Recontextualizing Mindfulness: Theravada Buddhist Perspectives on the Ethical and Spiritual Dimensions of Awareness.
Article
Lomas, T. 2017. Recontextualizing Mindfulness: Theravada Buddhist Perspectives on the Ethical and Spiritual Dimensions of Awareness. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. 9 (2), pp. 209-219. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000080
Authors | Lomas, T. |
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Abstract | Although mindfulness has been embraced by the West, this has mostly been a secular ‘de-contextualised’ form of mindfulness, dis-embedded from its original Buddhist nexus of beliefs/practices. This has arguably deprived the practice of its potential to effect more radical psychospiritual development. This paper therefore argues for the ‘re-contextualisation’ of mindfulness, drawing explicitly on Buddhist philosophy to enhance our appreciation of it, and offers a contribution to such re-contextualisation. It presents a novel (in the context of Western psychology) theoretical model of mindfulness, drawing on concepts in Theravada Buddhist literature. In particular, it suggests that Buddhism identifies three main ‘forms’ of mindfulness: sati (awareness of the present moment), appamada (awareness suffused with ethical care), and sampajañña (awareness suffused with a sense of spiritual development). Although currently only sati has been recognised in the West, we have much to gain from also recognising the potential ethical and spiritual dimensions of mindfulness. |
Journal | Psychology of Religion and Spirituality |
Journal citation | 9 (2), pp. 209-219 |
ISSN | 1943-1562 |
1941-1022 | |
Year | 2017 |
Publisher | American Psychological Association |
Accepted author manuscript | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000080 |
Publication dates | |
May 2017 | |
Online | 14 Mar 2016 |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 15 Mar 2016 |
Copyright information | © American Psychological Association, 2017. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. The final article is available, upon publication, at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/rel0000080 |
https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/84vy1
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