Jane Compson

It is also possible that your web browser is not configured or not able to display style sheets. In this case, although the visual presentation will be degraded, the site should continue to be functional. We recommend using the latest version of Microsoft or Mozilla web browser to ...

It is also possible that your web browser is not configured or not able to display style sheets. In this case, although the visual presentation will be degraded, the site should continue to be functional. We recommend using the latest version of Microsoft or Mozilla web browser to ...

This chapter will describe how many of the ethical judgments about the appropriate application of mindfulness rest on various assumptions and value judgments about what it means for something to be “religious” or “secular,” and so on. It will discuss how the framing of concepts such as the religious and the secular have evolved through the modern period to the postmodern period, and how this has a bearing on the contemporary mindfulness debates. It will be argued that the contemporary mindfulness debates are most fruitfully understood in postmodern, postsecular terms, and that doing so opens the door to mutually beneficial dialogue between narratives and disciplines.

Meditation and the Classroom inventively articulates how educators can use meditation to educate the whole student. Notably, a number of universities have initiated contemplative studies options and others have opened contemplative spaces. This represents an attempt to address the inner life. It is also a sign of a new era, one in which the United States is more spiritually diverse than ever before. Examples from university classrooms and statements by students indicate benefits include increased self-awareness, creativity, and compassion. The religious studies scholars who have contributed to this book often teach about meditation, but here they include reflections on how meditation has affected them and their teaching. Until recently, though, even many religious studies professors would find sharing meditation experiences, let alone teaching meditation techniques, a breach of disciplinary and academic protocols. The value of teaching meditation and teaching about meditation is discussed. Ethical issues such as pluralism, respect, qualifications, power and coercion, and avoiding actual or perceived proselytization are also examined. While methods for religious studies are emphasized, the book provides valuable guidance for all those interested in this endeavor. This book is divided into six sections. Section I, Why Contemplative Pedagogy? The Religious Studies Dialogue, contains the following: (1) The Convergence of Liberal Education and Contemplative Education--Inevitable? (Thomas B. Coburn); (2) Meditation and Education: India, Tibet, and Modern America (Robert A. F. Thurman); (3) Contemplative Studies: Can It Flourish in the Religious Studies Classroom? (Harold D. Roth); and (4) Contemplative Studies and the Art of Persuasion: The Institutional Challenge (Laurie L. Patton). Section II, The Contemplative Professor, contains the following: (5) From Content, to Context, to Contemplation: One Professor\u27s Journey (Fran Grace); (6) The Collective Dynamics of Contemplative Practice (Christopher M. Bache); (7) The Mindful Teacher as the Foundation of Contemplative Pedagogy (Richard C. Brown); (8) Compassion Beyond Fatigue: Contemplative Training for Educators and Other Helping Professionals (John Makransky); and (9) Field Notes from a Daoist Professor (Louis Komjathy). Section III, Critical Issues in Contemplative Teaching, contains the following: (10) Training the Heart Responsibly: Ethical Considerations in Contemplative Teaching (Judith Simmer-Brown); (11) Invitation and Coercion in Contemplative Pedagogy (Sid Brown); and (12) Interiority and Higher Education: The Neurophenomenology of Contemplation (Tobin Hart). Section IV, Contemplative-Based Courses, contains the following: (13) Embodied Contemplative Learning: Aikido as a Case Study (Michelle Lelwica); (14) Reflections on Theory and Practice: The Case of Modern Yoga (Stuart Ray Sarbacker); (15) Sustaining Life: Contemplative Pedagogies in a Religion and Ecology Course (Barbara Patterson); (16) Adab: Courteous Behavior in the Classroom (Bridget Blomfield); and (17) Experiencing Medieval Christian Spirituality (Kristine T. Utterback). Section V, Contemplative Exercises for the Classroom, contains the following: (18) Awareness Practices in an Undergraduate Buddhism Course (Andrew O. Fort); (19) Contemplative Inquiry: Beyond the Disembodied Subject (Anne Carolyn Klein and Ann Gleig); (20) Love of Wisdom Puts You on the Spot: The Warrior Exam (Dale Asrael); (21) A Meeting of the Minds in Cyberspace: Eco-contemplative Methods for Online Teaching (Jane Compson); (22) Mindfulness in the History Classroom: Teaching as Interbeing (Shu-chin Wu); (23) Two Contemplative Practices That Animate the Study of Religion (John D. Copenhaver); and (24) Mindfulness and Contemplative Practice in Art and Religion (Deborah J. Haynes). Section VI, Conclusion: Does It Work? Evaluations from Our Students, contains the following: (25) Emotional Learning: Recognizing Emotion and Thought in a Buddhism Course (Judith Simmer-Brown); and (26) Meditation in the Classroom: What Do the Students Say They Learn? (Fran Grace). Selected bibliography, a list of contributors and an index are included

Jane Compson, Lynette Monteiro, and Frank Musten join us to speak about their new book, Practitioner’s Guide to Ethics and Mindfulness-Based Interventions. One of the criticisms of mindfulness programs is that they don’t include any kind of ethical component. This is usually followed up by casting aspersions about mindfulness just being a watered down version of a particular tradition’s approach to living, and often said by those who may not have taken a secular mindfulness program, and certainly aren’t experienced teachers of them. As a mindfulness teacher and someone with decades living and teaching within traditional contexts, I find this to be not just misleading, but flat out wrong. It is based on a presupposition that ethics A) must be taught in a particular explicit way, and B) a specific set of ethics must be taught. I’m going to go out on a limb and call that what I think it is: a false equivalence. Ethics are deeply embedded in innovative ways using contemporary teaching methods shown to be more effective than some traditional didactic methods. They may not be as recognized because they don’t match pre-conceived notions of what they must look like — in a different context

Fully online classes are on the rise in US higher education institutions. This article describes pedagogical methods for incorporating contemplative practices into these courses, using an undergraduate class in Philosophy, Religion and the Environment. I give a rationale for incorporating contemplative exercises into this class, along with specific techniques and example exercises and assignments. Drawing on literature about pedagogical best practices, I suggest some guiding principles for incorporating contemplative exercises into online classes. I then discuss the results of these pedagogical experiments, measured in terms of qualitative student feedback and instructor impressions.

