Buddhist religion that I have not been able to articulate. It's an amazing practice, I highly recommend diving into learning more about Buddhism if you are one who likes meditation and mindfulness.
It seems that mindfulness is being taught to boost resilience. Resilience is great for coping stressful situations, however, chronic stress is damaging in the long term. This form of mindfulness does not question the causes of the stress, which is why the Corporates like it.
Excellent video. Point well made and very precise and correct too. From 11:00 on - after the quote. Indeed, if the other "legs" of the practice such as ethical behaviuour are not there, it stands for nothing but the emperors new clothes. And sadly enough, it will not be able to fundamentally help those in true need of change. As for others it can become the sick excuse to get away with anything because "It doesn't matter what i do as long as i'm mindfull and sooo in tune with the moment". Indeed, "mcmindfulness" as a concept speaks volumes. Well done.
Wow! This was an exceptional video Eliot! As another practitioner of the dharma growing up in the West you definitely hit the nail on the head with a lot of the points you made. P.S- Also, a Dominican Buddhist? I'm definitely subbing! 😂
As someone who teaches meditation, this was a great video. I've had to fight back against the argument that meditation and mindfulness are all about being more "productive." Sure, if you're more present to your situations, you have a larger space to which you can act, but a great deal of the mindfulness movement today is one where the exploration of suffering, of beliefs, of thoughts themselves both personal and social, are put to the side to make you a more efficient worker bee. To alleviate suffering isn't a personal goal, it's also a social one. These are not opposing points, but the same one. Exploring the nature of suffering naturally involves the negative beliefs and story structures in your head *and* the ones we've constructed society around. These are not different, they are not "two" but they are the same. To paraphrase Jiddu Krishnamurti, we are society. It's tremendously important to see there's a much deeper pool of metaphorical water to explore here. Sure, you can start by being a bit more at peace and a bit more present, but what do you do, and what around you makes that so difficult? The answer isn't to become a stone Buddha, a sort of red carpet for every moment, but instead to explore deeply to see what ideas, attachments, and domains of thought are occurring that create the suffering. Where, for example in this "McMindfulness" movement do we see the examination of social concepts and ideas that create suffering? It's all atomized, all isolated, all presented as individual issues. We've taken public issues and turned them into private concerns. Even turning meditation, a process of reforming real connections to your body, life, and world around you, and yet still found a way to assert outlines, divisions, and zones beyond consideration. Jon Kabat-Zinn, someone reasonably criticized in this video, has explored this deeper in this way, and a lot of the teachers on the west coast of America find themselves in this problem of being honest and deep while appealing to the Silicon Valley elite. In a board room of a company presentation, people are given the most basic levels of meditation and practice, and amongst their students and in their major programs, people are exposed to the real meat, the real depth that can be found here. It's like some teachers have to live in two worlds: one with the real weight, and the one to appease the inheritor class, and it's by appeasing the latter that helps push mindfulness to others. Real mindfulness and meditation is like exploring the ocean. McMindfulness is trying to say a kiddy pool is the same as that ocean. There's more to this than going ankle deep.
Mindfulness saved my life in very real ways. SAVED my life. But I made the mistake of sharing my story with a boss. Boss turned mindfulness into a profit stream, despite my protests. She charges more per hour than a private yoga teacher. And completely overlooks the philosophy. I just quit that job because I could not accept the way mindfulness was being used to line pockets. I feel totally abused and disgusted. For me, this is a spiritual practice. Using it for profit feels wrong down to my bones. There’s a name for this that Chogyam Trungpa coined, I believe: spiritual materialism. There’s no ethics and feigned compassion. i There’s also too much toxic positivity in the west’s version of mindfulness. They are obsessed with happiness. It’s really deplorable how much people are charged. You want to teach meditation? Get ready to shell out thousands. You want to learn mindfulness with a private teacher? Get ready to spend hundreds to thousands too. Don’t get me started on the psychics who advertise mindful readings and charge $400/hr. Just nuts.
This is an unbelievable video. I watched it 3 times back to back upon finding it. Even though I’m probably saying this into the ether- you just leaped into my top favorite youtubers in one video. Thanks for this, and I’m so ready to dive into your other content!!
"Truing up" is jargon from the fabrication professions (e.g. machinists, woodworkers, etc.). It can either describe calibrating a tool or making the face(s) of two objects even with each other. For example, "one rail was standing a bit proud of the other, so I trued them up." Obviously, this exec's usage of the term was metaphorical, but, coming from the exec of an auto manufacturing company, it's not that strange of a term to use.
I hope that mindfulness is the ultimate downfall of captalism. You can't ask people to become more self-aware and observant and it not impact their perspective on self and others. Although Mindfulness asks you to detach from the suffering and let it go, it also asks of you to NOTICE it. You don't just ignore that, you note it so that you don't react mindlessly, you choose how you want to act and change course.
This is so cool! I am taking Ron Purser’s class right now on Time, Space & Knowledge so I knew him personally when this video came out. I also work for Dharma Publishing, a sister organization of the one Purser teaches at: Dharma College. So glad I’ve been subscribed to Elliot, this is so serendipitous!
Oooo this finna be interesting. Let’s get into manifestation fr. But alllsooo I hope u speak about ppl do other things like prayer and incantation which is like a non white version of manifesting
I really hate the trend of corporations going in hard for mental health for the express purpose of increasing worker productivity. Like at first you think, "oh that's nice, supporting workers and helping them deal with stress," and then you start to notice this insidious idea popping up all throughout the "mental health resources" that the only reason you should try to improve your mental health or take breaks or be compassion toward yourself is to get you back to work faster.
I've been struggling with this for years... it's really dehumanizing.
It’s literally to try and turn us into robots, as they don’t get tired and can keep working, they want humans to get more work done in less time while on minimum pay.
I'm a therapist and I share your thoughts on this. I try to help clients give themselves permission to do less.
I guess better than being chained and whipped.
I don’t see a problem with that. We stumbled into a situation where the incentives for both employer and employee are aligned. That seems like a good thing to me.
THIS! I was told “be mindful of how you’re feeling” in therapy but was given NO guidance of what to do next. I have sensory issues and it was excruciating to be mentally present in overwhelming situations so I would dissociate. Being mindful was not the solution, learning to leave or modify bad environments was what I desperately needed. Mindfulness is dangerous when used lazily as a solution, instead of a tool.
Omg I agree w this!!!!
It reminds me of a couple sessions where I remember explicitly asking my therapist "what can I do to feel better" because even though it felt nice to get it out and we talked through understanding and feeling my emotions thoroughly together, it sometimes felt like reopening a wound (that I later on didn't know how to close back up) so I ended having some spill over irl
Exactly
mindfulness doesnt work when you suffer from chronic pain or autism and sensory processing issues.
@@isthiscereallife yup! At the time I had undiagnosed autism and was in an abusive relationship. Definitely not the kind of things which mindfulness could solve!!
You know I used to hate Buddhism because I felt like it fit so neatly into an introspective capitalist framework that was uninterested in changing the world around it. It’s also what we come away with when we learn the public school version of Siddhartha’s story. I always felt like his story was one of a rich guy learning to be at peace with the suffering of others. I’m humbled to learn that I was wrong
Siddhartha leaving his wife and kids to live at the woods really was a bro moment ngl. You should read "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse. I read it once and I never stopped thinking about it honestly. Such a powerful story.
Be it known:
Through the Holy Spirit, God has put it on me to preach to those lost in the devil's deceit!
I tell ye, truly, Jesus of Nazareth is the propitiation for the whole world's sins. He is the anointed one, for he is, Jesus Christ. God the Father has raised him from the dead; who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God! Angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father, but by him. They who believe and are baptized with the Holy Spirit shall be saved; but they who believe not shall be damned. For they who believe not on him, shall die in their sins!
I tell ye now to repent of your sins, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit upon asking the Father!
There are *NO* sub-divisions of Christianity. You're either a disciple of Christ or not. A Christian is someone who follows God's word, not a religion. Who obey the Father and follow his will; not man's nor their own heart's. Unless you keep Jesus' commandments, think not the Holy Spirit will dwell within you!
They who heed this message and did what was stated with an open heart to God...
Read the Holy Bible (KJV) daily and every time before you read, pray to the Father and ask:
"Lord I ask that you give me understanding of your word, that I interpret it the way you want me to, and none of my own. I ask you in Jesus' name, amen."
