[noduerme]

I think mindfulness is garbage, but equanimity is not an ethos or a framework. Empathy - the ability to momentarily put yourself in someone else's shoes, and to think and dwell on that, is the basis for a social contract. Personal mindfulness is not and never has been the basis for anything other than self-aggrandizement.

[whatev373857]

If you think mindfulness is garbage, I think you don't know what it is. And I wouldn't blame you for that, because I think I've only ever heard one monk give a good definition of it.

Mindfulness is this: remembering to watch the movement of mind's attention. In other words, remembering to know which of the six kinds of knowing you are doing at any given moment.

Anyone who practices for a while can verify that it's true -- attention really does flicker rapidly between six kinds of knowing. We're only ever knowing one thing at a time, but it gets stitched together into an illusion that knowing is continuous and panoramic.

[noduerme]

I'm not saying you can't use 1/7th of your brain to watch the other 6/7ths. But why do there have to be six kinds of knowing? What if there are 14 kinds? What if there are only two?

What you're describing is a fetish for a master who taught you a way of categorizing your thoughts. It's nice that it works for you, but it isn't a real thing, and imposing it on the rest of the world as if it were the definition of being "MINDFUL" is a savage crime against humanity.

[edit] Just to explain why it's a crime: It's a crime because we also know what is real. And when you claim that you alone know what is real because you have six secret spices and ingredients in your chicken, and our chicken is not real chicken, I say NO, I don't think YOU actually are serving chicken.

[brigandish]

> But why do there have to be six kinds of knowing? What if there are 14 kinds? What if there are only two?

There aren't really six, it's just that that's the best way to describe it for those who wish to understand it better. You can chop it up however you wish, and hopefully with the intention of making it clear for someone since this is, after all, a teaching.

Certainly, if you actually read Buddhist texts you'll notice that they do a lot of re-chopping into different numbers as required. The map is not the terrain, models aren't reality, things can be described in many ways etcetera etcetera.

> It's nice that it works for you, but it isn't a real thing

You know that Buddhists are nominalists, right?

[denton-scratch]

> But why do there have to be six kinds of knowing?

Because Buddhists love lists! Why is the path "eightfold"? Why are there four "noble truths"? Why are there 6 paramitas?

These lists are study aids - they help you to memorise the teaching, and repeat it accurately. They are not meant to be taken as metaphysical statements about reality.

> we also know what is real

Oh, do we? I think you might have trouble finding many physicists that agree with you. Truth and reality are slippery concepts. Someone who is not given to thinking about these things might take the view that it's pretty obvious what is real and what is true.

I think that outlook is rather arrogant.

[denton-scratch]

"Equanimity" is also a practice (it's been mentioned up-comments). It doesn't mean "calmness" or "imperturbability", in this context.

One form of the practice would be to consider those to whom you feel most warmly, and reflect that in previous lives they might have murdered you. And to consider those you hate, and reflect that in a future life, they might be your mother. This is supposed to reduce attachment and aversion.

(That formulation depends on the idea of rebirth, but I'm sure formulations exist that don't depend on metaphysical speculations)

There is a whole bunch of practices that are supposed to work together with mindfulness. Getting the balance wrong can lead to depression, panic attacks and other disturbances.

> Personal mindfulness is not and never has been the basis for anything other than self-aggrandizement.

Well, that's an opinion, rather strongly expressed, but without evidence. I happen to disagree; like you, I decline to present evidence.

[cnity]

Speak for yourself. It's at least a fantastic sleep aid.