Ep 463: The Science of Mindfulness

I know I’ve told this story many times, but I think it helps to know that there is a scientific basis for the work I talk about in my podcast and youtube channel. In the early nineties, the Dalai Lama invited several Tibetan monks to come to the States and undergo studies with modern scientific methods and equipment. At the time, His Holiness asked one of my favorite neuroscientists, Richie Davidson, to use these methods and equipment to study healthy and thriving brains, as opposed to the pathology this science is exclusively used to study. Richie agreed! And from that simple intention bloomed some of the most profound scientific studies of the human brain and body that has led the way for mindfulness to become part of the western culture. In today’s episode, I talk about six of the most prominent of these studies and their findings. But in the end, I also talk about a down-side to all of this wonderful science. You see, with this scientific understanding, mindfulness caught the attention of corporations who have since hired people like me to come in and teach their staff this work. But there has been much criticism of this approach in that it has become a stripped-down, profit-driven form of this sacred practice. So strong has this criticism been, that someone wrote a book called McMindfulness a few years ago to illustrate the ‘dumbing-down’ of mindfulness practices. The main criticism of McMindfulness is that it ignores the work of compassion. This resonates strongly with me, as compassion was the strongest aspect of this work for me personally and has had the deepest impact on me and my loved ones. For this reason, I teach a new form of mindfulness that emphasizes compassion. This new form of practice and living is called Heartfulness. I’ll leave you with a quote by the Dalai Lama as spoken to an aspiring Buddhist student: “Don’t practice Buddhism,” His Holiness said. “There are enough Buddhists in the world. But do practice compassion. The world needs more compassion.”