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Yuppie Buddhists?
Cinorjer
Veteran
Submitted without a lot of comment because all I could do was shake my head.
http://www.wired.com/business/2013/06/meditation-mindfulness-silicon-valley/
http://www.wired.com/business/2013/06/meditation-mindfulness-silicon-valley/
1
Comments
I'd like to see meditation/mindfulness practice done in more schools as well.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=google+talk+meditation&oq=google+talk+meditation&gs_l=youtube.3...1704.7852.0.8118.22.20.0.2.2.0.130.1724.18j2.20.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.6JZjKzZGwJk
Bravo Google. Don't be evil, do good.
Power to the evil empire.
Go Buddha. Go Dharma. Go Google Yuppy Sangha. :clap:
My cousin did TM, he might be a Catholic or even totally non committed now . . .
People are cyclic and few have the stamina, will power and life circumstances to be a Pentagon Buddhist, TM yogic flyer or free range dervish.
OMYAHAHUM
as we heretics chant . . . :om:
I also think it's great that a company provides a bit of training in meditation for stress reduction. But, I've seen too many of these corporate sponsored attempts to create a happy, productive workforce. There is a huge industry built up to sell corporations a structured set of retreats and classes and lectures where the worker is presented with pop psychology and team building exercises. This is just the same old deal.
See, the entire attitude that pervades this article is that these people are special and live special lives and have a more stressful job than other people. I've lived that lifestyle and seen firsthand the self-delusion of importance that is actually at the core of their misery. You want real stress? Try holding a stack of bills and knowing that low paying part time job isn't going to pay all of them and the car has bald tires and is starting to blow black smoke out of the exhaust and the landlord just said he's raising the rent. That's real stress. Your little problems with meeting deadlines and wondering what private school you should send your kids to? Give me a break.
"All the woo-woo mystical stuff, that’s really retrograde,” says one of the meditation teachers as he dismisses most of what Buddhism has to offer. Since retrograde means moving contrary to the direction one is currently heading, as in changing course, isn't that exactly what the Dharma has to offer?
No, I shook my head because this company might as well be handing out valium pills for all the good they're doing. Meditation can relieve stress a bit. It's better than alcohol or beating the dog, I suppose. But if all you want is to relieve stress, it's better to do a bit of exercise at the gym.
Nitwits are annoying people. I don't choose to hang out with them if I can help it. But that's just because I have a little first-hand experience. They'll either grow out of it or they won't... in their own time and on their own terms. It may be that they will find a more fulfilling truth in that to which they currently pay only lip service. Or, maybe nitwit-dom will be too alluring.
Either way, I try to keep my nitwit in check ... which, of course, is not saying I'm always successful.
http://io9.com/how-meditation-changes-your-brain-and-makes-you-feel-b-470030863
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130213092309.htm
It does not offend me, or bother me in the least that they are introducing it in the corporate world. In fact, I think the benefits will be great for all of us, more mindfulness in producing products and a clearer mind can only help. Good for them. Meditation and it's benefits are not limited to religious practice.
I just see the way they're going about it here as nonproductive. Or should that be counter-productive? The quotes say it all. They demand results. If they invest an hour sitting in meditation, these driven people damned well better get something in return! And in the end, they might be a bit happier in their jobs, but what does that mean to the world? Maybe the jobs they're doing and the life they're leading should be getting in the way of their happiness.
But now I'm sounding way too cynical. At least their company is investing a few dollars into programs to help the workers. That's the amazing part of this story. Don't those silicon valley companies know it's all about getting the most disposable labor for the least cost anymore, and employees are an expense to be outsourced instead of a resource to be developed?
Personally, I'm not sure what to think yet. On one hand, I see the Buddha's disquieting existential questions subsiding into a form of quietism in which people simple retreat into jhanic bliss or pay trite lip service to the idea of compassion and kindness as a form of escapism or emotional cauterization to the injustice, suffering, and corruption woven into our systems and lifestyles. (<-Wow, run-on sentence!) If there is one common denominator to progress it is consciousness.
