Auch hier noch mal etwas auf Englisch dazu. Thema des (ziemlich aktuellen) Sammelbandes, aus dem das Zitat stammt, ist zwar 'Achtsamkeit', aber das passt schon. 'Manager-Zen' ist nur ein Unterangebot des breiter aufgestellten 'Mindful Business', 'Corporate Mindfulness', 'Integral Business Leadership' usw. usf. - da die Namen meistens eingetragene Trademarks sind (bei 'Zen' kommt man da billiger davon) gibt es entsprechend viele. Ist ein bißchen wie bei Waschmittel - vor allem die Verpackungen unterscheiden sich. Wenn man meint, eine deutlichere "Vorstellung" davon zu benötigen, kann man sich im Juni mal da umsehen.
Der im folgenden zitierte Autor ist Leiter der zenbuddhistischen Gemeinschaft Viento del Sur (in Argentinien), die wiederum zur Diamond Sangha gehört. Er zitiert hier seinerseits David Loy und Bhikku Bodhi.
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ZitatAlles anzeigenThe problem is when the teachings are compartmentalized and isolated, taking just one aspect that ends up betraying and threatening the whole body of them, which is the same as threatening life itself. This is what seems to be happening in the West with the boom of mindfulness in the corporate context. It is promoted as a way to sustain and perpetuate, without questionings, an intrinsically evil system that originates not only personal suffering but also social and ecological suffering.
Something that belongs to an ancient tradition of wisdom, as well as an ethical and spiritual path, is manipulated and cut out. It is turned into a technique for obtaining results. It’s promoted with the use of measurable scientific foundations. Beautifully packaged and sold as a consumer product. It’s encouraged by the promise of greater performance, efficiency and productivity. It’s all within an unchallenged and unconfessed system that exploits human life and nature basically for the benefit of a few; perpetuating an escalating spiral of unsustainable economic growth. Devoid of any sense linked to being and the mystery of life and existence. Foreign to any clear model of good living in harmony and solidarity with all other beings ... Welcome, at this point you have arrived to the dark, although irresistibly seductive, heart of Western modern culture: institutionalized greed and ignorance, and you have embraced its faith: The Market Religion.
Up to now, the mindfulness movement has avoided any serious consideration of why stress is so pervasive in modern business institutions. Instead, corporations have jumped on the mindfulness bandwagon because it conveniently shifts the burden onto the individual employee: stress is framed as a personal problem, and mindfulness is offered as just the right medicine to help employees work more efficiently and calmly within toxic environments. Cloaked in an aura of care and humanity, mindfulness is refashioned into a safety valve, as a way to let off steam - a technique for coping with and adapting to the stresses and strains of corporate life.
Ron Purser and David Loy, Beyond McMindfulness (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…indfulness_b_3519289.html)
The same author of this statement has written a letter to William George, an important figure in the “mindfulness in business” movement, a current Goldman Sachs board member, who has also been on the corporate board of Exxon Mobil since 2005. The letter was published with the title: Can Mindfulness Change a Corporation? In it, David Loy, with all respect and sincerity asks Mr. George:
I would like to learn how, in the light of your meditation practice, you understand the relationship between one’s own personal transformation and the kind of economic and social transformation that appears to be necessary today, if we are to survive and thrive during the next few critical centuries. How does your concern for future generations express itself in your activities as a board member of these corporations (among others)? (...) What I’m concerned about is the “compartmentalization” of one’s meditation practice, so that mindfulness enables us to be more effective and productive in our work, and provides some peace of mind in our hectic lives, but does not encourage us to address the larger social problems that both companies (for example) are contributing to. Today the economic and political power of such corporations is so great that, unless they became more socially responsible, it is difficult to be hopeful about what the future holds for our grandchildren and their grandchildren.
David Loy, Can Mindfulness change a corporation? (http://www.buddhistpeacefellow…ess-change-a-corporation/)
He never received an answer. The dark side we are referring to and warning about, is clearly expressed in the admonition by Bhikkhu Bodhi, an outspoken western Buddhist monk: ”absent a sharp social critique, Buddhist practices could easily be used to justify and stabilize the status quo, becoming a reinforcement of consumer capitalism.(Quoted by Ron Purser and David Loy, Beyond McMindfulness)"
Ricardo Toledo, I vow with all beings: From McMindfulness to Bodhisattva Mindfulness
The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Universities (JIABU)
Volume VIII, 2016 (Buddhism and Mindfulness)
S. 37 f
