McMindfulness by Ronald Purser; Mindfulness by Christina Feldman and Willem Kuyken – review

Mindfulness may have become a tool of capitalism, but if it works, does it matter?

In a frequently quoted passage, the American professor of medicine Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as "a way of being in a wise and purposeful relationship with one's experience" cultivated by systematically exercising one's capacity for paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally". It sounds harmless enough. But San Francisco-based academic Ronald Purser thinks not. He has written a strident polemic attacking the secular mindfulness movement.

Forty years ago, Kabat-Zinn set about distilling Buddhist wisdom into a framework that could address modern concerns. He originally designed a short course for people suffering from chronic physical pain. These programmes have since been extended to treat a wide range of cases including depression, addiction and workplace stress. They have been adopted in schools, businesses, criminal justice systems, in the US military, the NHS and UK parliament. Unless you've been living under a rock, you are likely to have encountered them.

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