1 John 2:2 KJV
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Acts 13:26-33 KJV
26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, *and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.*
27 *For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.*
28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.
29 *And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.*
30 *But God raised him from the dead:*
31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.
32 *And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,*
33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
1 Peter 3:22 KJV
22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
John 14:6 KJV
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Mark 16:16 KJV
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
John 8:24 KJV
24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Acts 2:38 KJV
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Luke 11:13 KJV
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
John 14:21-24 KJV
21 *He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.*
22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, *If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.*
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and *the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.*
@@Call_Upon_YAH imagine reading the king james new testament and concluding jeepers believed in this intrusive display of evangelism. Truly, evangelists are simply not Christian, since they don't follow the precepts of the Jesus figure in any way.
@@obrotherwhereartliam You are wrong. He and his monks defied the caste system by treating untouchables just like they treated everybody else. That was a radical move.
He told his monks that they could eat meat if they wanted to, but only if they were sure that it was table scraps and the animal was not killed for their benefits.
He prohibited his followers from practice animal sacrifice, which was the norm at the time.
He even did actual civil disobedience by sitting between two armies that were about to fight. He did this twice.
There have been so many instances of Buddhist monks who have done political activism that I was able to give a rather long talk on the subject.
@@Call_Upon_YAH So Jesus is a bot now...
A bit relieved that my growing unease with mindfulness rhetoric isn't unfounded. I was thinking I was overreacting to nothing.
Same here
There are more things … likely to frighten us than there are to crush us; we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.
- Seneca
you are right its basically society wide manipulation to create a new culture that corporations can profit off of
I wouldn't trust anything from a culture were people still shit on the streets
Same
When I was in medical school we were required to do multiple mindfulness exercises but were never taught about wisdom or ethics. We ended up just being very mindful of all the issues at the hospital system and school we were in 😂
the wisdom and ethics are pretty garbage too, Yoga is actually less garbage without it.
My daughter is a Lauren Ashley and in the healthcare field (she’s a gerontology psych nurse) . Thank you for your often under appreciated overworked contribution to the world.❤
@@j.2512 How
@@j.2512 Medical ethics isn't garbage.
@@j.2512ah yes wisdom and ethics are garbage 😂
“if a fascist mediates they’ll come to peace with the concept of eugenics.” this is such a great example of the danger of adopting these practices to make them fit our own worldview without actually learning about them
😂😂😂😂
The Buddha referred to his teaching as dhamma-vinaya, not just dhamma. Dhamma is the body of his spiritual teaching, vinaya is the training. He said vinaya is not dhamma, but there is no dhamma without vinaya. You can see how this is generally ignored today. Modern "mindfulness" teaching is a prime example.
In all fairness eugenics is not limited to fascism
Coming to peace with concepts that are dangerous and bad is the only way to change
Just like an alcoholic has to come to peace with the concept of him being addicted to move forward and change his life, same can be said about any "evil" in our lives
@@skymanifest8339 🤓
as a buddhist leftist and follower of Thích Nhất Hạnh, this video is so important. especially during the last part, you beautifully captured the core idea that we are all interrelated on the basis of our collective suffering… and it saddens me to see mindfulness being co-opted and separated from that core idea, to see non-buddhist working class people be manipulated to dissociate from their own exploitation. there’s still much work to be done but I am grateful that this topic is gaining more attention. thank you for your eloquence and contributions to our enlightenment.
lol
I mean, you nailed it. Manipulated to dissociate from their own exploitation/reaility.
as a Buddhist i didn't have the vocabulary to describe what i saw in capitalist (mainly Western) countries of this bastardisation of my religion, mcmindfulness is the perfect description and i'll go read that book. thank you!
isn't it wrong to call buddhism a religion in the first place tho?
@@transsexual_computer_faery no, it’s considered a religion with denominations
The problem I see is that the goal is not seen as serious as it properly should be. Whether society or monasteries, the seriousness of the situation and effort required is not understood. Little benefits of meditation are irrelevant to Buddhist practice. Trivial. The goal of Buddhism is not compatible with societies rooted in lust+greed. It is originally designed for agrarian supported monastic societies. Societies of peace+concentration where gain is a result of strong arms and sweat, not investments and money scams.
As if asian corporations don't indoctrinate employees with zen buddhism
@@chadkline4268 goal 😂 , it was a release from the burdens of that agricultural whatever lifestyle... what is needed for today is not written yet
I’m not a buddist, but this breakdown touches on a lot of what has pissed me off about the way a lot of jobs tackle mental health. When I’ve heard ‘mindfulness’ touted in work it’s been a way to shift blame for stress and drops in productivity to workers. They take no account of the fact people are overworked, underpaid and burned out because of systematic failings from management, it’s just the workers didn’t do mindfulness correctly. Before mindfulness was the buzzword we were told to be ‘resilient’, to get better at ‘multi-tasking and time management’. It’s always cheaper and easier to make a person blame themselves for crumbling under pressures they have no realistic way to change.
Correct. I've also worked for companies that promote talking directly with employees about discrimination instead of going to HR.... Therefore relieving them of any responsibility to the employees whatsoever
This was totally awesome! I used to be a psychologist, and although there's a lot of benefit to mindfulness, there are all these problems you pointed to! We have studies literally saying that for people with extreme depression, mindfulness-based approaches SHOULD NOT be used, because... yeah. It's like locking a kid in a room with their bully to "resolve their differences." And the mental health industry has SO many problems that basically amount to, "Which side are we on?" I've worked for organizations that made me feel like the ringside medic at a boxing match. People would come to me, get their wounds patched up and bruises iced, and then sent back into the ring to get beaten up even more. Corporations don't actually care about the mental health of their workers; they just like mental health techniques that make workers shut up. If they actually cared, there'd be way more talking about reasonable accommodations for mental health issues the same there are for physically disabled workers. But no, they use mindfulness so that when workers express anger, discomfort, or unhappiness, they can blame the worker's own inability/unwillingness to "be mindful" and "not focus on the emotion."
I absolutely loved all your dives into the history of Buddhist scholarship, the broad range of belief systems, the ethics of it all, and how Buddhism intertwines with 20th and 21st century history. Great stuff.
Wait. I had therapists blame me when mindfulness didn't work for extreme depression.
Tbh, they also are attempting to say mindfulness now can overcome physical disabilities. Apparently I should just mindfully turn away from spinal bone tumor pain and I'll suddenly be abled
Thank you for pointing this out! I've tried to meditate and do breathwork when I'm in a depressive mood, and I honestly felt worse. I'm glad I'm not an anomaly.
Not to mention the way people sometimes suggest that meditation should replace my medication or that a routine of simple breathwork can suddenly empower me to be a more stable human (when I also have trauma and trigger attacks, social anxiety, and ADHD and occasional depression to deal with internally).
I like to meditate and be mindful, primarily for spiritual reasons, but it can never replace therapy and meds in my life, and it bothers me when people suggest it be used as this fail proof panacea.
Thank you for writing this. It made me think about a lot of stuff.
Thank you
mindfulness also doesnt really work with chrinic pain... because not being mindful of your body means less pain is felt... and my ocd would beat the piss out of me if i focused on my inner thoughts.
In middle school, we had a mindfulness week before standardized state testing to try to relax us. Because we were so stressed out that kids were vomiting and opting out en masse. It didn’t help btw.
my school does similar things and literally none of it has extinguished any sort of anxiety i have,, i think school IS the reason i have anxiety :(
I've seen standarized test for the younger generation. The tests are the easiest they have ever been with the most ammount of time and resources to study the subjects. Its just that the kids are so fried by social media and so entitled that any modicum of inconvenience and challenge instantly makes them crumble and fall to pieces. Its a mind broken generation that won't ammount to anything, the world is fucked in the next few decades when they are the main market and labour force.
If there can be right mindfulness, then there can be wrong mindfulness. And that's wrong mindfulness. The purpose of mindfulness meditation is to be conscious and present and let go of other overaching objectives. Correct me if I'm wrong; I've learned from Theravada monks and am not very well versed in Buddhism overall.
@@bake-io1cf Okay, boomer. You obviously don't understand these kids and/or have zero desire TO understand them in actuality, so it's pretty disingenuous of you to speak about them as if you do.
@@bake-io1cf I wish it was as simple as that.
I always felt like something was missing with all these "self help" and "mindfulness and meditation" advice apps/programs. Like sure, being able to understand yourself and meditate on things is a really important skill to have in life. You're better able to understand and communicate what you really feel, but it always felt like half of the process.
