Mindfulness initiatives will miss their potential untill they addresses the inherent restlessness of the mind.
Mindfulness has become quite popular today, and for good reason. As this article in Wikipedia says,1Mindfulness has been used to deliver several benefits including the following:
- Reduce depression, stress, and anxiety
- Treatment of drug addiction
- Support efforts such as healthy aging and weight management
- Helping children with special needs
- As an intervention during the perinatal period
For reasons listed above and perhaps more, it appears that mindfulness is proving invaluable in improving the quality of life and happiness level of a large number of people.
It is important to note here that the primary objective of spiritualism / yoga effort is similar to what mindfulness sets for itself. And the means are similar too, as the Wikipedia article points out – e.g. techniques related to meditation and breathing exercises.2
So, at first look, the goals and methods of mindfulness and spiritualism have some commonalities. But compared with the potential of what could be achieved, mindfulness will be condemned to underperform, unless it aggressively pivots towards spiritual philosophy and methods.
Mindfulness has not embraced spiritualism fully – and that is a problem
Mindfulness does not yet address the root cause of the problem it tries to solve. The problem here is the natural restlessness of the mind. As explained in my earlier article, the mind is continually bombarded with sense signals that come at it from the world outside. This is akin to living in a dark room where windows open and shut at random and, when open, allow in random sensory signals. When we experience the world in this way, there is only so much that mindfulness can do if it does not address our underlying situation.
Here is another analogy. The disturbances of the mind have been compared in Indian texts to ripples that move on the surface of water. The objective of spiritualism / Yoga is to stop these “ripples” to quieten the mind. Indian spiritual texts take us below the surface of the water and show us a continually moving rotor that is agitating this water. And they teach us how to stop this chaotic machine.3 Mindfulness, on the other hand, is trying to calm ripples on the surface without immersing the person into the water. Needless to say that such an effort is not going to be as effective as it could. Unless Mindfulness studies fully adopt the perspective of the Indian spiritual texts and accept that underlying characteristics of the mind such as desires create disturbances of the mind, they will remain constrained to surface level treatments that stay well below their potential.
Due to the above logic, I would encourage people interested in mindfulness to explore Indian spiritual texts such a Bhagwad Gita and Yogasutra and the meditation technique taught therein.
Recommended Reading
The Advanced Meditation Exercise (TAME) : This meditation technique is an incredibly powerful way to keep the mind peaceful. It is prescribed in Bhagwad Gita, the primary book of Indian spiritual heritage. It derives its power by activating three key things in us: detachment, stillness, and transformation.
Why TAME meditation appears to work better than other techniques: TAME meditation appears to be more effective than other meditation techniques because it activates three essential elements of meditation: detachment, transformation, and stillness. Meditation needs all three.
Footnotes
1: As on 18th July, 2021.
2: The mentioned techniques have been borrowed from Indian spiritual practices.
3: Rephrased, Indian spiritual texts shine a light into the mind and make it easy to understand the forces at play in it. A good example of this is illustrated in Yogananda’s excellent interpretation of the characters of Mahabharat in his commentary on the Bhagwad Gita. In the book he shows, how our mind is like a world filled with different characters that are jostling for supremacy. /understanding these characters brings clarity and helps introspection. Without this understanding, trying to quieten the mind is like trying to bring order to a dark room filled with dozens of animals that are fighting each other.
