Work Pray Code
July 11, 2022 9:13 PM Subscribe
Carolyn Chen in Guernica: Buddhism has found a new institutional home in the West: the corporation.
I think all the teachers had some qualms about being forced to leave the ethical aspects of Buddhism out of the workplace. They were not being hired to make the employees more ethical; they were being hired to make them more productive.
I have SO many thoughts on this. I did one of the meditation courses mentioned in the article during a very low point in my career. I had experienced a profound disillusionment with my work, felt trapped, was thinking of quitting. I basically did the class thinking, worst case, it's a couple days to get my head on straight where I can be at the office doing this class instead of being expected to do work. I was curious about meditation and mindfulness. It felt like a good deal.
The course's legacy in my life has been so, so interesting. On the one hand, I still work there. I would say in the short term the course made me absolutely less inclined to leave. During the meditation periods, I did experience a profound sense of peace and gratitude that I hadn't felt at work in ages. You know, it's easy to forget how good you have it, working in tech. I totally understand that people might see offering this sort of course as a corporate perk as very cynical indeed. Like, wow, two days for my employees to be forced to sit and think about how lucky they are compared to the vast majority of humans all through history? Where do I sign?
On the other hand, I remained in crisis about my day job. I was doing work that I didn't believe was ethical and developed a real sense of clarity about that through meditation. I just couldn't hide from myself anymore. And in the couple months after I did the course, when I was still sitting every day, I changed up everything about my job. I took on a whole new role that I sold to leadership myself to try to mitigate and remediate some of the issues I had with my previous gig. I would say, on the whole, my whole relationship with work changed. Since that time I've changed roles, a couple times actually, but I have never considered a job that I didn't feel was totally aligned with my values. I no longer feel like I'm compromising my integrity or ethics doing the work I do, even though I'm still in tech. Do I make compromises to get along, sure. It's still capitalism. But I would say my brief mindfulness course bent my career and life in a direction I'm proud of.
So, man, I don't know. I'm really glad I got an opportunity to take it. The course I took very much deemphasized any connections to Buddhism or indeed spiritual practice of any kind; it was very much a "here are some brain maintenance practices that have been shown to be beneficial" thing. I would say for both my employer and me, it was a very productive use of two days. I'm glad I had the opportunity.
posted by potrzebie at 9:42 PM on July 11, 2022 [44 favorites]
The course's legacy in my life has been so, so interesting. On the one hand, I still work there. I would say in the short term the course made me absolutely less inclined to leave. During the meditation periods, I did experience a profound sense of peace and gratitude that I hadn't felt at work in ages. You know, it's easy to forget how good you have it, working in tech. I totally understand that people might see offering this sort of course as a corporate perk as very cynical indeed. Like, wow, two days for my employees to be forced to sit and think about how lucky they are compared to the vast majority of humans all through history? Where do I sign?
On the other hand, I remained in crisis about my day job. I was doing work that I didn't believe was ethical and developed a real sense of clarity about that through meditation. I just couldn't hide from myself anymore. And in the couple months after I did the course, when I was still sitting every day, I changed up everything about my job. I took on a whole new role that I sold to leadership myself to try to mitigate and remediate some of the issues I had with my previous gig. I would say, on the whole, my whole relationship with work changed. Since that time I've changed roles, a couple times actually, but I have never considered a job that I didn't feel was totally aligned with my values. I no longer feel like I'm compromising my integrity or ethics doing the work I do, even though I'm still in tech. Do I make compromises to get along, sure. It's still capitalism. But I would say my brief mindfulness course bent my career and life in a direction I'm proud of.
So, man, I don't know. I'm really glad I got an opportunity to take it. The course I took very much deemphasized any connections to Buddhism or indeed spiritual practice of any kind; it was very much a "here are some brain maintenance practices that have been shown to be beneficial" thing. I would say for both my employer and me, it was a very productive use of two days. I'm glad I had the opportunity.
posted by potrzebie at 9:42 PM on July 11, 2022 [44 favorites]
It used to be easy for me to laugh at this stuff and then my therapist recommended Headspace and I grumbled but tried it. It's done wonders for me, and there's no way I would have come to mindfulness/meditation on my own without its debased popularization along the lines described in the article. If you compare this to the way that capitalism has deployed religion in other periods (e.g. Methodism, which one historian has described as a "pitiless ideology of work" in the context of the Industrial Revolution), it's hard to get too worked up, though if I were from a Buddhist background I might feel differently.
posted by derrinyet at 9:50 PM on July 11, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by derrinyet at 9:50 PM on July 11, 2022 [11 favorites]
I don't laugh at this stuff - I am scared witless by the hideous, bullying dumping of responsibility.
Using mindfulness techniques to bind you to a workplace, linking your self-expression to your job performance, forcing the worker to find the meaning of the work they are doing - it is an abdication of managerial and ownership responsibility. If management cannot explain what the purpose of the job and its worth is, that is the fault of management, not the worker. If the joy of the job has been destroyed, it is management's responsibility to identify the problem and fix it.
To encourage a stronger identification between job and worker is cruel and crippling - a person should have an identity separate from their job; they have value irrespective of their employment.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 10:43 PM on July 11, 2022 [81 favorites]
Using mindfulness techniques to bind you to a workplace, linking your self-expression to your job performance, forcing the worker to find the meaning of the work they are doing - it is an abdication of managerial and ownership responsibility. If management cannot explain what the purpose of the job and its worth is, that is the fault of management, not the worker. If the joy of the job has been destroyed, it is management's responsibility to identify the problem and fix it.
To encourage a stronger identification between job and worker is cruel and crippling - a person should have an identity separate from their job; they have value irrespective of their employment.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 10:43 PM on July 11, 2022 [81 favorites]
While I, too, am a slave to money, I do try to keep a part of myself separate from work. Very difficult because my work is my hobby, as well (programmer, go figure, but I don’t care about finishing my own projects). Not everything I do has to be done in the service of capital and corporation.
