Mindfulness: Traditional and Utilitarian

Abstract

This chapter distinguishes modern, utilitarian mindfulness from original, Buddhist mindfulness. It clarifies some of the cultural factors that have shaped the transition from the original to the contemporary approaches. It analyses and critiques some of these factors, particularly “here-and-now-ism” and the overvaluation of consciousness. It suggests that there was, in the original Buddhist mindfulness, a much richer and more fundamental resource for enlightened living than in the modern version and asks whether the modern version will prove to be simply a weak variant, or a step on the way to a more wide-ranging transformation of our cultural values.