When this philosophy is limited to only personal changes and self improvement, you will find that there are alot of problems we face that cannot be solved by just improving one's self. This hyperindividualistic attitude is what drove me away from alot of this stuff. But recently now, I've been discovering that this isn't what the original philosophy was about at all. Really good deep dive into the corporatization of buddhism and philosophies like it. Couldn't really articulate what was so off putting about it until now.
I think a lot of our problems do resolve upon self improvement and personal changes. I mean the common denominator in all our interactions is us, and by changing how you react to and view things you end up solving a lot. Too much is based on fixing what is outside rather than inside, though both are still important.
@Ian Corral there is definitely a balance that must be struck between introspection and outward action. It reminds me a lot of the more recent Philosophy Tube video about Stoicism and what is missing from pop Stoicism when we exclude the spiritual/religious and (at that point in time) scientific aspect of the philosophy. If you liked this video, you might also like that one. It was pretty neat if I do say so myself.
@@danieneit6830 I actually don’t like stoicism because it’s rife with contradictions
@@Darkloid21 understandable. Have a nice day!
I don't know if you know the trauma researcher Gabor Maté but his newest book perfectly covers how individual efforts don't do shit. I mean they do but it is not enough, it can't be enough because we are mammals who thrive in groups and need a healthy social, economic and spiritual environment.
Edit: Also "love" how not even buddhist monasteries, at least ones in Europe, are not committed to creating community. They don't allow you in if you have mental health issues (who hasn't in today's day and age?) and if you are disabled and not able to work for them for free, you are also not welcome.
Wonderful video! I’ve spent a number of years practicing Buddhist meditation and many of my best friends are cognitive scientists so I felt like leaving a comment from my own experience with McBuddhism.
In 2019 I was working a lower level job in a tech company that really focused on productivity. In March 2020, we started working from home and sensing that sh*t is gonna get real, I applied for and got a lead position that came up because I didn’t fully trust the higher ups to consider the needs of my colleagues during this time. Well… turns out I was right because during the following year, the demands of productivity just got worse and worse basically because “data shows that it can be done comfortably so let’s challenge ourselves for the sake of our customers”.
While my knowledge of meditation and Buddhist thought enabled me to give some coping tips, what helped my team the most was my ability to just listen to them. Not me teaching them how to focus more. At the same time, hearing how higher ups were actually talking about the people they are supposed to guide and take care of, really taught me that in a corporate structure (even tho we were assured it’s a flat hierarchy lol) the people doing the majority of the work are really just seen as numbers. During official sessions they were using this corporate mindfulness speak but in private group conversations the same people outright said that others are just lazy and they need to get it together while most of the issues we were having were caused by the higher ups not understanding what the work we were doing actually was but still making decisions about it.
And this is common in most tech companies (not my first rodeo and I have many friends now working in AI etc). But surprise surprise: this does not fix issues on the long term. People were so stressed out (I talked way too many people down from anxiety attacks and had too many myself even though I had years of mindfulness practice under my belt), they became distrustful of the decisions of higher ups so it became harder to actually fix issues and our employee retention also went down (when I started working most people had been there for 3-4 years and in the span of 2 years, we were averaging about a year of working before they applied for positions in other departments. And this was a job that required a minimum of a year to train). I ended up leaving the company because I couldn’t morally justify how employees were being treated and saw there was little that I could actually change. So long story short: only using the band aid of mindless mindfulness to get your workers to comply long term will actually end up costing the company more in the end.
well hey there, voidgirl, our paths again cross.
@@transsexual_computer_faery hahaha incredible. I must say, you have great taste!
@@helinr I do, I do.
i think also theres an aspect of
1) changing how people think about how they think, when everything is mindfulness and kindness then theres no excuse for failure and enforces that workers are just another number
2) de-americanizing american workers by replacing every possible christian value
3) making the ceo of your company into a psuedo spiritual figure
@@SugarCrazedInsomniac yes and also lol my example has nothing to do with America at all. wild to think capitalism can affect workers outside the us as well
This stripped down meditation discussion reminds me of how yoga has been a practice that got stripped of its spirituality and philosophy and other practice components to make it marketable to the “that girl” girlies.
Similar, also, to how the maslow’s hierarchy of needs model was taken from indigenous culture and misappropriated, with parts of the pyramid left off and/or re-ordered… so now it says you must secure shelter & food & financial security before pursuing your identity, meaning, purpose, etc. (which was not the case in the original indigenous teachings)
Do you have more information on the original indigenous teachings? I’m interested but don’t know where to look
@@moethemoon look up “Before Maslow’s Hierarchy: The Whitewashing of Indigenous Knowledge”
there’s nuance there if you dig into other articles on this topic. some people feel like maslow did a neutral/scientific thing.
for another perspective, you can read “The Blackfoot Origins of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”
yoga is cult indoctrination. Its garbage either way , same with Kung Fu
@@emilyfishie Very interesting! Thank you for the links!
Oh I did t know that! That honestly makes so much sense! Because if you were put in a survival situation and had to find water and shelter you'd first need to have a reason or purpose for wanting to go on and live. Otherwise you'd just lay there till you died with no purpose.
I went to a lunchtime mindfulness webinar at my former employer, and the presenter literally said, “We’ve known how great meditation is for the last decade.”
*stares in the entire history of Buddhism*
That right there is the single most "Out of touch white guy tech sector management" sentence ever uttered. Like it's something you'd expect to hear on an episode of Silicon Valley.
@@tjenadonn6158 It was brutal. My last straw at that company was when, during COVID, the disability diversity and inclusion group invited one of the board members of Autism Speaks to talk about strategies to deal with autistic kids during lockdown, for Autism Awareness month.
@@Millenimorphose Trust me, as an autistic woman who's been working with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network since she was in eighth grade I'd be doing some very unmonetizable things to whoever brought Autism $peaks on board. It's like bringing in KFC's board of directors for advice on how to keep pet chickens.
@@tjenadonn6158 Self-identified autistic enby here. I literally called them out on the company forums for (a) inviting a h8 group to talk about the subject and (b) not following the format of literally every DE&I event I had seen advertised in five years at the company, which is, “Employee(s) who belong to a group/community discuss culturally relevant topic.” This was an aerospace company with tens of thousands of employees in the region, full of engineers and people who clearly have had special interest: airplane since the day the were born, and they didn’t think they would find a single autistic employee who would want to share. Telling.
24:51: “Compromise is a part of functioning…I-really, I lost part of my soul saying that. Because I am very stubborn.”
IT’S NOT SELF-DEPRECATION IF YOU CALL ME OUT BY NAME & ADDRESS
Jokes mostly aside this was a brilliant video from start to finish. Everyone should listen to Elliot always, at all times, without exception.
Great insight into Buddhism. Loved your nuanced approach to the subject. I think there’s a lot to learn when you examine these doctrines/teachings beyond what is typically sold and commodified by the mainstream.
Thank you for your voice over work! It was great!
@@Danae_O Yours was great too!
I am glad RUclips suggested this. I’m a Quaker, so we are spiritual cousins of sorts. I also liked how you used various aspects of Christianity as an analogy to specific ideas. The concept of McMindfulness is kind of similar to how various critics (myself included) of a specific denomination (that ironically calls themselves non denominational) within Evangelical Christianity call that denomination “Fast Food Salvation” among others. The concept is that you just go there to satiate your hunger without any nutritional (spiritual) value. That it’s a quick and fulfilling in the moment only to be forgotten later on.
Quaker gang rise up
I’m so glad this video was made. Really sad to see what capitalism has done to my spiritual practice
Be it known:
Through the Holy Spirit, God has put it on me to preach to those lost in the devil's deceit!
I tell ye, truly, Jesus of Nazareth is the propitiation for the whole world's sins. He is the anointed one, for he is, Jesus Christ. God the Father has raised him from the dead; who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God! Angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father, but by him. They who believe and are baptized with the Holy Spirit shall be saved; but they who believe not shall be damned. For they who believe not on him, shall die in their sins!
I tell ye now to repent of your sins, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit upon asking the Father!
There are *NO* sub-divisions of Christianity. You're either a disciple of Christ or not. A Christian is someone who follows God's word, not a religion. Who obey the Father and follow his will; not man's nor their own heart's. Unless you keep Jesus' commandments, think not the Holy Spirit will dwell within you!
They who heed this message and did what was stated with an open heart to God...