Once in a while, I even remember that.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 11:02 PM on July 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
Once in a while, I even remember that.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 11:02 PM on July 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
At least for reference it's good to know just what this corporate mindfulness is a departure from. Bhikkhu Bodhi is a scholar monk and his essay The Noble Eightfold Path is a masterpiece of expository writing.
posted by little eiffel at 1:09 AM on July 12, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by little eiffel at 1:09 AM on July 12, 2022 [12 favorites]
Chen: Yes, and I think the other question here, to which I never got a satisfactory answer, is: Why meditation? Why mindfulness? When I looked at additional research, I learned that gardening can produce similar health outcomes to decrease your stress. Or just sleeping more! But nobody promotes those practices in the same way or to the same scale because there’s nothing to gain there. Several meditation teachers I interviewed told me that meditation is really hard and difficult to sustain, but here are all these companies touting it and claiming it’s making people more productive and improving their mental health. Yet there are all these other things that could be equally beneficial that people can do if they just get more time off work. But employers are unwilling to entertain that option.
emphasis added
posted by chavenet at 1:41 AM on July 12, 2022 [67 favorites]
emphasis added
posted by chavenet at 1:41 AM on July 12, 2022 [67 favorites]
Using mindfulness techniques to bind you to a workplace, linking your self-expression to your job performance, forcing the worker to find the meaning of the work they are doing - it is an abdication of managerial and ownership responsibility.
The beauty of a mindfulness practice is exactly in the number of employees who will end up with much more clarity about the extent to which their employers are exploiting them.
The kind of employer most likely to introduce a mindfulness practice into the workplace as a cynical exercise in corporate PR/brainwashing is also the kind upon which the introduction of any such practice is most likely to blow back; mindfulness is quite capable of making positive changes within a workplace despite the intent of those who introduce it.
So I don't think there's a single thing wrong with mindfulness per se. There are lots of things wrong with the motivations for introducing workplace-wide corporate programs of all kinds, but mindfulness is quite capable of subverting many of those because it genuinely does facilitate ethical behaviour and there's actually quite a high chance that a corporate mindfulness program could act as a gateway drug for deeper philosophical inquiry by significant portions of the workforce.
I'm also quite sure that there exist many compulsory corporate programs designed by people well aware of all of the above, programs that purport to teach mindfulness but in fact do no such thing and exist purely to sow doubt and promote cynicism about it; Embrace, Extend, Extinguish is a strategy applicable every bit as much to religious and philosophical systems of thought as to technical standards.
posted by flabdablet at 1:45 AM on July 12, 2022 [11 favorites]
The beauty of a mindfulness practice is exactly in the number of employees who will end up with much more clarity about the extent to which their employers are exploiting them.
The kind of employer most likely to introduce a mindfulness practice into the workplace as a cynical exercise in corporate PR/brainwashing is also the kind upon which the introduction of any such practice is most likely to blow back; mindfulness is quite capable of making positive changes within a workplace despite the intent of those who introduce it.
So I don't think there's a single thing wrong with mindfulness per se. There are lots of things wrong with the motivations for introducing workplace-wide corporate programs of all kinds, but mindfulness is quite capable of subverting many of those because it genuinely does facilitate ethical behaviour and there's actually quite a high chance that a corporate mindfulness program could act as a gateway drug for deeper philosophical inquiry by significant portions of the workforce.
I'm also quite sure that there exist many compulsory corporate programs designed by people well aware of all of the above, programs that purport to teach mindfulness but in fact do no such thing and exist purely to sow doubt and promote cynicism about it; Embrace, Extend, Extinguish is a strategy applicable every bit as much to religious and philosophical systems of thought as to technical standards.
posted by flabdablet at 1:45 AM on July 12, 2022 [11 favorites]
Ironically, Buddhism as introduced by Shakyamuni was very much practical, mindfulness-based practice. According to tradition, the Buddha's last words were "be mindful," and he resented and opposed the accumulation of rituals in South Asian religions at the time.
But as Carolyn Chen rightly points out in the article, "For the overwhelming majority of Asian Buddhists, Buddhism is a devotional practice." Buddhism gradually took on conventional religious elements even as its philosophers, in sprawling universities like Nalanda in present-day Bihar, churned out Sanskrit text after Sanskrit text on maddeningly difficult topics in philosophy and logic.
But the religious pageantry was left aside by D.T. Suzuki, Chögyam Trungpa and others who introduced Buddhism to the West. The end result is a Buddhism stripped of religious trappings that, in certain ways, is closer to Shakyamuni's teachings than any variant in the last 2500 years. Needless to say, the big divergence comes when these teachings are harnessed to the object of increasing wealth, which would be seen by all practitioners (including Shakyamuni) as giving into the unskillful desire of avarice.
Buddhism is at a crossroads. Its Western version is secular to an extreme. Its Asian version remains religious to the extent that surprises most Westerners who visit this region. Incense, gods, demi-gods, temples encrusted in gold and jewels, intricate ceremonies and rituals, Buddhist worshippers who pray fervently for success and wealth in their business undertakings and have little interest in meditation and mindfulness--these are the characteristics of Buddhism in Asia. Only a few sects and branches, among them Zen, grapple with the philosophical texts in ways that try to promote a mindful life--and most of this goes on in remote mountain monasteries. For just about everybody, Buddhism is religion with a capital "R," and that includes the temples themselves, who've made a successful business, at least in Japan, from undertaking costly funerals.
Believing that Buddhism equates to mindfulness erases the experience of most Asian Buddhists, who are religious in ways that parallel Catholicism and Islam--ie, devoted to ritual and ceremony and only vaguely interested in "mindfulness" and similar practices.
posted by Gordion Knott at 2:30 AM on July 12, 2022 [45 favorites]
But as Carolyn Chen rightly points out in the article, "For the overwhelming majority of Asian Buddhists, Buddhism is a devotional practice." Buddhism gradually took on conventional religious elements even as its philosophers, in sprawling universities like Nalanda in present-day Bihar, churned out Sanskrit text after Sanskrit text on maddeningly difficult topics in philosophy and logic.