We need people to become <i>more conscious, rather than simply inured to and distracted from what is really happening around them. Can Kabat-Zinn-style mindfulness facilitate consciousness? Having read Kabat-Zinn's original work, I find it quite humane, thoughtful, and, yes, conscious. I think there are a lot of meditationteachers who, like Kabat-Zinn, are acting in good faith and trying to impart some more consciousness (and wake people out of mindlessness) into the secular sphere. Let's face it: not everyone will resonate with Buddhism, and that's perfectly fine.
But the more disingenuous appropriations that have come afterward that aim to ameliorate any sense of existential angst (or even low-level stress) rather than bring consciousness to the First Noble Truth of dukkha... it's hard to get behind that. It castrates the Buddha, and robs him of his sometimes strident and unsettling voice.
LOL Ok, so maybe that IS a touch cynical. But I happen to agree. ;-)
Hey, I also think there's really nothing wrong with using meditation as a means of relaxation, de-stressing or for whatever positive outcome is desired. But let's be real (cynical?) about it and not pretend it's all about any sort of Buddhist "spirituality" or philosophy in situations like this. It's about the company's bottom line. (That, and maybe avoiding that disgruntled, stressed out employee with a huge gun collection going over the edge).
It is a fact that many can attest to that quite often the fruits of meditation happen DESPITE our original and naive motivations.
It's like they are saying, "Oh we care about your health and we will provide you with this service, maybe even a meditation room" while at the same time working their employees to death.
I realize that each company is forced to act this way due to the intensively competitive business world they operate in - no individual company can decide to break the mold and not work their employees so hard because, like it or not, we are now all trapped in this viscous global economy. It really rubs me the wrong way, though - like when conservative politicians go on and on about family values while promoting an economy where both parents are forced to work in order to survive, are stressed, overworked, and the family unit is destroyed.
/rant over
And while I agree with the myth of multi-tasking, I am a fan of efficiency and nothing drives me crazier than someone who moves the speed of a slug and cannot well use the free moments in order to keep things moving efficiently. One can pay attention well to one activity at-hand and still move at a decent pace and with some mindfulness to things around them as well as just their own space. Not much drives me crazier than the person at the grocery store who has $250 worth of items in their cart and stands there while the items are scanned and bagged, and only at the end, do they bother to search their duffle-bag sized purse for their checkbook and write out the check. Not everyone has all day to stand in line at the store, lol. (can you tell that happened to me today? Yes, I need to work on my patience but other people need to work on some things, too, lol)
All times and all eras and all means of earning a crust are characterised , like all sentient life, by Dukkha. It just takes different forms. There was no golden age .
okay...... deep breath in..... and out...... okay, okay..... time to let it go......
All that being said... that doesn't mean that every attempt at creating a happy, healthy(er), more efficient workforce has no value. Sure, companies are motivated by the bottom line. If they offer wellness programs, the higher ups gets something out of it too - like employees needing to take less sick days, and of course people will work better if they're physically feeling good. But just because the company as a whole profits doesn't mean that the workforce doesn't. If a smoking cessation or weightloss causes more people to be healthier, then great! Same with stress reduction techniques -- and studies seem to show that activities such as meditation can really help people. And you can't know that all the employees will be too results driven to get anything out of it, or that it isn't helping them in some way, because you don't know them personally. Where companies get into trouble is that they aren't necessarily good at identifiying what is going to actually be useful so you can end up with some really annoying time wasting stuff.
Another thing to consider is that some companies are just out and out crappy to work for --being a temp data entry peon at previously alluded to company had very few perks and a whole bucket load of aggravations. The culture (in my department at least) was pretty much stereotypical ridiculous corporate culture. However, some companies do treat their people well. I've worked for good places too and can tell you that they exist. I've had managers that really did genuinely care about their employees and companies who were fair about what they asked of their people and had good benefits. So as much as I sometimes want to give an across the board thumbs down to large companies and their practices, doing so ignores the fact that not all workplaces are the same.