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WHAT IS ENLIGHTENMENT? MINDFULNESS IN THE MOMENT OF STRESS by Daniel Gustav Anderson A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of George Mason University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Cultural Studies Committee: Director Program Director Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Date: Spring Semester 2016 George Mason University Fairfax, VA What is Enlightenment? Mindfulness in the Moment of Stress A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at George Mason University by Daniel Gustav Anderson Director: Denise Albanese, Professor Department of Cultural Studies Spring Semester 2016 George Mason University Fairfax, VA Copyright 2016 Daniel Gustav Anderson All Rights Reserved ii iii DEDICATION This is dedicated in loving memory to Barbara Ellen Anderson, 1947-2002. Wish you were here, Mama-san. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the encouragement and valuable comments of my director, Denise Albanese, and committee members Hugh Gusterson and David Kaufmann. The sacrifices that my spouse, Heather D.S. Anderson, made as I completed this degree cannot be underestimated. I also gained valuable insights and moral support from members of the Tendai Buddhist Institute and the International Dzogchen Community. The Interdisciplinary Curriculum Collaborative and the Provost’s Office at George Mason University have supported portions of the research and writing of this project. Gratitude! v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS FOR NON-ENGLISH TECHNICAL TERMS ................. ix ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ x INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS MINDFULNESS? ............................................................. 1 START WHERE YOU ARE: THE PROBLEM OF MINDFULNESS ......................... 2 LITERATURE REVIEW: THREE NARRATIVES OF MINDFULNESS ................... 5 RESEARCH QUESTION ............................................................................................. 12 EVIDENCE AND ARCHIVE ...................................................................................... 12 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................ 20 WHAT IS MINDFULNESS? A PARADOX ............................................................... 22 LIMITATIONS AND THE POSITION OF THE RESEARCHER.............................. 28 TRAJECTORY OF THIS ARGUMENT ...................................................................... 29 CHAPTER ONE: THE MOMENT OF STRESS AND THE RELIGION OF CAPITALISM AS A THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION; OR, MINDFULNESS IS NOT A BUDDHIST PRACTICE ..................................................................................... 32 THE MOMENT OF STRESS ....................................................................................... 35 WHO IS THE NORMATIVE CONSUMER OF MINDFULNESS? ........................... 53 THE BACKFORMATION OF MINDFULNESS AS WESTERN BUDDHISM ........ 55 PREHISTORY: MINDFULNESS AS THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION ............... 64 POP BUDDHIST MEDITATION IS NOT THERAPY ............................................... 87 SELF-HELP, POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, AND THE RELIGION OF CAPITALISM ....................................................................................................................................... 92 FROM THERAPY TO WORKPLACE SUPPORT: GENERALIZING MINDFULNESS ......................................................................................................... 100 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 110 CHAPTER TWO: THE ANTI-CAPITALIST OBJECTIVES OF POP BUDDHIST DISCOURSE .................................................................................................................. 114 YIELDING TO A SYSTEM OF DISCIPLINE .......................................................... 118 vi THE IMPULSE TO HAPPINESS .............................................................................. 151 INTERBEING: MINDFULNESS AS A MEANS TO PEACE .................................. 165 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 188 CHAPTER THREE: INSIGHT MEDITATION, THE RELIGION OF CAPITALISM AS A MODE OF DISCIPLINE ............................................................................................ 190 THREE PHASES OF INSIGHT MEDITATION ....................................................... 194 LAY BUDDHISM MEDIATED THROUGH THE ADVICE BOOK ....................... 201 A SOUL STORY: INSIGHT MEDITATION AS A UNIVERSAL SPIRITUALITY ..................................................................................................................................... 216 THE GENERALIZATION OF MINDFULNESS AS THE HAPPY ACCEPTANCE OF THE STATUS QUO ............................................................................................. 235 AFTER THE END OF HISTORY IN INSIGHT MEDITATION ............................. 248 THE PARADOX OF MINDFULNESS ...................................................................... 256 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 258 CHAPTER FOUR: CORPORATE MINDFULNESS, CONSCIOUS CAPITALISM, AND CLASS POWER AS SPIRITUAL PRACTICE.................................................... 261 MANAGEMENT AS CLASS DISCIPLINE, MINDFULNESS AS MANAGEMENT ..................................................................................................................................... 262 ALL DEVELOPMENT IS ENVELOPMENT: THE MYSTIFICATION OF CAPITALIST POWER IN THE SPIRITUALITY ADVICE BOOK ........................ 272 SPIRIT AS BUSINESS IN THE FREE AGENT ECONOMY .................................. 283 CONSCIOUS CAPITALISM: THE NEW AGE AND THE SPIRITUAL CEO ....... 294 WHERE CEOS ARE GURUS AND GREED IS ALTRUISM .................................. 298 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 309 CHAPTER FIVE: MINDFUL LEADERSHIP AS DISCIPLINE .................................. 312 LEADING FROM WITHIN: A POP BUDDHIST PROSPERITY GOSPEL ........... 315 A PRESCRIPTION FOR MINDFUL DISCIPLINE .................................................. 324 THE PROMISE OF MINDFULESS AS PEOPLE POWER ...................................... 331 SELF-MAKING AT THE MINDFUL LEADER CONFERENCE ........................... 342 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 358 CHAPTER SIX: THE PARADOX OF MINDFULNESS IN THE WORKPLACE ...... 359 COMPLIANCE AS EMPOWERMENT: SELF-HELP PROGRAMS FOR THE MINDFUL WORKPLACE ......................................................................................... 361 vii THE MOMENT OF STRESS AS THE PRESENT IN THE WORKPLACE OF THE FUTURE ..................................................................................................................... 369 THE WORLD’S LARGEST DEFENSE CONTRACTOR PERFECTS THE MEANS TO WORLD PEACE .................................................................................................. 373 WISDOM 2.0 AND ITS DISCONTENTS ................................................................. 387 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 402 CONCLUSION: MINDFULNESS AND THE PARADOX OF ENLIGHTENMENT DISCIPLINE ................................................................................................................... 404 NOTES ............................................................................................................................ 419 WORKS CITED ............................................................................................................. 440 BIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................. 469 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS FOR NON-ENGLISH TECHNICAL TERMS Pali ..................................................................................................................................... P. Sanskrit .............................................................................................................................. S. Tibetan ............................................................................................................................... T. Japanese .............................................................................................................................. J. ix ABSTRACT WHAT IS ENLIGHTENMENT? MINDFULNESS IN THE MOMENT OF STRESS Daniel Gustav Anderson, M.A. George Mason University, 2016 Dissertation Director: Dr. Denise Albanese Mindfulness is a meditation technique that involves attending to the present moment, without reference to past or future, and without judgment. In the “radical acceptance” of the present it prescribes, mindfulness is a practice concerning one’s relation to time that is promoted as a health boon in times of turmoil and tension appropriate for those short on time. A self-help practice legitimized by appeal to Buddhist cultural references and public figures, mindfulness promises do-it-yourself stress relief, performance enhancement, and happiness to the belabored North American petit bourgeois
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