But the religious pageantry was left aside by D.T. Suzuki, Chögyam Trungpa and others who introduced Buddhism to the West. The end result is a Buddhism stripped of religious trappings that, in certain ways, is closer to Shakyamuni's teachings than any variant in the last 2500 years. Needless to say, the big divergence comes when these teachings are harnessed to the object of increasing wealth, which would be seen by all practitioners (including Shakyamuni) as giving into the unskillful desire of avarice.
Buddhism is at a crossroads. Its Western version is secular to an extreme. Its Asian version remains religious to the extent that surprises most Westerners who visit this region. Incense, gods, demi-gods, temples encrusted in gold and jewels, intricate ceremonies and rituals, Buddhist worshippers who pray fervently for success and wealth in their business undertakings and have little interest in meditation and mindfulness--these are the characteristics of Buddhism in Asia. Only a few sects and branches, among them Zen, grapple with the philosophical texts in ways that try to promote a mindful life--and most of this goes on in remote mountain monasteries. For just about everybody, Buddhism is religion with a capital "R," and that includes the temples themselves, who've made a successful business, at least in Japan, from undertaking costly funerals.
Believing that Buddhism equates to mindfulness erases the experience of most Asian Buddhists, who are religious in ways that parallel Catholicism and Islam--ie, devoted to ritual and ceremony and only vaguely interested in "mindfulness" and similar practices.
posted by Gordion Knott at 2:30 AM on July 12, 2022 [45 favorites]
Needless to say, the big divergence comes when these teachings are harnessed to the object of increasing wealth, which would be seen by all practitioners (including Shakyamuni) as giving into the unskillful desire of avarice.
I'm quite sure that Christ would likewise have had a few pithy observations to offer on Prosperity Gospel and its assorted metastases.
posted by flabdablet at 4:06 AM on July 12, 2022 [23 favorites]
I'm quite sure that Christ would likewise have had a few pithy observations to offer on Prosperity Gospel and its assorted metastases.
posted by flabdablet at 4:06 AM on July 12, 2022 [23 favorites]
My first thought was “Prosperity Gospel” as well. If it’s something spiritually valuable to people and it can be twisted to serve corporate interests, of course it can and will be twisted to suddenly not be a contradiction in the message, but rather an extension of it.
posted by Mchelly at 4:46 AM on July 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 4:46 AM on July 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
which one historian has described as a "pitiless ideology of work"
This made me curious, so I looked it up. I found The Making of the English Working Class, Chapter 11 by E.P. Thompson, with the full text of the book available.
posted by clawsoon at 5:02 AM on July 12, 2022 [6 favorites]
This made me curious, so I looked it up. I found The Making of the English Working Class, Chapter 11 by E.P. Thompson, with the full text of the book available.
posted by clawsoon at 5:02 AM on July 12, 2022 [6 favorites]
Just a reminder that mindfulness isn't good for everyone.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 5:05 AM on July 12, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 5:05 AM on July 12, 2022 [6 favorites]
I've tried it. It did not have the desired effect! slMaron
posted by hearthpig at 5:39 AM on July 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by hearthpig at 5:39 AM on July 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
with the rise of the tech industry and the rise of the cost of living in the Bay Area, they increasingly found that they had to service the tech industry if they wanted to survive and make a living. And this came with certain compromises or adaptations to the teachings and practices to meet the needs of the tech industry.As parodied in the show, Silicon Valley.
posted by clawsoon at 5:40 AM on July 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
Just a reminder that mindfulness isn't good for everyone.I don't necessarily disagree with this, but AFAICT that's not what the linked paper is saying — it seems to say that too much mindfulness can be a bad thing, and that trying to be more mindful (or rather, practicing more "mindfulness-related processes") might be negative in people who already have a high baseline level of mindfulness.
posted by wesleyac at 6:12 AM on July 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Making of the English Working Class, Chapter 11
posted by clawsoon at 6:36 AM on July 12, 2022 [8 favorites]
Moreover, the more skilled a workman, the more intractable to discipline he became, ‘the more self-willed and… the less fit a component of a mechanical system, in which, by occasional irregularities, he may do great damage to the whole’... For the children, the discipline of the overlooker and of the machinery might suffice; but for those ‘past the age of puberty’ inner compulsions were required...Lean In.
Mere wage-payment could never secure ‘zealous services’. The employer who neglected moral considerations and was himself ‘a stranger to the self-denying graces of the Gospel’ knows himself to be entitled to nothing but eye-service, and will therefore exercise the most irksome vigilance, but in vain... It is, therefore, excessively the interest of every mill-owner to organize his moral machinery on equally sound principles with his mechanical, for otherwise he will never command the steady hands, watchful eyes, and prompt cooperation, essential to excellence of product…
posted by clawsoon at 6:36 AM on July 12, 2022 [8 favorites]
I'm sorry, but I went into this thread thinking that the title, "Work Pray Code", was a joke. Nope, it's actually a book title. Huh.
For decades, I defined myself by my job. I was a great coder and data analyst, the "answer man" when others were in trouble. I eventually came to realize that while my coworkers were living their lives, dating, marrying, having children, living, I was mindfully worrying over reports and graphs and data exchanges. I argued with myself over the choice of typeface on a report, for goodness sake.*
I was a "zealous" worker. But I'm not longer certain if this is a badge of honor, or of shame.
