Mindfulness
Mindfulness as a tool for focus and stress reduction has become widespread, but there’s far more to this practice than meets the eye. This profound and transformational set of meditation techniques comes from the heart of ancient Buddhist practice. To unlock the full potential of mindfulness, it is therefore important to understand the wide variety of ways it has been articulated, emphasized, and employed across Buddhist traditions.
This clear, concise guide lays bare for us at last the foundations and breadth of the term mindfulness, from its Buddhist beginnings to its present-day expressions in secular contexts. Drawing upon years of experience through practicing, researching, and teaching mindfulness and its history, Dr. Sarah Shaw offers a complete map that provides readers, whether seasoned practitioners or those generally interested, a more grounded understanding of the world’s most popular approach to meditation.
"A brilliant and precise introduction to the deep roots of mindfulness." —Joan Halifax, author of Being with Dying
"Mindfulness, Shaw argues, has always been a crucial part of Buddhism, and it has shifted meanings and methods. . . . This accessible, robust exploration will appeal to readers interested in the Buddhist origins of the widely taught practice." —Publishers Weekly
"Mindfulness . . . thoroughly examines the different meanings of mindfulness, from early Buddhist texts to today’s therapeutic applications. This study will be of value to the Buddhist student who wants a deeper understanding of what it means to pay attention to the present moment and how the practice has evolved in different corners of the world over the last 2,600 years." —Tricycle
"Sarah Shaw . . . does a thorough job of tracing the history of mindfulness within Buddhism, dissecting all the strands associated with the word and the practices it represents." —Mindful
"This book enables the reader to understand mindfulness with scholarly wisdom and a skillful modern application." —Jack Kornfield, author of The Wise Heart
"What is mindfulness? Is it a scientifically proven method for reducing stress? An evidence-based strategy for improving performance? A path to complete liberation from suffering? Or is it simply a way to live a more contented life? With directness and warmth, Oxford University’s Sarah Shaw explains why the answer to each of these questions is yes. Her expertise (and storytelling ability) as both an academic and a practitioner take ‘mindfulness’ out of the pop culture loop to give us the historic and spiritual meanings of the word. This illuminating book is for anyone who wants to discover the true potency of mindfulness that may otherwise be obscured by our self-help leanings." —Susan Piver, author of Start Here Now
"In this insightful book, Sarah Shaw chronicles not only how mindfulness has played a central role in Buddhist meditative practices but how it is embedded in a complete system for liberation, undergirded by ethical sensibilities. Illuminating the genealogy of mindfulness and how this term has been rendered historically in a wide range of Buddhist teachings, readers will gain a deeper appreciation for a practice that goes far beyond a modern simplification of simply ‘being in the present moment." —Ronald Purser, author of McMindfulness
"Sarah Shaw traces the genealogy of mindfulness within Buddhism, mapping its development across diverse doctrinal and geographical contexts" —Buddhadharma