Read the Holy Bible (KJV) daily and every time before you read, pray to the Father and ask:
"Lord I ask that you give me understanding of your word, that I interpret it the way you want me to, and none of my own. I ask you in Jesus' name, amen."
1 John 2:2 KJV
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Acts 13:26-33 KJV
26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, *and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.*
27 *For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.*
28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.
29 *And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.*
30 *But God raised him from the dead:*
31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.
32 *And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,*
33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
1 Peter 3:22 KJV
22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
John 14:6 KJV
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Mark 16:16 KJV
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
John 8:24 KJV
24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Acts 2:38 KJV
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Luke 11:13 KJV
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
John 14:21-24 KJV
21 *He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.*
22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, *If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.*
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and *the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.*
@@Call_Upon_YAH Did you just respond to a post about capitalism covering up Buddhism with a post totally off topic, covering up Buddhism?
@@Call_Upon_YAH that’s pretty cool. But I’m not reading all of that 😎. Also King James Version isn’t the real bible
@@abdelilhmanflores glad at least someone knows
Theravada Buddhism teaches ultimate truths called Paramartha Dhamma. Those teachings are the fundamental teachings in Buddhism. The stories in Sutta teachings are not enough to understand the nature of reality as it is.
I recently saw an article about how work is taking the place of religion. Now work is starting to teach about mindfulness, etc because religion is being replaced and many people are no longer having the time to actually go to religious centers or spend time in their communities. As a result workplaces are “replacing” this need.
Also as someone who practices Buddhism, a huge problem with the mindfulness thing is that it’s separate from the context of all the other things that make mindfulness actually enriching. I once saw a post that said “ if you are meditating for yourself then you are doing it wrong “ and I found this very true. Buddhism is huge on cultivating virtues like generosity, wisdom, honesty, good-will, among many others. It’s often said that true mindfulness can’t even be achieved until you are far enough in your practice with obtaining the “perfections” and mindfulness has to be understood through this lens for it to be truly understood.
Despite being atheist it's disturbing to me how true this is.
Religion gives community, mutual aid, faith, mindfulness.
Corporate culture takes all of these beautiful and human traits to use them for profit instead of fulfillment.
I've literally had to convince my friends that mindfulness and religion are fulfilling when they're not being puppeted by corporations or politicians.
But to let go of thoughts removes the you and I and the separation of this and that. Shedding our layers is different for everyone, if we say there’s a right way of doing Buddhism or spiritually we’d already be caught in dualistic thinking. We are allowed to have opinions towards this and that but letting it go also happens. Why should we worry about how the next person approaches the gate when the noticing of that distinction creates turmoil for our own spirituality already by the separation we create in our minds?
My partner of 6 years is a dedicated Chan Buddhist who volunteers with a local Order, and it’s been so fascinating for me to try and learn from him from the outside in.
I think it’s very fitting that he never evangelizes or quotes parables or ever tried to push the beliefs on me, I’ve always had to ask him to share more with me. But I quickly learned how extremely limited and filtered my understanding of Buddhism had been as a white American. I’d read up on it a little bit out of curiosity, but being raised as a Christian, I’d made the incorrect assumption that Buddhism must have a big core of beliefs that they all had to adhere to, the way that denominations of Christianity have lots of disagreements but all essentially prioritize the same core tenets.
I hope this video does well. I feel like I still know so little, and I’d love to hear you talk more on Buddhist theory in the future, or even on how different schools of ethics can be skewed and perverted by capitalism and those in power, vs the historical context and how they were practiced by their originators.
Thank you for making this.
Everyone's understanding of spirituality is different, because our viewpoint to perceive from is equally different. Even if our goal is the same place, a person cannot give you a doctrine to follow rigidly and without question and expect you to find your way. That is why one must give such teachings great and well-considered thought. You cannot give someone their spiritual relationship with a religion, you can only give them the tools with which to find it.
I’m glad you made this video. As someone who specialized in Buddhist philosophical traditions and is in the psychological research field, I’ve strongly felt a strange hollowness in places mindfulness appears within American space. There are two major issues I observe in my problem with mindfulness in American culture.
The first point goes along with what you say in this video about the absence of the philosophy that roots the practice of mindfulness. To me, spirituality that roots Buddhist mindset (as well as a lot of religious experiences) holds a level of awe in it and that awe is what allows for that transcendental experience you feel when you actually engage with the dharma. You are taking the practice based on centuries of philosophical discourse that creates meaning to the practice and the mythology that creates the sense of awe which leaves the experience of spiritual self-transcendence experience entirely empty. (Though perhaps in a sense that critique itself is entirely Buddhist 😂)
The second problem is that Buddhist practice is a discipline that takes a long time to build. But in a lot of modern American places I see it in, it feels like it’s used as instant gratification to solve issues in the immediate when that’s not the purpose of it in its basis. But things that take a long time to cultivate is not as marketable because it is much less addictive. You don’t have the immediate hit of reward and then stagnation to drive a desire for another hit that would lead to capital gain if you were trying to market the practice.
People misunderstand religion on purpose sometimes so they can cognitive dissonance themselves away from their own hypocritical behaviors.
narcissists commonly do this
That anecdote about the homeless man, in the wake of Jordan Neely's death is just... holy shit man. Some people really do believe that when homeless people become upset or act hostile, that makes them "less worthy" or something, that they all must be meek and "know their place." Of course they'll lash out, they're in the worst possible position they could possibly be in, and everyone else is too caught up in their own shit to help the dude! Anybody with any rational thought would be upset to be in that situation.
Violence is dangerous, no matter how "reasonable" it might seem. If someone is lashing out towards random innocent people in a public area, that needs to be stopped.
@@hagoryopi2101 Very cool that your reaction to a homeless man going through the lowest point of his whole life is "well he was dangerous and had to be stopped", despite the fact he did not actually physically touch anybody. Fuck off.
@@hagoryopi2101 Holding a chokehold for fifteen minutes is not a "reasonable" way to help the innocent either
One might hope a society that sincerely embraced tenets of Buddhism would have far fewer homeless people.
In my therapy sessions ny whole life, I was presented with mindfulness. It can be like, kinda helpful, but it was a bandaid so the people who had any ability to help me out of abuse as a kid didn't have to actually do anything helpful.
It was more important to teach me to "breathe" than get an abused kid out of an awful situation.
or its just a baindaid to help the kid "realize" that they arent being abused... or "didnt have it so bad"... or its even used on adults when the therapist has no other way to help but still wants the clients patronage
I'm going to out myself right now as a "white man looking into Eastern religion" and say that I went into this video with a considerable level of fear that I was going to be called out and that my healing journey was going to be described as fake and shallow cultural appropriation.
I was very relieved to listen and realize the problems you describe are the most basic obstacles anyone could see coming if they actually cared about the world and others.
Buddhism is a spirituality that has been adopted by very wide range of different cultures over centuries, adopting it for yourself is nothing new. As with everything, just invest yourself into the learning process with a beginner's mind.
I'm also a white guy who has been helped by the teachings of certain Theravada Buddhist monks for several years now. "My healing journey was going to be described as fake and shallow cultural appropriation." Well, people do have the tendency to be unreasonable in that way, and it might hurt us. And we have to accept that hurt and feel it, but not be swayed by it in our actions. If the teachings of Buddhism are healing to you, then you should take them unapologetically. But you should of course keep trying to learn more about Buddhism. I still know very little but I keep learning.
damn thats pathetic. so much posturing.
@@commenteroftruth9790
@@efreetheawesome
11:37 "A cost effective tool to sow seeds of servility and discipline in workers" ... You hit the nail right on the head with this one. Damn.
as a buddhist, i'm super excited for this video
Be it known:
Through the Holy Spirit, God has put it on me to preach to those lost in the devil's deceit!
I tell ye, truly, Jesus of Nazareth is the propitiation for the whole world's sins. He is the anointed one, for he is, Jesus Christ. God the Father has raised him from the dead; who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God! Angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father, but by him. They who believe and are baptized with the Holy Spirit shall be saved; but they who believe not shall be damned. For they who believe not on him, shall die in their sins!
I tell ye now to repent of your sins, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit upon asking the Father!
There are *NO* sub-divisions of Christianity. You're either a disciple of Christ or not. A Christian is someone who follows God's word, not a religion. Who obey the Father and follow his will; not man's nor their own heart's. Unless you keep Jesus' commandments, think not the Holy Spirit will dwell within you!
They who heed this message and did what was stated with an open heart to God...