*OK, fine: you need to use a fixed-pitch typeface for a report that contains columns of numbers, so that the data aligns correctly. Also, differentiate between 1 and l and 0 and O. Also, don't use standard yellow on a graph; a lot of copiers can't replicate that. Wow, the hooks are in deep, aren't they?
posted by SPrintF at 7:15 AM on July 12, 2022 [12 favorites]
For decades, I defined myself by my job. I was a great coder and data analyst, the "answer man" when others were in trouble. I eventually came to realize that while my coworkers were living their lives, dating, marrying, having children, living, I was mindfully worrying over reports and graphs and data exchanges. I argued with myself over the choice of typeface on a report, for goodness sake.*
I was a "zealous" worker. But I'm not longer certain if this is a badge of honor, or of shame.
*OK, fine: you need to use a fixed-pitch typeface for a report that contains columns of numbers, so that the data aligns correctly. Also, differentiate between 1 and l and 0 and O. Also, don't use standard yellow on a graph; a lot of copiers can't replicate that. Wow, the hooks are in deep, aren't they?
posted by SPrintF at 7:15 AM on July 12, 2022 [12 favorites]
So... uh... SPrintF... which font did you end up settling on?
Asking for a... coworker...
posted by clawsoon at 7:28 AM on July 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
Asking for a... coworker...
posted by clawsoon at 7:28 AM on July 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
clawsoon: Courier is best for numbers. Yeah, it's a damn typewriter font. Kill me. It's available for all users. Eyes glaze over columns of numbers, so I used Arial for everything else.
Also, choose Goldenrod instead of Yellow for graphs. Goldenrod will work with most copiers.
And goddamit, you have me thinking seriously about this stuff again! You bastard!
posted by SPrintF at 7:56 AM on July 12, 2022 [10 favorites]
Also, choose Goldenrod instead of Yellow for graphs. Goldenrod will work with most copiers.
And goddamit, you have me thinking seriously about this stuff again! You bastard!
posted by SPrintF at 7:56 AM on July 12, 2022 [10 favorites]
Oh, and it's not a font. It's a typeface. A font implies both style and size. So, 12 pt Courier is a font; Courier is a typeface. And I am ridiculous.
posted by SPrintF at 7:58 AM on July 12, 2022 [31 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 7:58 AM on July 12, 2022 [31 favorites]
:-D
posted by clawsoon at 8:06 AM on July 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by clawsoon at 8:06 AM on July 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
Back in my late teens/early 20s (a looong time ago) I looked around at different meditation practices. The ones I looked at were insistent that if you "did the work" the changes would happen. Irregardless of *why*. So I just picked one, mindfulness (just following the the breath), and started practicing it.
Changes did happen.
posted by aleph at 8:06 AM on July 12, 2022 [8 favorites]
Changes did happen.
posted by aleph at 8:06 AM on July 12, 2022 [8 favorites]
Part of the challenge is that work *can* be rewarding. Working together, mentally and emotionally in sync with a team to accomplish something amazing, *can* be amazing - just take a look over at the JWST thread for a recent example.
But it gets used to burn people up and spit them out, to destroy the earth, to steamroll and destroy smaller cultures, to make war...
posted by clawsoon at 8:34 AM on July 12, 2022 [5 favorites]
But it gets used to burn people up and spit them out, to destroy the earth, to steamroll and destroy smaller cultures, to make war...
posted by clawsoon at 8:34 AM on July 12, 2022 [5 favorites]
MetaFilter: So, 12 pt Courier is a font; Courier is a typeface. And I am ridiculous.
posted by elkevelvet at 8:41 AM on July 12, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by elkevelvet at 8:41 AM on July 12, 2022 [8 favorites]
And goddamit, you have me thinking seriously about this stuff again! You bastard!
[pacino]they keep pulling you back in[/pacino]
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:50 AM on July 12, 2022
[pacino]they keep pulling you back in[/pacino]
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:50 AM on July 12, 2022
So many thoughts about this as someone who is a religious Zen practitioner. Mostly they boil down to "a sniper can be mindful" (has to be to do their job). Separating the ethical teachings from the practices of mindful awareness is a risky proposition. It may still bring benefits of course because the practice of being mindful seems to lead to the ethical teachings which are all just an expression of our fundamental potential for goodness.
And yes, I was also surprised the article didn't touch on the mental distress that can come with mindfulness practices, which are one reason having a teacher is so valuable. These practices come down to letting go of attachment to ideas of self and that can be traumatic for some people. I'm in a phase right now where i do practices other than sitting because sitting is too much for me at the moment
posted by kokaku at 9:02 AM on July 12, 2022 [20 favorites]
And yes, I was also surprised the article didn't touch on the mental distress that can come with mindfulness practices, which are one reason having a teacher is so valuable. These practices come down to letting go of attachment to ideas of self and that can be traumatic for some people. I'm in a phase right now where i do practices other than sitting because sitting is too much for me at the moment
posted by kokaku at 9:02 AM on July 12, 2022 [20 favorites]
I am a practicing Buddhist and the corporatization of Buddhism described the article grates on me. My own workplace is rife with this approach and our wellness center promotes these kinds of classes.
The secularization of meditation doesn’t really bother me because there are other secular traditions of contemplation and focus. For example, cultivating athletic flow states. Although I feel the potential dangers of mindfulness meditation are downplayed.
But to me raiding Buddhist teachings, terminology, and practices for tools to “boost mental health and productivity” or become a compassionate manager feels simultaneously disrespectful, appropriative, offensive, perverse, and maliciously missing the point.
I generally keep my mouth shut about it since I don’t want to get fired. But the constant pressure to redirect my spiritual practice to serve capitalism is tedious and distasteful.
That goes for medical professionals, too, who feel free to tell me I’m not getting pain relief because I am not doing my practice according to their extractive interpretation of mindfulness.
posted by skye.dancer at 9:13 AM on July 12, 2022 [35 favorites]
The secularization of meditation doesn’t really bother me because there are other secular traditions of contemplation and focus. For example, cultivating athletic flow states. Although I feel the potential dangers of mindfulness meditation are downplayed.
