Too Aware? The Downside of Mindfulness Revealed

DaltheJigsaw

I suppose there are pros and cons for everything?? Thoughts?

http://news.yahoo.com/too-aware-downside-mindfulness-revealed-000203645.html

DairyLama

LeonBasin said:

I suppose there are pros and cons for everything?? Thoughts?

On the whole I think mindfulness is helpful, but I don't think it's the best thing since sliced-bread, particularly when it's applied out of context.

seeker242

It seems Stillman and her colleagues don't understand that mindfulness means something more than just attention to the present moment.

DairyLama

seeker242 said:

It seems Stillman and her colleagues don't understand that mindfulness means something more than just attention to the present moment.

The problem is that these days people think about "mindfulness" in a number of different ways, both within and outside Buddhist traditions. And if we remove mindfulness from it's original context as an aspect of the Noble 8-fold path, then defining it in isolation becomes quite tricky.
Do we mean un-remitting and continuous attention on present experience, do we mean occasionally returning to the present moment, do we mean acting mindfully, or what?

fivebells

The eight-fold path includes "Right Mindfulness" because there is such a thing as "Wrong Mindfulness." If your mindfulness is causing you distress, you can change it.

The Agendas of Mindfulness

how

fivebells said:

The eight-fold path includes "Right Mindfulness" because there is such a thing as "Wrong Mindfulness." If your mindfulness
is causing you distress, you can change it.

The Agendas of Mindfulness

@fivebells
If there was not the potential of "wrong" mindfulness, "right" would never have been needed as a descriptor. This is no different than it is for any of the other spokes of the wheel.

I am neither supporting or denying the op's thread with this posting.

Sabre

seeker242 said:

It seems Stillman and her colleagues don't understand that mindfulness means something more than just attention to the present moment.

This. Plus they say they first did a test to measure a person's mindfulness. I don't see how you could really do that if we speak of mindfulness in a Buddhist context.

DairyLama

fivebells said:

The eight-fold path includes "Right Mindfulness" because there is such a thing as "Wrong Mindfulness."

I wouldn't say "wrong mindfulness", I'd say "incomplete or partial mindfulness". The impression I have is that a lot of people are practising a watered-down version of mindfulness, and not the mindfulness of the suttas.

DairyLama

how said:

If there was not the potential of "wrong" mindfulness, "right" would never have been needed as a descriptor. This is no different than it is for any of the other spokes of the wheel.

"Right" doesn't mean right as opposed to wrong, it means complete, or perfect.

how

@SpinyNorman

Not a wrong posting.........just incomplete.

No wrong concentration....just incomplete concentration?
No wrong understanding...just incomplete understanding?
No wrong thought.............just incomplete thought?
No wrong speech...............just incomplete speech?
No wrong action.................just incomplete action
No wrong livelyhood..........just an incomplete livelyhood?
No wrong effort..................Just an incomplete effort?
No wrong......................................................................?

Sabre

"Right" means both right and complete.
The complete part is the most important, though, because using that interpretation we can make sense of the order of the eight factors. "In one with right view, right thought arises. etc"

Hamsaka

Hi everyone, first post. Speaking of 'too aware' I went off to the big grocery-plus-everything store last night, something I put off doing until all I have in the house is toast and dry noodles. I've been off work for a week for dharma focus, spending most of my time studying, meditating, watching or listening to dharma talks of my teacher, so it was my first foray into the outer world in several days. I felt assaulted at that store, I felt all the edges of my ragged self complaining and judging. The varieties of water tumblers insulted my sense of self lol. Whoo, what a confrontation. I wasn't sad to leave, but it was distinctly MORE uncomfortable than usual. I go back to work on Saturday (I'm an RN) . . . hospitals are a special kind of 'hell' of their own. I'm sort of looking forward to my edges showing themselves, but that's only because I'm sitting here comfy in my sacred little space, hmmm.

footiam

LeonBasin said:

I suppose there are pros and cons for everything?? Thoughts?

http://news.yahoo.com/too-aware-downside-mindfulness-revealed-000203645.html

Most probably it is not the problem of being mindful. People say, "It takes two to tango". Would it be a disillusioned mind that is at fault?

DairyLama

Sabre said:

"Right" means both right and complete.
The complete part is the most important, though, because using that interpretation we can make sense of the order of the eight factors. "In one with right view, right thought arises. etc"

It seems to vary - for some factors "complete" makes sense, for others "skillful" seems to apply.

Dennis1

When the mind moves we know it. We can move it back. When the mind gets stuck we know it-we can unstick it. When the mind fails to focus we can see it and focus.
Eventually we can put the mind where we want it and it just stays there. In the mean time we can gain mindfulness and simply not be so stupid. Mindfulness is knowing your own mind. You cannot control your mind until you know it. Present time is only one place to put your mind. You are your awareness. You are not your mind. You would like to be aware of your mental faculties wouldn't you? Mindfulness is a necessary prerequisite for enlightenment. namaste

Jeffrey

Trungpa said it was 'complete'. That to me means you have surrendered to the dharma in a way that you are simply following the dharma. So we 'open' to completion and when we open the 8 fold will eventually bloom into awakening.

Daozen

One study (what was the quality? impossible to say) with ambiguous results. Hmm ...