Read the Holy Bible (KJV) daily and every time before you read, pray to the Father and ask:
"Lord I ask that you give me understanding of your word, that I interpret it the way you want me to, and none of my own. I ask you in Jesus' name, amen."
1 John 2:2 KJV
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Acts 13:26-33 KJV
26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, *and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.*
27 *For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.*
28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.
29 *And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.*
30 *But God raised him from the dead:*
31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.
32 *And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,*
33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
1 Peter 3:22 KJV
22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
John 14:6 KJV
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Mark 16:16 KJV
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
John 8:24 KJV
24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Acts 2:38 KJV
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Luke 11:13 KJV
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
John 14:21-24 KJV
21 *He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.*
22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, *If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.*
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and *the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.*
@@Call_Upon_YAH So is Jesus. He agrees on how people completely separating and warping the meaning of a text can be detrimental to how others see it.
@@Call_Upon_YAH i ain't reading allat
Wow. You simply tell a pwrsonal story about how you experience buddhism in your life snd you get some christian evangelist nut Job word vomitting on you people like that give christians a bad name.
Hi Chante. I agree americans do receive a watered down version of buddhism AND most americans try to look analyze it through a christian lens. that cannont and will not work. I am still new to buddhism and i admit i dont practice. However, as someone with a christian background i found it helpful to focus on enlightenment, the four noble truths and the eightfold path as guideposts. The quest for enlightenmwnt has really helped me alot in my life. Goos luck.
@@rikubear6549 aw your reply is very kind ! good luck on your journey as well
Amazing video. McMindfulness always leaves out the "Non-Self"/"Anatta"/emotional attachment... when that's the whole point of real Mindfulness.
I feel that the problems with a 'Self' (in Buddhism) are made even worse by unjust societies. For example:
- In ultra-nationalism and caste systems, the government enforces a permanent ethnic identity which most people become emotionally-attached to.
- Everyone's financially-attached to huge debts just to afford housing or education, because the economy depends on it.
- The justice system attaches blame to individuals, when many crimes are really caused by systemic issues.
- Rich individuals are credited and rewarded for success, which was actually generated by society and other people's work.
I can't really explain it. But it feels like a lot of emotional-attachment is forced onto you in unjust societies. And it hijacks our ideas of identity, property, and responsibility.
Exactly!
@@SBCBears Could you elaborate? If the Buddha already talked about this topic then I'm interested to know more
@@LowestofheDead I must apologize. I did not fully follow all the implications of your post as I was speedreading thru the thread. I'll delete my first reply to your post as it is erroneous, non-specific and clutters the thread.
However, I would caution readers about the dedicating themselves to social causes. Remember that there is a flip side to the four social conditions you mention. Good deeds are fine, but the mental activity and focus required for dedicating oneself to a "cause" diverts the mind from the Buddhist path.
For lay persons, the training would start with the 5 Precepts to the 8 Precepts and on from there. It is notable that the Tathagata did not teach meditation to lay persons. Perhaps that was necessary at the early stages, but the application of mindfulness a la mode is evidence of the problem he sought to avoid-- disordered training (vinaya). He taught Right Mindfulness, not mere mindfulness. One cannot have Right Mindfulness without Right View.
He described the path to stream entry and beyond. If you enter the stream, you will save a being countless lifetimes of suffering. Your post points out the modern problem of cherry picking a practice, mindfulness in this case, without adequate regard for the gradual training for lay persons and monks set out by the Tathagata.
yes, this is what all the quacks mean when they talk about how the population is being forced down. it’s impossible to gain enlightenment or spiritual progression in our modern first world society, it was designed that way. it’s hard to detach when you’re drowned in debt and taking care of children with no help, being abused by the system.
100%
i'm what we call "culturally buddhist" like a western christian who grew up with church but doesn't go, so thank you for such a nuanced overview! i think most people don't even have a basic understanding of buddhist history or teachings and even all the different perspectives it contains. incredible work!
Thank u for always notifying us when there are ad breaks. I brace myself for them and it s much less disturbing than just randomly being interrupted so suddenly
As someone who's raised a Theravada Buddhist and continues to practice it, this was a really refreshing video that not only showcases a thoughtful and nuanced take on Buddhism that furthers my own engagement with the practice, but also addresses some of my frustrations of how its teachings have been stripped of its context and translated as a means to and end for Capitalism. (I can also rant all day about how much I hate seeing Buddhist imagery being commoditized in the west, but I won't clog your comment section with that lol.) Great job.
Western kind doesn't take kindly to pacifist ideals that theravada pushes for, they are funfamentally Nietzschean and only ideals that obliges its code of conduct such as shinto Buddhism can ever thrive.
So you were raised in a cult.
Do clog are comments section with that (if you don’t mind), it increases engagement for the video feeding the all powerful algorithm, and also sounds interesting and would contribute all of the discussion already happening down here
@@KnzoVortex I see it all the time with "health food" marketed to new agey ppl. There's a popular coconut water brand for example that has "Buddha" in the name and even the whole "Buddha bowl" trend is disheartening. Anything with value is appropriated by capital, and that includes belief systems, especially ones that are unknown to the largely white consumers of these products. The irony is unreal that people are appropriating imagery of somebody who renounced wealth (in favor of greater purposes) for profit. But also it's super sad cause I think people then take Buddhism less seriously because they see it as this stereotyped image
@@maxdewaele9660 Yeah tbh it kinda pisses me off how gutturally antagonistic a lot of people’s reactions are to “spirituality” broadly. I feel like it is in part due to this gross appropriation of every marketable part of it into consumable forms, on top of appropriation by conspiracy brained or politically reactionary people to make them seem more aesthetically pleasant, on top of this general hippie kind of obnoxious “just relax and have a good time” kind of philosophy which also appropriated Indian spiritual culture for themselves. People broadly hate or have problems with every one of these things but instead of just disliking these things and recognizing that they are bastardizing Indian spirituality for their own aims they just harbor a resentment for Indian spirituality in general.
I personally find many of the ideas of Indian spirituality to be some of the most powerful things humanity has come up with, honestly Western philosophy doesn’t even hold a candle to it in terms of the mind boggling sophistication of some of their concepts, in fact, my biggest quarrel with Indian spirituality in general is that so much of it is so lofty and advanced it’s kind of hard to apply a lot of it to the average struggling working person today. But people have all the respect in the world for Western Philosophy, which is great and all of course, because people value the power of thinking, but the immense value for humanity of Indian spirituality is utterly overlooked. And by Indian spirituality to be clear I mean the various “religions” or “philosophies” which have been developed in India since millennia ago, Buddhism, the many branches of Hinduism (Yoga, Vaisheshika, Vedanta) etc. There’s just so much valuable stuff all of these traditions have to offer the world but because when people think “spirituality” they think the crazy conspiracy brained RUclipsr who wants to sell you crystals, or the annoying hippie person you know, or worst of all McMindfulness itself, people just don’t want to even hear it.
When I was younger I read Buddhist books and was really interested in following the eight fold path. As an adult I’ve forgotten most of what I learned but this video has reinvigorated my want to learn further
There is really no greater fruit, no higher goal, no stronger joy in the universe than spiritual progress, but man is it difficult to commit to sometimes.
Be a compassion and love toward every living being.and once you able to sence the pain of other.Nature power will lead you a happy life with wisdom.
Man go for it. I read my first Buddhist book in my early 20s. Have been practising away ever since.
Loved this one, as always great work covering the topic with nuance and not looking for any simple answers.
I really hope people take away that element of how capitalism hollows things out to remove them from their ethical and moral contexts and how ideologies are used by people. 💜
I don't think you need to be insecure - you smoothly said shit I laboriously spent several years shakily putting together myself, and that ofc felt incredible to witness. Very excited to watch the rest of your videos!
Thank you so much for this Elliot! I studied with a couple of Buddhist teachers through my grad school program and it confirmed what was missing in a lot of the modern programs I came across. Buddhism does have a strong community orientation (as shown by the story of Kuan Yin) as well as calls for social change where necessary (Prajapati - the Buddha’s aunt & Tara).
Mcmindfulness hyperfixates on individuality for the sake of productivity rather than for the well-being of self and the community all around you. Of course, not every system is perfect, as you showed with the military example. There is also always going to be the balance of our attention between society and ourselves. The big issue of Mcmindfulness is not acknowledging the source and thinking about its intentions (or as my teacher would put it, using unskillful means - something that happens way too often in the West.
