If you haven’t heard of mindfulness by now you must be living in the most peaceful, remote, tech-free place on the planet because that word is EVERYWHERE. Everyone is mindful these days. And in case you haven’t heard, mindfulness is a proven cure for pretty much everything. Doesn’t that sound amazing? Mindfulness will make you happy, more successful, less stressed. It’ll solve your physical, emotional and psychological concerns and even make you dinner at the end of a long day. Wouldn’t you be willing to pay a small fortune to have the cure for everything
I hope you’re noticing my sarcasm. I am an enthusiastic student of mindfulness which is why Mainstream Mindfulness gets me so impassioned. I know from personal practice it is a life-changing technique, and I genuinely believe it is benefical for all of us. But wow, most of the stuff I read about in mainstream media just… wrong. And that’s a big, BIG problem.
To help you understand my perspective please try this:
Do a quick Google search of…
1) Mindfulness
2) Meditation
3) Mindfulness Meditation.
What you’ll find is roughly 111,000,000 to 355,000,000 results! Therein lies the problem. There is a proliferation of information on the subject but our abilities to evaluate and use information is terribly lacking. The problem with Mainstream Mindfulness is our lack Information Literacy Skills.
I’d never heard the term “information literacy skills” until I started collaborating with librarians on the development of an undergrad critical thinking course. It stands to reason that if I’d never heard of it, then I probably was never explicitly taught it even though it’s been around for a while. The librarians effectively argued that information literacy is one of the most valuable skills of the 21st century, and yet I was only discovering it for the 1st time in my 30’s!
So what does this have to do with mindfulness?
Here’s a quick story to illustrate… Our experience with mindfulness is like a blind person’s experience discovering an elephant. The blind person touches the trunk and concludes the elephant is long, slender and full of movement. A 2nd blind person touches a leg and concludes the elephant is like a tree, strong and stable. A 3rd blind person touches the ear and concludes an elephant is like a fan. They are all right, but they are also wrong! The information they’re using is limited so they arrive at incomplete conclusions.
What would make Mainstream Mindfulness more palatable is if we recognized we are blindly discovering a hidden elephant. Unless we have done some substantial searching, we likely don’t have all the information. For example: in order for mindfulness to blow our minds and rock our worlds in the way everyone claims it can, we also need Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort – then this is where mindfulness comes in – Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. You see, it’s a MUCH bigger elephant than what is generally talked about. (And I have a lot more to say about the Rights but that’s for another post.)
All this being said, I remain optimistic. My impassioned reaction to this whole topic shows me I care and have expectations – I’m working on that. Because I appreciate my own ignorance and know what my search for truth has produced, I know it’s totally doable for others as well.
So what can we do about the problem with Mainstream Mindfulness?
First, we can develop our information literacy skills. What is that exactly? Simply put “information literacy” is the ability to find, evaluate and use information in a meaningful way. (And because I feel so strongly about this, here’s the link to read more: http://www.ala.org/
I share two quotes at the end that do a great job explaining info literacy and why it matters. The bolding is my personal touch.)
Information literacy is about being a lifelong learner, fully equipped to live in our information society and work in a knowledge economy. Being information literate is a non-negotiable skill in the digital world. If we really want to reap all the benefits that Mainstream Mindfulness claims, we need to first be willing to acknowledge our ignorance on the subject– not because we are stupid – but because we are only just learning about this ancient and exotic mental training technique.
Each time I go on a meditation retreat, I’m sure I will have a new ah-ha moment. I don’t know what the reveal will be, but I know there will be one. It inspires curiosity and the beginner’s mind. It’s also painful and revealing of how much work I have to do. Every time I demonstrate a mindfulness-based technique or lead a meditation, I humble myself because I am not a teacher, I am a student. I am blind. I have a life of learning ahead of me because this practice is ultimately preparing me for the moment of death. That’s right- mindfulness comes from a tradition that teaches us how to live and therefore how to die. That last little bit about death isn’t usually included in all the benefits of mainstream mindfulness. But it’s the biggest benefit of them all.
May we all be successful in elevating our minds and discovering the true nature of the elephant.
Great Thoughts on Information Literacy:
“To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information. Producing such a citizenry will require that schools and colleges appreciate and integrate the concept of information literacy into their learning programs and that they play a leadership role in equipping individuals and institutions to take advantage of the opportunities inherent within the information society. Ultimately, information literate people are those who have learned how to learn. They know how to learn because they know how knowledge is organized, how to find information, and how to use information in such a way that others can learn from them. They are people prepared for lifelong learning, because they can always find the information needed for any task or decision at hand.”
~ From the American Libraries Association Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report, released January 10, 1989.
“Information literacy empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals. It is a basic human right in a digital world and promotes social inclusion in all nations.”
~ From the Alexandria Proclamation on Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning. (2005). Information literacy | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
