Mindfulness helps us live better. But Professor Ronald Purser asks an uncomfortable question in openDemocracy: is caring for ourselves individually enough when so many causes of distress are collective?
From me to we
Purser proposes moving from a practice centred on “me” to one oriented towards “we”: collective liberation and care for the planet.
Conscientious compassion
Drawing on Buddhist monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, he speaks of compassion joined with justice: not only feeling others’ pain, but asking why it happens.
Civic mindfulness
According to Purser, most therapeutic approaches place all the responsibility on the individual. Civic mindfulness instead helps us see how personal worries connect to social and economic conditions.
When a practice helps us link personal troubles to public issues, it can be truly transformative. But that takes solidarity and community.
On the mat and beyond
A yoga studio can be a place to learn presence and also a place of connection. Practice starts within, but it doesn’t have to end there.