27:28 it warms the cockles of my heart to hear that liberation theology has not been forgotten and there are still people talking about it. My parents raised me under those values, modelling after Carlos Mugica and with its flaws I still think I got the best possible set of values within Christianity.
There's no liberation as long as there is a theology. Gods are the ultimate oppressors.
I still don’t know a lot about Bhuddism, I’ll be honest, but I find it so funny that capitalism equates meditation with being sedated. If anything, taking time to slow down to be aware of yourself and the space you’re in *in silence* makes you feel more connected to this one being called the Universe. Surprisingly, one of the reasons capitalism has such a stronghold of us is because it keeps rushing and distracting us with noise and work so we don’t poke holes in its stupid ‘logic’. I’ve always been weary about the West’s sudden adoption of Eastern religions/philosophy, I’m glad someone else here felt the same.
Everything i don't like is capitalism. The Zoomer guide for political discussion
@@j.2512 Dang that’s a real substantive argument you got there. The comment above definitely alluded to poor treatment of workers broadly and consumerism, are you trying to tell me those are not greatly fueled by capitalism?
This was a breath of fresh air in a lot of mediocre video essays I've been watching recently. You brilliantly articulated a nagging feeling I had about the self-help mindfulness trend, and I came away with a lot of new questions and caveats to consider which I think is a sign of an important work.
This is a really lovely video, I’ve spent a lot of time in circles of individuals who co opt Eastern religion as an aesthetic and “lifestyle”. However they only practice preaching platitudes about peace and meditation, while being entirely individualistic and self absorbed in every aspect of their life. I remember one such individual decrying the homelessness epidemic in Seattle while we were there, but her main complaint was how bad she felt for a business storefront being “overrun” by the homeless. “They’re losing so much business because no one wants to wade through the bodies, how sad.” Many of these people are deeply inhumane and callous to all human life outside of their own.
I'm a white Canadian raised Buddhist, and this video is so spot on! I can recognize a lot of effects of this co-option in how my mom relates to the world, stress, and capitalism, and it's making me think more deeply about my own relationship to Buddhism. plus, your sense of comedic timing and editing is great lol. subbed!!
😂 "he even let me ring his bell" 9:39
thank you for being so considerate and kind towards everyone and everything you talk about. i am so grateful for finding your channel. i genuinely think you are a good person. love you.
one of the most thoughtful & thought provoking videos i’ve watched in a while. thanks for sharing
I'm bipolar, so I use mindfulness to make sure I'm not acting too manic or depressive. It really helps. It evens me out.
Save me from depression. It is useful but it becomes meaningful with ethics and wisdom.
@holysandwich4075 there is nothing useful about depression. It's really annoying. It makes it hard to do anything.
@@kimberlycarrigan8824 I am talking about usefulness of mindfulness if it is combined together with ethics and wisdom. Of coz no depression is useful.
I have to say, this vid was refreshing. Not only was it more level-headed than I expected (it’s a topic easy to be reactionary about), but it exposed some of my own hypocrisy. It was a bit uncomfortable, but very important. Thank you!
Very good analysis. I was very surprised to hear the name of Kan'non-sama appear in the middle of your video, you truly have done plenty of research into this subject and greatly summarized the most important historically events in relevance to the current phenomena without resorting to any form of mysticism. Well done.
I just got doing a literature review on this very topic actually, and you nailed it right on the head and are in line with the research! From my research, right mindfulness isn't even primarily about improving focus, which is what employers and ceo's keep drooling over- its about awareness and presence. and you aren't supposed to be "thoughts empty" and "still" during it, you're supposed to use mindful judgement to make ethical decisions, its a learning process. Even psychologists get this wrong and prescribe mcmindfulness often. CEO's use it to take cuts on actual mental health care while burning out their employees, while trying to make their employees even more focused and productive for their bottom line. From the research i've seen, right mindfulness is more focused on improving the resilience and ethics of the mind particularly to work towards helping the community. a far cry (almost opposite) from what ceo's use it for. great video!
As soon as I heard you talk about your hesitation with mindfulness because of ADHD, I knew this video was going to be so perfectly welcome in my recommendations. Amazing video. Can't wait to watch your backlist
I think you're making a great point here and I am going to think about what you have presented long after the video is over. Very balanced and thoughtful!
I was introduced to Buddhism through the marines back in 04. Didn’t wanna go to church, didn’t wanna clean the barracks, so I went to Buddhist temple.
To the the recruit who ran it, you were an absolute G. Wherever you are, I hope you’re good.
We were given a translation of the eightfold path, which I still read to this day.
And yes, meditation and breath control involved with it, were extremely helpful on the range.
Edited for grammar and spelling
I never knew about the other elements of Buddhism. Thanks for making this video.
That Lupe line at the end drifted in my mind while listening and the fact that you finished off with it??? You are my new favorite RUclipsr
I think that you have a great amount of insight and I want to thank you for presenting the Dharma in an accessible and engaging way. Coming to Buddhism in my 30s, about 40 years ago, I've been through a similar journey. People who are happy in their lives don't come to Dharma, especially if they were not born into it. Most of us come for self-help of sorts, and because we have not yet understood the "view," we adapt by process of what Trungpa Rinpoche called "spiritual materialism." Here we take on the external manifestations of Buddha Dharma because this is all we can understand. Now the trappings are gone, and meditation has become divorced from Buddha Dharma altogether. This McMindfulness is something that Dzongsar Khentse has described as using gold leaf to wipe your ass. Khentse Rinpoche turned down google because they didn't want him talking about "enlightenment". For some meditation will open a door to Dharma and they will see through the illusion of meditation as a capitalist tool. The amazing book Zen at War, describes the support of the Zen establishment during WW2, and remember that the Samurai tradition grew out of Buddhist training. Buddhism is as susceptible to being co-opted as any other religion. Some people will find their way through the obstacle to find liberation, but most unfortunately won't. The important thing for all of us to do is to see the illusion, and then continue to question. The danger is in thinking that we "know something". All of the wisdom is contained in not knowing, and finding kindness and compassion for all of the other idiots out there who think they know something. peace&love
The way you laughed after the "none of which I did" was perfect, oh man. Just found your channel, immediately subscribed!
This is a perfect summary of the inner debate I've been having in my own brain for the last 3+ years.. Thanks for this it's amazing and love your vid essays! This is prob my fav one so far
I’m so glad you’re reviewing this topic and using a great resource!!!
Yep, a startup I worked at had forced 20 minute mindfulness sessions in order to get people to focus and be more productive. I hated seeing my coworkers fooled into believe that the firm cared about them. The game room, the fully stocked kitchen and bar, the catered lunches - these were all ways to keep people in the office instead of taking breaks. Same with the mindfulness sessions.
But what would be better?
@@MyTimelord11better pay, good vacation, good sick time, hiring enough staff so 1 person isn’t doing the job of 3, etc
So the benefits you gain from mindfulness are bad because they also help the company? I'm afraid you may be missing the point, dearie.
@@Uarehere . Really though, there are a lot of stuff to criticize in this merchant controlled materialist world, but complain about stuff that's objectively good for you and your employee is beyond stupid
@@Uarehere I’m afraid YOU’RE missing the point, dearie. Having 20 minute mindfulness exercises forced on one because it’s going to make you possibly “more productive” for the companies bottom line to be able to force you to stay at work longer is not good for us in the long run. It puts a bandaid over labor exploitation. And in the long run employees need time off, time with their loved ones, and not to be told to engage in eastern spirituality for the good of the company’s profits. One should be able to choose what they do - be it prayer, or yoga, or meditation, with their minds
The announcement of the ad break is so helpful !!!
33:23 . I did the opposite of wanting to run. This has been a really insightful video 💜💫🌸
Thank you for this video, this resolves an argument I've been having for some time with my husband about meditation, budhism and politics. You explained it perfectly, the thoughts of both sides of the argument were present here.
I'll leave you a phrase that I don't know how to translate but I guess you understand spanish, one that I think describes that unifying feeling of all of us being part of a same thing:
"Lo que das, te lo das, lo que no das te lo quitas"
I don't speak Spanish, but I put that into DeepL and it translated it as "What you give, you get; what you don't give, you take away."
@@LowestofheDead that's very accurate. I would add you take away from yourself or something like that.
man that last line was so good. love discovering small viddeoessayists, so many new insights. keep it up!!
Thank you 🙏🏼💖
This should be lesson 1 to every introduction to Buddhism in the West.
