The mindfulness conspiracy

Sun Jan 03, 2021 · 140 words

In Ronald Purser’s The mindfulness conspiracy (The Guardian), he writes about a fascinating perspective on the mindfulness genre.

Here are my 6 takeaways from the article:

Mindfulness says paying closer attention to the present resolves our suffering.
Mindfulness has been stripped of the accompanying teachings e.g. attachment to self, compassion.
Mindfulness advocates are unwittingly supporting the capitalistic monetisation of our attention which mindfulness purportedly solves.
Mindfulness attempts to deal with the symptoms (lack of focused attention) without addressing the cause (monetisation of our attention).
Mindfulness reframes troubles as the result of individual action rather than systemic conditions.
Neoliberalism wants pure market logic and mindfulness says “okay, here’s how you can focus on competing so you don’t think too hard about the social and political conditions that brought about the suffering.”

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