Just as Christians would get annoyed if a whole sect emerged that adhered to only ONE aspect of our Faith, Buddhists who know anything about their religion should be annoyed by the “Mindfulness” fad that has been introduced into Pop Psychology.
“Mindfulness” is only one practice out of “The Eightfold Path That Leads to Enlightenment.” There are seven others, most of which emphasize morality and ethics, such as “Right Thinking”, “Right Intentions”, and “Right Actions”. “Mindfulness” is way down near the bottom of the list.
Just as Christianity can not be separated from The Death and Resurrection of Jesus, or Yoga separated from Hinduism, or even Tai Chi from the Tao, “Mindfulness” can’t be separated from Buddhism without becoming a mockery of the religion of its origin.
Offering it as a College Course and then restricting admission on the basis of RACE is insulting to Buddhists, Asians, White People, Religion, and anyone stupid enough to sign up for the course.
And I’m sure that there were no “Right Intentions” involved in setting that whole thing up!
(For The Record, I am A Christian, but know a little bit about World Religions.)
I’ve compared the west’s interest in yoga to a bunch of Indians taking up “crossercize” where they drag crosses around town for exercise with no knowledge of Christianity, Jesus or his suffering and sacrifice.