I'm so happy I found a channel by a young lad whose knowledgeably Buddhist! Also one thing I'll contribute that I feel is important for Buddhists:
How the Forefront of archaeology on matriarchal cultures makes the point that life is not inherently suffering, and when systems of community leadership work correctly humans tend to make life awesome.
Having studied some of the best literature and back-and-forth debates about matriarchal cultures, it really seems that for most of human history there have been times where most cultures have enjoyed relatively easy farming and living... UNTIL climate changes like "mini" ice ages or just shifts of temperature patterns really wrecked our s***** ( farms and animal Migration patterns) causing a lot of peoples to start becoming raiders, or to elect more of the newly-formed warrior cast of dudes to becoming leaders in order to better defend their communities, thus Shifting the Paradigm of leadership towards patriarchy and " Life as a battle".
Great video! One thing I want to mention is that meditation and mindfulness are not unique to buddhism or even the dahrmic religions for that matter. Christianity also has it's own history of meditation practices which go back at least to the middle ages in which practitioners focus their minds on an aspect of God. My grandma does this every morning. I thought it's worth mentioning because you used the phrase "saffron washing" and I believe that painting mindfulness as an exclusively Buddhist or eastern practice is an aspect of saffron washing (especially since the mindfulness practices they sell have so little to do with buddhism). Midevil christian practices are not as marketable to the mainstream secular people who want to be "spiritual" and above all else productive since most of those people think that they dislike "organized" religions. This is another aspect of both orientalizing and secularizing. Since they seem to think Buddhism is both more spiritual and more secular than other religions even though it's a religion like any other. It's got it's own benefits and shortcomings just like all religions.
I also find it funny that a lot of westerners who claim to dislike "organized" religion seem to love buddhism. This is also a form of orientalizing as well as playing into the "Nobel savage" trope because a lot of forms of buddhism are highly organized! Some sects have leaders like the Dahli Lama and in some parts of Asia, they have the infrastructure to support monasteries, which not even most protestant sects of christianity can support! They have doctrine and dogma just as much as the christian sects that these secular people seem to dislike and are highly organized. But most of these western people are not aware of this because the dont have as much interaction with buddhism as they do with christianity so they dont see many of its negative aspects or dont experience them as directly. Therefore, they are able to believe it's a more secular, more spiritual, less organized, more liberating religious philosophy (and not a religion). While ignoring the fact that it has a lot in common with the religions that they have experience with and take issue with.
Its not because they're bad people, but because they lack education. It just annoys me that McMindfulness tries to take advantage of this orientalism to sell people a secularized form of buddhism which is more marketable than any religion, but far less complete.
I'm not saying this because I'm a christian (I'm not although I was raised catholic) or that i want to promote christianity, but I am generally pro-religion and even more pro religious education. I dont like to see people pushing an incomplete version of religious teachings that oversimplify and fetishize religious teachings and pretend that this one religious practice will "fix" you without even providing context for why it's really beneficial! That's how you get harmful dogmas and cult like behaviors.
Wow this is eye opening, I used to be a fan of Zinn for some years until I had a realization meditating, that it was leading me nowhere. I felt like I was wasting my time and never figured out what was wrong until today, nearly 5 years removed from my daily hour long meditations. Thank you.
Its important to find a good teacher for beginners.
I feel the same about McMindfulness as I do about Stoicism for Salesmen.
Yeah, this dreaded Broicism
Brodhisattvas
what an oxymoron!
@@LowestofheDead I'll be stealing that. 😀
I recently saw a video by Doug's Dharma about "Can we be too equanimous?" and what the Buddha said about it applies very well to croporate mindfulness. Passivity and pure equanimity isn't good behavior. One must know when to engage, when to enact change, when to use force, and when to let go and feel equanimous. Letting go is important. But letting go of everything is also letting go of compassion. Compassion is more important than equanimity. Equanimity is a way to be compassionate towards others and oneself. But it's not THE way.
I sent this video to everyone I know who I think would appreciate it lol, including my therapist who has shared a lot of really cool thoughts on this phenomenon while still incorporating mindfulness grounding techniques in my sessions :) this dude did NOT MISS ONCE!!! fr
Thanks Elliot. As a fellow ADHD'er I appreciated/admired your clean professional delivery. And it was funny. Inspiring actually so nice work all round.
"buddhism without the buddhism" LOL, classic west
What's wrong with removing the whole religion BS wrong useful practises like mindfulness?
without the religious crap is just a silly exercise, with it yoga is cult indoctrination. Surprise surprise, lots of coastal liberals end up in new age cults that way.
@@Cookiekeks watch the video, edgelord
Wow, great video. Thanks for taking the time to make it. You’ve left me with so much to think about!!
Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there were a lot of practitioners who took meditation to the corporate world with stripped-down versions without any religious or spiritual context. It was sold as an alternative to taking anxiety drugs or self-medicating with alcohol or marijuana. There were similar things with yoga that just became a physical workout and all the “spiritual” aspects were trimmed away. New Age came concurrently with Milton Friedman and the neoliberal revolution starting first with Thatcher, Carter, and Reagan. I felt at the time it was a replacement religion because the religions at the time were counter to Chicago School’s hegemonic aspirations of unregulated capitalism, It also struck me that New Age medicine was a poor man’s alternative to regular medicare that he or she would not be able to afford as the new capitalism evolved and created more poverty to sustain more consolidation of wealth. The idea was coping for coping sake.
BTW, the New Age project was not as successful as hoped. It was the reason why so much effort and money were spent to transform protestant and traditional catholic religious values to fit the values of neoliberal economics and politics and reinforce the acceptance of wealth consolidation by the 1 percent. A lot of Calvinism was injected into evangelical christianity which was a big aspect of New Age philosophy if you recognize the ideas of predestination are both. The New Age is not gone and I see Jordan Peterson as a continuation of that project with the focus on the individual rather than on the toxic culture.
thank u for shining light on this
u do all of the world a huge service by posting
"Compromise is a part of functioning"
"...I lost a part of my soul, saying that..."
Yooooooo 😂 I FELT THIS TOO!
So a couple years back i was kinda fascinated with meditation and to a certain exctent was even interested in buddhism. I tried to learn about meditation and relied mostly, thought not exclusivly on secular sources. The whole "passive nature" of meditation was something that always seemed a contradiction to me and discourraged me from looking deeper into it, thought i attributed it (wrongly it seems) to buddhist doctrine. Your video really hit a nail there and im wondering if maybee i didn't look deep enough. You certainly encourage me to look at meditation and mindfullness from a different perspective, maybe im gonna take another dive into buddhism. Thank you for that :)
I love the topic of this video. I have been on sick leave from work and now back half days. I was told to try a meditation app, for which we get a premium subscription.
I mean that's neat and all, but I couldn't help but feel weird about my employer providing me with tools to better cope with problems they participate in creating. Although sure I started at the company "pre burnt out" from my previous job, and I am the only one who "broke" for now, but I can tell other people are very heavily flirting with burnout too, it's just a question of when.
Long story short, I am definitely getting McMindfullness vibes and the impression that I just have to fix myself.
Anytime a job recommends its employees get a meditation app, i say you run far away. that usually means theyre gonna put you in toxic situations but do nothing themselves to ensure you're mentally protected.
As a buddhist myself, it really hurt for me to see people in the west trying to make money out of mindfulness and meditation by collecting money from monthly subscription to meditation app and some of the teachings in the app might not even accurate. In my country, people can learn meditation for free at buddhist temples no need to pay any money at all because Buddha’s teachings are supposed to be free and accessible by everyone else.
Well thought and cogent. Thank you 🙏🏼 I appreciated hearing your discernment of the variables present in this discussion. I enjoyed the breaks and many of your background effects.
i'm not buddhist but i have been learning about it (in formal education settings and in my personal time) for around four years, and engaged buddhism specifically appeals so much to be as a school.
Killed it, Elliot! I appreciate you developing and sharing this video.
Such a great video thank you for emphasizing the teachings of buddhism at the end. Mindfulness without an ethical framework is just a baby in a crib. Helpless people flailing for some way to get out.
I need to rewatch this after letting it sink in for a week. your level of insight, the complexity of your opinion is mind expanding honestly. you put words to ideas that I just feel, but can't explain
What mindfulness does when you do it truly, without constructing a self to become mindful, without considering yourself "a meditator" strengthened by "meditating", is not disengage from the reality around you but instead *completely* engage totally and swiftly, without hesitation or attachment. If you have lied, you immediately confess, not toil it over. It is the ending of psychological time.
