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
AuthorsLomas, T.
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.

JournalPsychology of Religion and Spirituality
Journal citation9 (2), pp. 209-219
ISSN1943-1562
1941-1022
Year2017
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association
Accepted author manuscript
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000080
Publication dates
PrintMay 2017
Online14 Mar 2016
Publication process dates
Deposited15 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
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