Mindfulness and the Search for Meaning - Monk, Ninja, Doctor, Zombie

What is mindfulness? Is it therapy, a religious practice, a philosophy or a practical means of navigating the every day?

Using the stories of four archetypal characters - the monk, ninja, doctor, and zombie - this book unpacks the assumptions, motivations and expectations we now bring to the meditative practice of mindfulness. The four types act as our guides through an exploration of mindfulness and the deeply ideological debates surrounding it. The monk stands for mindfulness as spiritual purity, wisdom and enlightenment; the ninja self-mastery and a consummate zen skill and the doctor is the model of meditative practice as used in treatments and professional care. The zombie, far from being an aspirational model, epitomizes a common fear: mindfulness as cult-mentality.

Balancing Buddhism, Daoism, Stoicism, contemporary therapeutic paradigms and capitalist imagery with firsthand accounts from teachers and students, this is the story of mindfulness as a various, complex way of living.

About the author

Chris Goto-Jones is Dean of Humanities and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Victoria, Canada, and Honorary Professor in Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He is author of Modern Japan: A Very Short Introduction (2009).

Product details

• Authors: Chris Goto-Jones
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 15.12.2022
• EAN: 9781350215375
• ISBN: 978-1-350-21537-5
• No. of pages: 224
• Subjects: Guides > Health > Relaxation, yoga, meditation, autogenic training; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; PHILOSOPHY / Mind & Body, BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Mindfulness & Meditation, Philosophy of Mind, Buddhism, Mind, Body, Spirit, East Asian and Indian philosophy, Oriental & Indian philosophy