But to me raiding Buddhist teachings, terminology, and practices for tools to “boost mental health and productivity” or become a compassionate manager feels simultaneously disrespectful, appropriative, offensive, perverse, and maliciously missing the point.
I generally keep my mouth shut about it since I don’t want to get fired. But the constant pressure to redirect my spiritual practice to serve capitalism is tedious and distasteful.
That goes for medical professionals, too, who feel free to tell me I’m not getting pain relief because I am not doing my practice according to their extractive interpretation of mindfulness.
posted by skye.dancer at 9:13 AM on July 12, 2022 [35 favorites]
I think there are two issues here.
One, the practice(s) *do* create changes that *can* help you in your day to day. Your mind can be a better tool (and a better place to live in) with these changes and the Corporate types seem to be selling it for just that. In hopes you'll be more productive for them with these changes.
Two, a lot of people are pissed off that the rest of what goes with Buddhism is stripped off and discarded in this Corporate push.
But people should remember that this was the basic foundation/floor that underlies the rest. As potrzebie mentions above the changes the practice causes (can) seep out into the rest of your life in a "Buddhist" kind of way. But, people being people, it doesn't *have* to go that way.
posted by aleph at 9:40 AM on July 12, 2022
One, the practice(s) *do* create changes that *can* help you in your day to day. Your mind can be a better tool (and a better place to live in) with these changes and the Corporate types seem to be selling it for just that. In hopes you'll be more productive for them with these changes.
Two, a lot of people are pissed off that the rest of what goes with Buddhism is stripped off and discarded in this Corporate push.
But people should remember that this was the basic foundation/floor that underlies the rest. As potrzebie mentions above the changes the practice causes (can) seep out into the rest of your life in a "Buddhist" kind of way. But, people being people, it doesn't *have* to go that way.
posted by aleph at 9:40 AM on July 12, 2022
Hm… This article is obviously intended to focus particularly on the corporatisation of mindfulness, but that means it (or maybe just our discussion) slightly ignores the fact that there are secular branches of mindfulness that don’t have anything to do with the workplace.
I’m not convinced, for example, by the claim in the introduction that one of Kabat-Zinn’s aims in developing secular mindfulness, was to increase productivity. AFAIK it was much more aimed at offering a new tool to help people alleviate the suffering caused by chronic anxiety, depression or physical pain (and yes, I know that if someone’s anxiety or depression is caused by terrible working conditions, prioritising giving them a tool to endure more and more suffering makes you a tool in the capitalist armoury; on the other hand if we’re stuck in this capitalist system, I’ll take a tool to help me reduce the suffering it causes me, while I wait for the revolution, thanks.) I guess, arguably, he was seeking to loosen the monopoly that pharmaceutical companies have historically had on the treatment of chronic physical and mental pain.
It’s complex, I guess. I mean, I first discovered mindfulness via the very well-watched video of Kabat-Zinn presenting at google, when it was posted here probably about 15 years ago, so he clearly didn’t hold back from the corporate embrace. But that corporate backing enabled it to be presented, videoed and disseminated to a wide audience including me, who has used mindfulness to manage my health and happiness for a decade and a half, without ever having my employers involved in the process one iota. As a side note, I also garden too, which is also great for my health and happiness and has probably cost me more in seeds, compost, canes etc. than my mindfulness practice has done over the years, so I await the article laying into Big Gardening for turning us all into artificially-content capitalist worker drones. (I’m being flippant, obvs: I’m relatively fortunate with my working conditions right now; my employer has never forced me into mindfulness training; I realise others have different experiences - I’m just observing that Western mindfulness is not only ever a corporate tool.)
Also: If you don’t have time to read the article, Mad Men pretty much summed it up in one 30-second cliff-top scene…
posted by penguin pie at 9:44 AM on July 12, 2022 [9 favorites]
I’m not convinced, for example, by the claim in the introduction that one of Kabat-Zinn’s aims in developing secular mindfulness, was to increase productivity. AFAIK it was much more aimed at offering a new tool to help people alleviate the suffering caused by chronic anxiety, depression or physical pain (and yes, I know that if someone’s anxiety or depression is caused by terrible working conditions, prioritising giving them a tool to endure more and more suffering makes you a tool in the capitalist armoury; on the other hand if we’re stuck in this capitalist system, I’ll take a tool to help me reduce the suffering it causes me, while I wait for the revolution, thanks.) I guess, arguably, he was seeking to loosen the monopoly that pharmaceutical companies have historically had on the treatment of chronic physical and mental pain.
It’s complex, I guess. I mean, I first discovered mindfulness via the very well-watched video of Kabat-Zinn presenting at google, when it was posted here probably about 15 years ago, so he clearly didn’t hold back from the corporate embrace. But that corporate backing enabled it to be presented, videoed and disseminated to a wide audience including me, who has used mindfulness to manage my health and happiness for a decade and a half, without ever having my employers involved in the process one iota. As a side note, I also garden too, which is also great for my health and happiness and has probably cost me more in seeds, compost, canes etc. than my mindfulness practice has done over the years, so I await the article laying into Big Gardening for turning us all into artificially-content capitalist worker drones. (I’m being flippant, obvs: I’m relatively fortunate with my working conditions right now; my employer has never forced me into mindfulness training; I realise others have different experiences - I’m just observing that Western mindfulness is not only ever a corporate tool.)
Also: If you don’t have time to read the article, Mad Men pretty much summed it up in one 30-second cliff-top scene…
posted by penguin pie at 9:44 AM on July 12, 2022 [9 favorites]
One thing I've learned about while listening to Lady Cee and JT talk about high demand organizations like the Jehovah's Witnesses is how they use all sorts of emotional techniques to tie you to the organization, isolate you from friends and family who aren't onboard with the organization's goals, and extract as much as possible from you.
