Is mindfulness appropriation?
Mindfulness, as dispersed in American culture today, is sometimes regarded as a form of cultural appropriation, taking Buddhism outside of its cultural and religious context.
In a certain way, this is very true; mindfulness for better sex is an obvious example of the removal of context from a meditation tradition associated with celibate religious monastics. At the same time, Asian Buddhists actively promoted this presentation of mindfulness dating back nearly a century, in order to prove that their own religious tradition was not the inferior corruption, as suggested by academics, popular culture, and even pseudo-science. Skillful means (upaya) is an important concept in Buddhism, which means adjusting the teachings of Buddhism to suit the audience in a given situation, but by doing so, the student would be lead to the ultimate Truth of the religion. The idea of mysticizing doctrines and the reinterpretation of practices is written directly into the religious tradition.
In other words, although Buddhists of the early 20th Century, and even today, may not recognize, or even necessarily agree with, all of the manifestations of modern mindfulness, and other Buddhist ideas, it is certainly true that Asian Buddhists played an active role in this promotion. However, it should be recognized that these developments took place in an area and time that was heavily racialized, and actively antagonistic to Asians and Buddhism.
I believe that this type of historical study can help us to find answers, or at least new perspectives, to issues that face us today. Rather than facing the next perceived “incoming threat” with suspicion, and even isolationism, and eventual internment, we can look to the history of Buddhism in America to see how to include outside groups. Today, the suggestion that Buddhism is a “dangerous cult” is largely laughable in the United States, but a century ago, this was “common knowledge.” We can use our past experiences to help us with today’s problems because we have been through this before. Tracing Buddhism’s history from “cruel joke,” as a newspaper once called it, to modern mindfulness can help us to see exactly that.