n e u f n e u f: jon kabat-zinn talks mindfulness to google

23 February 2008

jon kabat-zinn talks mindfulness to google

[1 hour, 12 minutes]

Seems he has rather extensive experience with the Zen literature out there, and has taken Zen meditation, trimmed off just about all of the teaching and offers this strippy version as a means to help Type A personalities calm the fuck down. I cannot fault his impulse, and might have preferred to present a version wherein he makes no specific reference to the teachings of charlatans, but there is value in this presentation of his none the less. Few, I hope, took note of any mention of so-called Zen masters, while all, I'm sure, got at least a breather here. I surely know almost nothing of Jon Kabat-Zinn, but this seems vastly more worthy to me than the bald guys in dresses making a living off of mystifying the daylights out of the already befuddled.

I just want to stress that this is not Zen he's talking here, but he is describing pretty accurately the way in. If you want to calm down, he's your man. If you want to wake up, it's almost the same as this, but you aren't exploring, or noting, or owning, or disowning the stuff that comes up while trying to keep your attention on your breath. You are learning its true nature as you keep dropping it and seeing how that works out. You are teaching yourself not to be fooled by your own thoughts anymore and to get in touch with your greater intelligence.

... Okay... sometime later.... I don't seem to be able to keep myself from mentioning that it really is too possible to clear your mind of thoughts. I have done it many times, and can do it at will. It does not prevent thought from recurring. Thought is necessary for a lot of things... like, say, figuring out how to pitch one of those fancy-fangled new tents, or how best to build a better mousetrap. I'm almost of a mind to take this down altogether, but I really do want to point out the merit of using this stuff to help people... even if you do not fully grok what it's about... instead of using it for self-aggrandizement, to get ahead, to cash in on a fad....

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