Separating the method from the madness: Mindfulness as a Technique not a Way of Being

Pace Jon Kabat-Zinn, who says mindfulness is a way of being that cannot be reduced to a set of techniques, I’m going to propose that mindfulness practice can indeed be considered as a bunch of techniques. One does not need to invest in its religious ideology to benefit from these techniques. For instance, one does not have to buy into the exaggeration of the ideological square and the privileging of religious experience over evidence and logic.

Quick Review – the Ideological Square, simplified yet faithful to the original:

1.     Exaggerate our wonderfulness

2.     Exaggerate their awfulness

3.     De-emphasize our bad side

4.     De-emphasize their good side

 (“their” = “not-us”)

Reference:

Jon Kabat-Zinn (2013) Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness, Kindle Version, Revised Edition; Bantam Books, New York