When mindfulness meets capitalism, it loses its way | Psyche Ideas

Chris Wheatleyis a writer and journalist based in Oxford, UK. His writing has appeared in Vintage Rock Magazine, Longreads and What Culture, among other publications. Edited by Sam Haselby Save Share Tweet Email Listen to this Idea. 1997, in hindsight, was a memorable year. Netflix was founded, J K Rowling published the first instalment of the Harry Potter series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on television, and Paul McCartney became Sir Paul McCartney. In August of that year, while fleeing from paparazzi through the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris, Princess Diana and two others lost their lives in a terrible car accident. While the world still mourned, I found myself sitting in a lecture room at the University of Derby, watching incredulously as my teacher of Introduction to Buddhism, scrawled the following words upon a blackboard: ‘gānshǐjué – we are all dried shit-sticks.’ I had chosen theology as a companion subject to creative writing, initially out of expediency, but from tha

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