Sunday 30 March 2014

Guardian News - Thich Nhat Hanh: is mindfulness being corrupted by business and finance?

On 28th March 2014, The Guardian online published an article in the Professional>Guardian Sustainable Business section titled: Thich Nhat Hanh: is mindfulness being corrupted by business and finance?.

Here are some key quotes:
"Thich Nhat Hanh, the 87-year-old Zen master considered by many to be the father of mindfulness in the west, says as long as business leaders practice "true" mindfulness, it does not matter if the original intention is triggered by wanting to be more effective at work or to make bigger profits. That is because the practice will fundamentally change their perspective on life as it naturally opens hearts to greater compassion and develops the desire to end the suffering of others.

Sitting in a lotus position on the floor of his monastery at Plum Village near Bordeaux, France, Thay tells the Guardian: "If you know how to practice mindfulness you can generate peace and joy right here, right now. And you'll appreciate that and it will change you. In the beginning, you believe that if you cannot become number one, you cannot be happy, but if you practice mindfulness you will readily release that kind of idea. We need not fear that mindfulness might become only a means and not an end because in mindfulness the means and the end are the same thing. There is no way to happiness; happiness is the way."
[...]
"If you consider mindfulness as a means of having a lot of money, then you have not touched its true purpose," he says. "It may look like the practise of mindfulness but inside there's no peace, no joy, no happiness produced. It's just an imitation. If you don't feel the energy of brotherhood, of sisterhood, radiating from your work, that is not mindfulness."

As he puts it: "If you're happy, you cannot be a victim of your happiness. But if you're successful, you can be a victim of your success."
[...]
Thay was recently invited by the World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, whose favorite book is Thay's The Miracle of Mindfulness and who praises the Zen monk's practice for being "deeply passionate and compassionate toward those who are suffering," to the organization's Washington headquarters for an event that was hugely popular with staff.

This did not prevent some senior colleagues, who were nervous about how such a visit would be seen to the outside world, from criticizing the move before the event. The Economist did, in fact, publish a critical article.

But Kim remains resolute. He tells the Guardian he fended off criticism by pointing to multiple scientific studies showcasing the benefits of mindfulness.
[...]
He and a group of monastics spent a day at Google's headquarters, spending time with the senior management as well as leading around 700 employees through mindfulness discussions and sitting and walking meditation. So many staff wanted to take part that the company had to open up two additional locations to live stream his lecture.
[...]
At the day-long retreat with the CEOs, Thay led a silent meditation and offered a Zen tea ceremony before talking to the group of largely billionaires about how important it is that they, as individuals, resist being consumed by work at the expense of time with their families: "Time is not money," he told them. "Time is life, time is love."
Back at his Plum Village monastery, near Bordeaux, Thay says of his trip: "In all the visits, I told them they have to conduct business in such a way that happiness should be possible for everyone in the company. What is the use of having more money if you suffer more? They also should understand that if they have a good aspiration, they become happier because helping society to change gives life a meaning."
The trip was just the beginning, he adds. "I think we planted a number of seeds and it will take time for the seeds to mature," he says. "If they begin to practise mindfulness, they'll experience joy, happiness, transformation, and they can fix for themselves another kind of aspiration. Fame and power and money cannot really bring true happiness compared to when you have a way of life that can take care of your body and your feelings.""

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