Consciously swallowing a raisin is beneficial to your health and what not. It appears that companies are offering their employees, a course on mindfulness and this is one of the things you’ll be doing there, eating a raisin. Now don’t be fooled. The concept of mindfulness is of course the perfect invention to address the growing realization that this world is becoming so very superficial that we are no longer able to concentrate on one item for more than a few seconds. Mindfulness is supposed to be helpful in preventing burnout and depression. Why? Well everything that saves energy will prevent or delay exhaustion. Probably because burnout and depression are likely to result from or cause exhaustion of your (parts of the) nervous system. A course of Mindfulness will offer techniques of meditation and an opportunity to look inside yourself. Supposedly to help you become a better leader or a better colleague etc.. Now let me explain why I think there is something wrong with the concept Mindfulness as exploited this way.

Meditation is about resolving conflict

In the days of good old gurus like Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895 – 1986), who of course was no guru, the keyword was “fragmentation”. Krishnamurti’s aim was to make people aware of their distractions and neuroses to more effectively solve the problems of society. This awareness is the desired state of what he called a “serious mind”. Lets call it our ” attitude towards reality”, or maybe “Mindfulness”?
The prerequisite of such a “serious mind” is to be logical and sane and in turn this means being able to recognize the conflict between observer and observed. In this conflict, that we are constantly creating, we loose our perspective on reality and the truth. We therefore need an observational skill, that however can not be acquired overnight. Not by eating a raisin or a few hours of meditation I tell you. Resolving or avoiding these conflicts will, after a lot of practice, result in the freeing up or saving of intelligent energy. One of the things to let go is the kind of self centredness we call ambition. So it will be very odd to start participating in a course on mindfulness out of the ambition to become a leader, will it not?

This will not be in the Mindfulness brochure for obvious reasons. Creating conflict or disharmony is embedded in our personal and cultural genes and to alter it may be like going through a serious disease. The more change is necessary, the more painful it will be.

Mindfulness is now believed to help you acquire a skill to get more of what you already have plenty of, and to be better at what you’re already very good at. You may not yet see the conflict in that, but I assure you there is. It is with the same attitude we do everything else, that we are tackling a problem that is caused by this very attitude.

The following is also worth considering. First of all, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction therapy takes many weeks. Second, in a so called Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy mindfulness is only a part of a larger program to overcome stress or anxiety.

Reaching the unconscious part of the mind

In commentaries on Yoga, or “explanations” as you will, you’ll find that through discipline we will be able to use the conscious part of our mind to reach our unconscious mind (Osho, Commentaries on the Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali). This is a very important notion for our thoughts, constantly reflecting our conscious mind can otherwise never change or deepen and support our actions. In essence then a good thought can only become a rightful action when it has been thoroughly processed. Unfortunately, also the reverse is true and can even be dangerous. Bad thoughts will create a chaotic mind. Per definition self centredness will create unexpected dangers for participants in meditational techniques. Misguided self confidence will be one of the results and people thinking they can get away with everything will be another.

It is therefore we must take the argument one step further. Being an aware and mindful person, yes, it is what everybody wants. But you also want to be a responsible person, that is to be one with the world and not in conflict. Where division ends, a higher consciousness begins. Now try to achieve that while holding your cellphone, checking your messages and email, doing your job, pleasing everyone around you. No way a course in mindfulness is going to help you. On the contrary, it will make you aware that there is just another thing you will never achieve, peace of mind, being comfortable within yourself. Hence, there is another conflict. For the more feeble  minds this will mean being subject to depressions or another burnout.

So what we generally see, and it happens every time, a well thought through and otherwise valuable means of lifting up the spirit, becomes a mere vehicle for believers and achievers. It has happened with Cabala, Yoga, etc.., sold as a means to continue what it is you do as long as you balance yourself out with whatever they are selling you to do or what they want you to do. The problem is that we do not ask ourselves why we are in this or that predicament. Stating the obvious we are in this predicament. Burnout and illnesses resulting from energetic problems are a growing concern in the world. So wake up and turn this folly around.

Bottom Lines

There is nothing wrong with ambition. There is however something wrong with striving towards questionable goals. Especially when incentives to participate in courses come from billion dollar companies we will be suspicious. Everything presented as must have or something fashionable and hip we will have to be careful of. Why? In essence the techniques used are for discovering your own self and your own truth, not anybody elses.They require much more effort then can be achieved in a two day course. In that case, is it not just a little misleading?