But... when you become old or disabled and can no longer produce, they tell you that the family and friends they previously isolated you from should be the ones taking care of you.
Which kinda reminds me of the best, most productive, most inspiring modern corporations. Give your all to the company, even if it means sacrificing the rest of your relationships. Notice how good you feel when you're at work and onboard with the company mission, when your team is firing on all cylinders and your mindfulness practises and productivity hacks are putting you in the perfect state of flow. Notice how bad you feel when you're at home arguing with partners and children who you're growing increasingly distant from.
There's an implicit promise of family in "we're in this together", but when you become old or disabled and can no longer produce...
posted by clawsoon at 10:11 AM on July 12, 2022 [8 favorites]
But... when you become old or disabled and can no longer produce, they tell you that the family and friends they previously isolated you from should be the ones taking care of you.
Which kinda reminds me of the best, most productive, most inspiring modern corporations. Give your all to the company, even if it means sacrificing the rest of your relationships. Notice how good you feel when you're at work and onboard with the company mission, when your team is firing on all cylinders and your mindfulness practises and productivity hacks are putting you in the perfect state of flow. Notice how bad you feel when you're at home arguing with partners and children who you're growing increasingly distant from.
There's an implicit promise of family in "we're in this together", but when you become old or disabled and can no longer produce...
posted by clawsoon at 10:11 AM on July 12, 2022 [8 favorites]
If we're going to continue secularizing religions for use in the workplace... I suggest Catholic style confessional booths where HR can listen to your sins.
posted by joelr at 10:25 AM on July 12, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by joelr at 10:25 AM on July 12, 2022 [11 favorites]
Two, a lot of people are pissed off that the rest of what goes with Buddhism is stripped off and discarded in this Corporate push.
I want to emphasize that this is not solely a corporate phenomenon, it is a feature of capitalist and colonial systems. Academics and entrepreneurs have enthusiastically mined traditional knowledges for exploitable, decontextualized nuggets. Other examples include Maslow’s hierarchy of needs extracted from Blackfoot beliefs and Plastic shamanism.
posted by skye.dancer at 10:31 AM on July 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
I want to emphasize that this is not solely a corporate phenomenon, it is a feature of capitalist and colonial systems. Academics and entrepreneurs have enthusiastically mined traditional knowledges for exploitable, decontextualized nuggets. Other examples include Maslow’s hierarchy of needs extracted from Blackfoot beliefs and Plastic shamanism.
posted by skye.dancer at 10:31 AM on July 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
If we're going to continue secularizing religions for use in the workplace... I suggest Catholic style confessional booths where HR can listen to your sins.
These exist to a certain extent in the form of periodic performance reviews and self-evaluations, where you are required to list several "areas of improvement" you plan to work on during the next [xx] months.
posted by cynical pinnacle at 10:33 AM on July 12, 2022 [12 favorites]
These exist to a certain extent in the form of periodic performance reviews and self-evaluations, where you are required to list several "areas of improvement" you plan to work on during the next [xx] months.
posted by cynical pinnacle at 10:33 AM on July 12, 2022 [12 favorites]
I suggest Catholic style confessional booths where HR can listen to your sins.
Agile 3.0 scrums, coming soon to a team near you.
posted by clawsoon at 10:42 AM on July 12, 2022
Agile 3.0 scrums, coming soon to a team near you.
posted by clawsoon at 10:42 AM on July 12, 2022
Things I have done that I ought not to have done, and things I have left undone that I ought to have done.
posted by clew at 10:45 AM on July 12, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by clew at 10:45 AM on July 12, 2022 [6 favorites]
I suggest Catholic style confessional booths where HR can listen to your sins.
that will be 7 "our leader"s and 10 "hail profit"s - go forth and sin no more
posted by pyramid termite at 11:52 AM on July 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
that will be 7 "our leader"s and 10 "hail profit"s - go forth and sin no more
posted by pyramid termite at 11:52 AM on July 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
that will be 7 "our leader"s and 10 "hail profit"s - go forth and sin no more
That sounds like the world's laziest Performance Improvement Plan.
posted by clawsoon at 12:01 PM on July 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
That sounds like the world's laziest Performance Improvement Plan.
posted by clawsoon at 12:01 PM on July 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
If management cannot explain what the purpose of the job and its worth is, that is the fault of management, not the worker. If the joy of the job has been destroyed, it is management's responsibility to identify the problem and fix it.
Eh, "the joy of the job" is a pretty subjective thing. While I certainly have been unhappy at various times due to things that employers have imposed on me (it's one of the reasons I'm an active union member!), I don't really think my employer is responsible for such ineffable things as making me feel a sense of worth, purpose, or joy about my work.
Two employees doing the same exact work might feel very differently about that work. Ultimately, the construction/perception of meaning and satisfaction in one's work are personal philosophical problems. And waiting passively for one's employer to make one feel a certain way about one's job seems like a recipe for perpetual resentment and unhappiness.
That said, employers can -- and should! -- be held accountable for are more concrete, quantifiable aspects of working conditions.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 1:04 PM on July 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
Eh, "the joy of the job" is a pretty subjective thing. While I certainly have been unhappy at various times due to things that employers have imposed on me (it's one of the reasons I'm an active union member!), I don't really think my employer is responsible for such ineffable things as making me feel a sense of worth, purpose, or joy about my work.
Two employees doing the same exact work might feel very differently about that work. Ultimately, the construction/perception of meaning and satisfaction in one's work are personal philosophical problems. And waiting passively for one's employer to make one feel a certain way about one's job seems like a recipe for perpetual resentment and unhappiness.