The intent of this article is to stimulate a conversation and encourage interdisciplinary discussion and dialog between “secular” and “Buddhist” camps around the notion of adverse psychological experiences that might occur in the context of meditation practice and training, be that as part of a day-to-day practice or in the context of a residential and intensive retreat. Depending on the context, there are significant differences in the way that such experiences are made sense of and, as a result, there may be significant variations in tradition-specific accounts of how to manage such experiences. In each context, implicit foundational values (about, for example, what counts as mental health, or the goals of meditation practice) may lead to very different accounts about what counts as harmful or helpful, and therefore about what is an appropriate course of action. For those teaching meditation, either in secular or religious contexts, this has clear ethical implications—how are the best interests of the student served? This paper will explore examples of this tension by comparing and contrasting accounts about adverse meditation experiences from Buddhist and secular perspectives. A case will be made for a dialogic, mutually engaged, and supportive relationship between Buddhist and secular approaches to adverse meditation experiences.

ABSTRACT Although there are very few published studies on the issue, there is much anecdotal evidence that, despite all its undisputed benefits, meditation practice can have psychologically deleterious effects. In this paper I will describe a body-based model for understanding trauma, the Trauma Resiliency model, and suggest it might be a helpful tool in anticipating, preventing and/or mitigating these effects. I will argue that Buddhist traditions are replete with frameworks, tools and techniques for addressing some of the psychological pitfalls highlighted. However, some of these methods may have been ‘lost in translation’ as Buddhist meditation training has been adapted for a Western audience. I will make the case that, somewhat ironically, in operational terms some of the secular modalities for teaching mindfulness (such as MBSR) may be psychologically ‘safer’ than those offered in a (Western) Buddhist context. I will call for further inquiry about how to mitigate and protect against psychological harms in Buddhist meditation training.

This chapter will describe how many of the ethical judgments about the appropriate application of mindfulness rest on various assumptions and value judgments about what it means for something to be “religious” or “secular,” and so on. It will discuss how the framing of concepts such as the religious and the secular have evolved through the modern period to the postmodern period, and how this has a bearing on the contemporary mindfulness debates. It will be argued that the contemporary mindfulness debates are most fruitfully understood in postmodern, postsecular terms, and that doing so opens the door to mutually beneficial dialogue between narratives and disciplines.

Fully online classes are on the rise in US higher education institutions. This article describes pedagogical methods for incorporating contemplative practices into these courses, using an undergraduate class in “Philosophy, Religion and the Environment” to elucidate general principles.  I give rationale for incorporating contemplative exercises into this class, along with specific techniques and example exercises and assignments. Drawing on literature about pedagogical best practices, I suggest some guiding principles for  incorporating contemplative exercises into online classes.  I then discuss the results of these pedagogical experiments, measured in terms of qualitative student feedback and instructor impressions.

The intent of this article is to stimulate a conversation and encourage interdisciplinary discussion and dialogue between 'secular' and 'Buddhist' camps around the notion of adverse psychological experiences that might occur in the context of meditation practice and training, be that as part of a day-today practice or in the context of a residential and intensive retreat. Depending on the context, there are significant differences in the way that such experiences are made sense of and, as a result, there may be significant variations in tradition-specific accounts of how to manage such experiences. In each context, implicit foundational values (about, for example, what counts as mental health, or the goals of meditation practice) may lead to very different accounts about what counts as harmful or helpful, and therefore about what is an appropriate course of action. For those teaching meditation, either in secular or religious contexts, this has clear ethical implications – how are the best interests of the student served? This paper will explore examples of this tension by comparing and contrasting accounts about adverse meditation experiences from Buddhist and secular perspectives. A case will be made for a dialogic, mutually engaged and supportive relationship between Buddhist and secular approaches to adverse meditation experiences.

This paper provides a heuristic for addressing the pressing problem of burnout in nurses. Following a literature review about thecauses and symptoms of burnout, a case will be made that the problem is best addressed from a variety of perspectives using
different modalities. These are summarized under the different headings of Compassion, Awareness, Resilient Responding and
Empowerment which together from the CARE heuristic. An explanation and justification for each of these different approaches is
provided, along with practical exercises that nurses might practice in order to build capacity in each of these domains and protect themselves against or treat existing symptoms of burnout.

Fully online classes are on the rise in US higher education institutions. This article describes pedagogical methods for incorporating contemplative practices into these courses, using an undergraduate class in "Philosophy, Religion and the Environment" to elucidate general principles. I give rationale for incorporating contemplative exercises into this class, along with specific techniques and example exercises and assignments. Drawing on literature about pedagogical best practices, I suggest some guiding principles for incorporating contemplative exercises into online classes. I then discuss the results of these pedagogical experiments, measured in terms of qualitative student feedback and instructor impressions.