Given world history, these three waves of Buddhist thought and practice, along with their counterparts in the Hindu Yoga tradition, have only recently come together again in the global melting pot of Western Buddhism.

1. both traditions base their theory and practice on the premise that every mental activity is causally effective, and has determinate consequences that shape ongoing development; 2) they both view the mind as embedded in an evolutionary continuity of ever-adapting forms of life, conceiving development as an interactive, intergenerational process info

all. Elsewhere (Neale, 2011, 2012), I have coined the term ‘McMindfulness’ for the recent trend in the Western mainstream, overemphasizing mindfulness meditation to the exclusion of the other disciplines, diluting the potency of Buddha’s psychology. My critique is based on two observations. First, extracted from the curricula of wisdom and ethics,

Popular and scientific definitions of mindfulness neglect its traditional aim of insight, focusing instead on simple mindfulness understood as: “clear and single-minded awareness of what actually happens to us and in us at the successive moments of percep-tion” (Nyanaponika Thera, 1972, p. 5);

The fact that mindfulness increases affect tolerance and emotional sensitivity is supported by many studies, such as one that showed significant reduction in anxiety and panic maintained over three years as a result of an MBI (Miller et al., 1995).

The third foundation attunes one to the nature of mind itself, opening the lens of awareness to include awareness itself, while maintaining unbiased objectivity.

Mind in the West is commonly equated with thoughts themselves, but in Buddhist contemplative science it is that spacious awareness in which thoughts arise, capable of reflecting on itself (meta-cognitive awareness) and recognizing the true nature of things (meta-cognitive insight).

Awareness of physical sensations involves an attunement to one’s sensory feeling tone, specifically noting if the experience is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. By coupling an attitude of inquisitiveness, patience, and acceptance with this mindful observing of whatever is encountered, one learns to override habitual reactive tendencies of clinging

The aim of this meditative pedagogy is to systematically strengthen one’s attention by applying it to four discrete domains of experience in order to refine the mind’s natural capacities for insight (wisdom) and behavior change (ethics).