Lezing
SG - The Culture(s) of Mindfulness: From the Roots to Current Practices
Mindfulness is increasingly popular these days. But what is mindfulness? Tonight, professor of Asian Religions Paul van der Velde introduces us into the colourful world of Buddhism and mindfulness.
About The Culture(s) of Mindfulness: From the Roots to Current Practices
Mindfulness is increasingly popular these days. But what is mindfulness? Tonight, professor of Asian Religions Paul van der Velde introduces us into the colourful world of Buddhismand mindfulness and its various manifestations in different sociocultural contexts nowadays. How and where did it emerge? Is therapeutically prescribed mindfulness training in current-day Western society comparable to for instance the way meditation and spiritual contemplation have been taught and practiced in ancient monasteries? And how does westernised mindfulness relate to current-day religious and spiritual practices in, say, India or Thailand?
About series ‘Mindfulness: Beyond the Hype?’
Will you become a better person after some mindfulness therapy? Is the world going to be a better place if more people are more mindful? Mindfulness has been a hype in the West for a while now, but what are we actually talking about?
In this series, we trace back the origins of mindfulness and discuss its current-day manifestations, explore its mechanisms and effects, and reflect on its societal meaning and role. And what can the popularity of mindfulness reveal about contemporary society? What is the value of this practice of attentiveness and rest in our current world?
About Paul van de Velde
Paul van der Velde is professor of Asian Religions at the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religion Studies at Radboud University Nijmegen, and chair of the Dutch Foundation for Psychotherapy and Buddhism. He studied Indian languages and cultures (Sanskrit, Hindi, Pali and Tamil) in Utrecht and Leiden, and published widely on the Buddha, Western Buddhism, Asian culture, including Sanskrit poems of his own writing. He is also an enthusiastic collector of Asian art and regularly acts as a travel guide on trips to India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and other Asian regions.