That said, employers can -- and should! -- be held accountable for are more concrete, quantifiable aspects of working conditions.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 1:04 PM on July 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
In the contest between this and Soka Gakkai, I'm not sure who wins, but I think we all lose.
posted by 1adam12 at 2:41 PM on July 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by 1adam12 at 2:41 PM on July 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
Being married to someone who studies historical Buddhism, I have an instant repulsion towards Buddhist modernism. I spent a year living in Japan, visiting various temples with my spouse and seeing Buddhism as an active, lived religion, not a a philosophy devoid of gods and ritual. I suppose it's the view that seems to come with it, that this is the true Buddhism, stripped of all supernatural stuff, when that supernatural stuff is the core of Buddhism for the majority of practitioners. I feel like the promotion of corporate Buddhist practices, removed from their context, is just a continuation of this. A means of saying that the West is getting this right, while everyone else is wrong.
I understand that Buddhist modernism is its own religion, a modern interpretation of Buddhism and thus is not a corruption of true Buddhism (the Lotus Sutra talks about expedient means quite a bit), but I really wish that there was some acknowledgement of important ideas and philosophies in there. It feels a bit like taking the ritual of the blessing of the wine and bread in for communion in Christianity and turning that into a practice for improving your mood. I have trouble balancing the facts that meditation is helpful to so many versus the colonialism present with how Buddhism gets viewed in the West (the phrase "Buddhism has no gods" is guaranteed to set me off).
I suppose in the end it's helping people and, in the view of Buddhist practicioners who are teaching this, bringing people closer to the dharma. Expedient means and all that. That doesn't mean I've quelled the urge to hijack a corporate mindfulness session with a statue of Amitabha and lead people in a recitation of part of the Lotus Sutra, insisting this will give them more merit than any mediation could.
(on preview, 1adam12 probably said it better about Soka Gakkai than I did)
posted by Hactar at 2:57 PM on July 12, 2022 [10 favorites]
I understand that Buddhist modernism is its own religion, a modern interpretation of Buddhism and thus is not a corruption of true Buddhism (the Lotus Sutra talks about expedient means quite a bit), but I really wish that there was some acknowledgement of important ideas and philosophies in there. It feels a bit like taking the ritual of the blessing of the wine and bread in for communion in Christianity and turning that into a practice for improving your mood. I have trouble balancing the facts that meditation is helpful to so many versus the colonialism present with how Buddhism gets viewed in the West (the phrase "Buddhism has no gods" is guaranteed to set me off).
I suppose in the end it's helping people and, in the view of Buddhist practicioners who are teaching this, bringing people closer to the dharma. Expedient means and all that. That doesn't mean I've quelled the urge to hijack a corporate mindfulness session with a statue of Amitabha and lead people in a recitation of part of the Lotus Sutra, insisting this will give them more merit than any mediation could.
(on preview, 1adam12 probably said it better about Soka Gakkai than I did)
posted by Hactar at 2:57 PM on July 12, 2022 [10 favorites]
lol came in here to basically say what skye.dancer and hactar have said already.
posted by nixon's meatloaf at 3:02 PM on July 12, 2022
posted by nixon's meatloaf at 3:02 PM on July 12, 2022
(but just to be persnickety: it's not as though buddhism hasn't been captured repeatedly by the ruling class of various countries and used to promulgate ruling-class ideology throughout its history; corporate mindfulness and other sort of let's bolt Buddhist concepts onto Taylorism and prosperity theology culturally preexisting feels like that. still don't like it. but it's not without historical precedent)
posted by nixon's meatloaf at 3:05 PM on July 12, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by nixon's meatloaf at 3:05 PM on July 12, 2022 [5 favorites]
it's not as though buddhism hasn't been captured repeatedly by the ruling class of various countries and used to promulgate ruling-class ideology throughout its history
This is a great point. I would even say: the implied ideal of religion as a zone of spiritual practice that is entirely private and disconnected from the social and economic life of a community is itself far more modern and secular than even corporate Buddhism. Which isn't to say it's bad. It's just, historically, that's what religion has been—something that interweaves with farming and trading and warfare on every level, and corporate mindfulness is just the latest iteration of that.
posted by derrinyet at 5:27 PM on July 12, 2022 [7 favorites]
This is a great point. I would even say: the implied ideal of religion as a zone of spiritual practice that is entirely private and disconnected from the social and economic life of a community is itself far more modern and secular than even corporate Buddhism. Which isn't to say it's bad. It's just, historically, that's what religion has been—something that interweaves with farming and trading and warfare on every level, and corporate mindfulness is just the latest iteration of that.
posted by derrinyet at 5:27 PM on July 12, 2022 [7 favorites]
That doesn't mean I've quelled the urge to hijack a corporate mindfulness session with a statue of Amitabha and lead people in a recitation of part of the Lotus Sutra
PROSTRATE BEFORE THIS MUTHAFUKKASSSSSS
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:17 PM on July 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
PROSTRATE BEFORE THIS MUTHAFUKKASSSSSS
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:17 PM on July 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
but mindfulness is quite capable of subverting many of those because it genuinely does facilitate ethical behaviour and there's actually quite a high chance that a corporate mindfulness program could act as a gateway drug for deeper philosophical inquiry by significant portions of the workforce.
I call bullshit on this line of reasoning. Mindfulness training does not facilitate ethical behavior, it's an a-ethical tool legitimized by a veneer of scientific understanding. A capitalist mindfulness program is much more likely to confuse over-educated white-collar workers to rationalize, compartmentalize, and obscure capitalist ideology.
Sure, allow a sliver of hope for such tools, but don't confuse the individualistic relief provided by mindfulness--or psychotherapy or psychiatry for that matter--for any kind of actual social movement the professor is talking about, or "subversion". People subvert. Mindfulness has no agency.
posted by polymodus at 1:42 AM on July 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
I call bullshit on this line of reasoning. Mindfulness training does not facilitate ethical behavior, it's an a-ethical tool legitimized by a veneer of scientific understanding. A capitalist mindfulness program is much more likely to confuse over-educated white-collar workers to rationalize, compartmentalize, and obscure capitalist ideology.