Sounds like somebody drank a wee bit too much power of now cool-aid
@@wishesandfishes 私はあなたを沸騰させます
So much respect for tackling this topic!
On the matter of helping people that you alluded to, a very important eighth century Buddhist philosopher called Śāntideva had this to say: "I must combat others' suffering [simply] because it is suffering, just like mine. I must do good for others because they are living beings, just as I." - Bodhicaryāvatāra (Entry into the conduct of the Bodhisattva), VIII 94.
That being said, what a wonderful video! I specialise in Indian Buddhist Philosophy and I just don't have the time nor the energy to engage with the flaming trash heap of conformist pro-capitalist propaganda that is "McMindfulness." So thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart ♥🙏
Your analysis of the whole phenomenon is really well thought out and I'm glad that something like this is now available for people to see. I was also glad to see you mention Kamalaśīla, what a surprise! I study one of his philosophical texts, but he actually authored three manuals on "meditation" which are very celebrated. For him buddhist practice is meant to be very analytical, a detail which gets periodically ignored by many.
This is what I like about more ethical side of Buddhism, no matter if it's Vajrayana or Sutrayana or Mahayana... It's very dialectical and intuitive. Anatman really points to collective lack of fixed essence and thus a potential for collective action and compassion.
I actually read John Kabat-Zin’s work upon recommendations from others when struggling with mental health. What you described is exactly how it played out. Becoming mindful without further direction can have a negative impact because you are suddenly confronted with all the negative thoughts you were struggling with in the first place. This is why I combined this mindfulness practice with a cognitive behavioral therapy approach. After you identify the negative thoughts that are bothering you and focus on them through mindfulness, you have to work to find the flaws in them, recognize that they’re untrue, and stop believing them. This breaks the thought to anxiety pattern. I haven’t seen anyone else identify that problem with mindfulness only in mental health treatment. Great video!
Thanks for this video Elliot, it always felt weird when corporations big and small co opt eastern spirituality, whether it be practices or imagery. I couldn’t put my finger on why but you laid it out really clearly.
WOW. Wow. Such a unique take it felt like to me. In a sea of blind criticism, your nuance is such a gift. You candor and your authenticity are felt. When we help ourselves or others; they are one in the same. Duality is real and it’s also not. Nothing in the universe can be separated from the divine, from god, from source, from the most high. It’s ALL connected. It is when we try to dogmatically pick and choose our truths that we get into running in circles. Thank you for sharing this video; your channel is so refreshing.
I find it a bit weird how mainstream leftist circles are very against individual self-work. You can and should acknowledge the systemic problems contributing to individual problems, and you can do that while working on coping mechanisms to deal with problems in your life. Focusing on finding peace with yourself isn't a bad thing, and it doesn't mean you're somehow hurting the fight for justice. That sort of framing almost feels cruel, like individuals should suffer and refuse to feel any sort of contentment or happiness in life until systematic change is enacted.
Thank you so much for this. You did an amazing job of describing the vast depth of the Buddhist religion that I have not been able to articulate. It's an amazing practice, I highly recommend diving into learning more about Buddhism if you are one who likes meditation and mindfulness.
It seems that mindfulness is being taught to boost resilience.
Resilience is great for coping stressful situations, however, chronic stress is damaging in the long term.
This form of mindfulness does not question the causes of the stress, which is why the Corporates like it.
Excellent video. Point well made and very precise and correct too. From 11:00 on - after the quote. Indeed, if the other "legs" of the practice such as ethical behaviuour are not there, it stands for nothing but the emperors new clothes. And sadly enough, it will not be able to fundamentally help those in true need of change. As for others it can become the sick excuse to get away with anything because "It doesn't matter what i do as long as i'm mindfull and sooo in tune with the moment". Indeed, "mcmindfulness" as a concept speaks volumes. Well done.
Wow! This was an exceptional video Eliot! As another practitioner of the dharma growing up in the West you definitely hit the nail on the head with a lot of the points you made.
P.S- Also, a Dominican Buddhist? I'm definitely subbing! 😂
As someone who teaches meditation, this was a great video. I've had to fight back against the argument that meditation and mindfulness are all about being more "productive." Sure, if you're more present to your situations, you have a larger space to which you can act, but a great deal of the mindfulness movement today is one where the exploration of suffering, of beliefs, of thoughts themselves both personal and social, are put to the side to make you a more efficient worker bee. To alleviate suffering isn't a personal goal, it's also a social one. These are not opposing points, but the same one.
Exploring the nature of suffering naturally involves the negative beliefs and story structures in your head *and* the ones we've constructed society around. These are not different, they are not "two" but they are the same. To paraphrase Jiddu Krishnamurti, we are society. It's tremendously important to see there's a much deeper pool of metaphorical water to explore here. Sure, you can start by being a bit more at peace and a bit more present, but what do you do, and what around you makes that so difficult? The answer isn't to become a stone Buddha, a sort of red carpet for every moment, but instead to explore deeply to see what ideas, attachments, and domains of thought are occurring that create the suffering.
Where, for example in this "McMindfulness" movement do we see the examination of social concepts and ideas that create suffering? It's all atomized, all isolated, all presented as individual issues. We've taken public issues and turned them into private concerns. Even turning meditation, a process of reforming real connections to your body, life, and world around you, and yet still found a way to assert outlines, divisions, and zones beyond consideration. Jon Kabat-Zinn, someone reasonably criticized in this video, has explored this deeper in this way, and a lot of the teachers on the west coast of America find themselves in this problem of being honest and deep while appealing to the Silicon Valley elite. In a board room of a company presentation, people are given the most basic levels of meditation and practice, and amongst their students and in their major programs, people are exposed to the real meat, the real depth that can be found here. It's like some teachers have to live in two worlds: one with the real weight, and the one to appease the inheritor class, and it's by appeasing the latter that helps push mindfulness to others.
Real mindfulness and meditation is like exploring the ocean. McMindfulness is trying to say a kiddy pool is the same as that ocean. There's more to this than going ankle deep.
Mindfulness saved my life in very real ways. SAVED my life. But I made the mistake of sharing my story with a boss. Boss turned mindfulness into a profit stream, despite my protests. She charges more per hour than a private yoga teacher. And completely overlooks the philosophy.
I just quit that job because I could not accept the way mindfulness was being used to line pockets. I feel totally abused and disgusted. For me, this is a spiritual practice. Using it for profit feels wrong down to my bones. There’s a name for this that Chogyam Trungpa coined, I believe: spiritual materialism. There’s no ethics and feigned compassion. i There’s also too much toxic positivity in the west’s version of mindfulness. They are obsessed with happiness.
It’s really deplorable how much people are charged. You want to teach meditation? Get ready to shell out thousands. You want to learn mindfulness with a private teacher? Get ready to spend hundreds to thousands too. Don’t get me started on the psychics who advertise mindful readings and charge $400/hr. Just nuts.
This is an unbelievable video. I watched it 3 times back to back upon finding it. Even though I’m probably saying this into the ether- you just leaped into my top favorite youtubers in one video. Thanks for this, and I’m so ready to dive into your other content!!
"Truing up" is jargon from the fabrication professions (e.g. machinists, woodworkers, etc.). It can either describe calibrating a tool or making the face(s) of two objects even with each other. For example, "one rail was standing a bit proud of the other, so I trued them up." Obviously, this exec's usage of the term was metaphorical, but, coming from the exec of an auto manufacturing company, it's not that strange of a term to use.
Excellently put. I've been struggling for a long time to articulate these concerns, thank you for creating this
I hope that mindfulness is the ultimate downfall of captalism. You can't ask people to become more self-aware and observant and it not impact their perspective on self and others. Although Mindfulness asks you to detach from the suffering and let it go, it also asks of you to NOTICE it. You don't just ignore that, you note it so that you don't react mindlessly, you choose how you want to act and change course.
This is so cool! I am taking Ron Purser’s class right now on Time, Space & Knowledge so I knew him personally when this video came out. I also work for Dharma Publishing, a sister organization of the one Purser teaches at: Dharma College.
So glad I’ve been subscribed to Elliot, this is so serendipitous!
Oooo this finna be interesting. Let’s get into manifestation fr. But alllsooo I hope u speak about ppl do other things like prayer and incantation which is like a non white version of manifesting
This went differently than I expected, and was lovely. Thank you for your thoughts :)
good comment