Some of these programs honor the Buddhist roots of their practice but many have severed ties to the Buddha and his teachings altogether and have transformed the practice from a sacrament into a commodity. This rupture in the relationships, ethics, and narrative central to the Buddha’s teachings as it has been decontextualized, monetized, marketed, and industrialized has resulted in the emergence of a new spiritual class, the Buddeoisie: the owners of the means of mindfulness, whose manipulation of and financial stake in mindfulness puts it in unavoidable conflict with its own religious heritage.
The Buddeoisie Blues
~ The Price and Peril of Genetically Modified Dharma ~
Jesse Maceo Vega-Frey (Medium)
Mindfulness belongs to everyone. Will a little guidance, it will enhance your life. You don’t really need to swallow a religion whole, but take a little background with you. It helps.