Sure, allow a sliver of hope for such tools, but don't confuse the individualistic relief provided by mindfulness--or psychotherapy or psychiatry for that matter--for any kind of actual social movement the professor is talking about, or "subversion". People subvert. Mindfulness has no agency.
posted by polymodus at 1:42 AM on July 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
After reading about Wesley's enthusiasm for beating the sin out of kids so that they'd make good little factory workers, and a night's sleep full of dreams about missing my coworkers, I've woken up with a half-baked theory:
Maybe we produce emotionally/spiritually/socially stunted people on purpose so that endless factory or office work seems fulfilling by comparison. Maybe that explains why so many of our technocrats and technocratic minions seem so emotionally and spiritually stunted. Maybe part of the point of toxic masculinity is to warp childhood development - maybe especially to warp the development of smart, sensitive kids? - so that work will come as a relief, as a spiritual and social outlet, as an imperfect balm that's better than no balm at all.
posted by clawsoon at 3:02 AM on July 13, 2022 [13 favorites]
Maybe we produce emotionally/spiritually/socially stunted people on purpose so that endless factory or office work seems fulfilling by comparison. Maybe that explains why so many of our technocrats and technocratic minions seem so emotionally and spiritually stunted. Maybe part of the point of toxic masculinity is to warp childhood development - maybe especially to warp the development of smart, sensitive kids? - so that work will come as a relief, as a spiritual and social outlet, as an imperfect balm that's better than no balm at all.
posted by clawsoon at 3:02 AM on July 13, 2022 [13 favorites]
That's an interesting thought, clawsoon. But I wonder who would have I been in an earlier century. Most likely I'd have grown up on a farm, beaten into submission by my Dad. Hell, I'd be dead by now, by his hand or by my own.
posted by SPrintF at 7:39 AM on July 13, 2022
posted by SPrintF at 7:39 AM on July 13, 2022
it genuinely does facilitate ethical behaviour and there's actually quite a high chance that a corporate mindfulness program could act as a gateway drug for deeper philosophical inquiry
This was exactly what happened about half the time in the Big Bureaucracy where I used to work. Introduction of a Kabat-Zinn style mindfulness program resulted in an increase in not only resignations and requests for reassignment but also whistle-blowing. Some people reported increased their equanimity in the face of everyday workplace hassles. Only a relatively small number found it useless.
Mindfulness is definitely "an a-ethical tool," but like all such tools, it can be used for positive purposes as well as negative. Declaring it useless or harmful for everybody is just as silly as embracing it as a panacea.
(The last I heard, the powers-that-be at Big Bureaucracy had substantially watered down the training and shortened the time allowed for it. It seems that they saw its effectiveness even if not all the employees did. )
posted by rpfields at 8:32 AM on July 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
This was exactly what happened about half the time in the Big Bureaucracy where I used to work. Introduction of a Kabat-Zinn style mindfulness program resulted in an increase in not only resignations and requests for reassignment but also whistle-blowing. Some people reported increased their equanimity in the face of everyday workplace hassles. Only a relatively small number found it useless.
Mindfulness is definitely "an a-ethical tool," but like all such tools, it can be used for positive purposes as well as negative. Declaring it useless or harmful for everybody is just as silly as embracing it as a panacea.
(The last I heard, the powers-that-be at Big Bureaucracy had substantially watered down the training and shortened the time allowed for it. It seems that they saw its effectiveness even if not all the employees did. )
posted by rpfields at 8:32 AM on July 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
The last I heard, the powers-that-be at Big Bureaucracy had substantially watered down the training and shortened the time allowed for it.
Management, to employees: use mindfulness to center yourselves and connect with what you really value
*employees begin to resign and whistle-blow*
Management: no no not like that
posted by obliterati at 9:22 AM on July 13, 2022 [10 favorites]
Management, to employees: use mindfulness to center yourselves and connect with what you really value
*employees begin to resign and whistle-blow*
Management: no no not like that
posted by obliterati at 9:22 AM on July 13, 2022 [10 favorites]
That's an interesting thought, clawsoon. But I wonder who would have I been in an earlier century. Most likely I'd have grown up on a farm, beaten into submission by my Dad. Hell, I'd be dead by now, by his hand or by my own.
It might've depended on which century. I've been getting the vague impression that there was some ebb and flow in domestic violence and the violence from above that intertwined with it. There seemed to be plenty of sporadic violence in the medieval era, but it wasn't until the early modern era with the slave trade and second serfdom and the industrious revolution and the industrial revolution that downward violence started becoming a steady, ever-increasing pressure. In some times and places you might've had the social and mental freedom to run away to a relative, while in others you might've been locked in a rigid social and mental system that blocked any possibility of escape.
...though I should say that I do take your point that producing emotionally and socially stunted kids via violent parenting is not at all a new thing.
posted by clawsoon at 9:55 AM on July 13, 2022
It might've depended on which century. I've been getting the vague impression that there was some ebb and flow in domestic violence and the violence from above that intertwined with it. There seemed to be plenty of sporadic violence in the medieval era, but it wasn't until the early modern era with the slave trade and second serfdom and the industrious revolution and the industrial revolution that downward violence started becoming a steady, ever-increasing pressure. In some times and places you might've had the social and mental freedom to run away to a relative, while in others you might've been locked in a rigid social and mental system that blocked any possibility of escape.
...though I should say that I do take your point that producing emotionally and socially stunted kids via violent parenting is not at all a new thing.
posted by clawsoon at 9:55 AM on July 13, 2022
People need freedom to believe whatever but I am totally over religion. Even the kind flavors.
Build the wall! (of separation between church and state).
posted by aiq at 9:12 AM on July 14, 2022
Build the wall! (of separation between church and state).
posted by aiq at 9:12 AM on July 14, 2022
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posted by thatwhichfalls at 9:35 PM on July 11, 2022 [21 favorites]