The DOI matches its Crossref record; 59 of the 59 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 5 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.
Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters)
Open accessAbstract
Modern exponents of mindfulness meditation promote the therapeutic effects of “bare attention”—a sort of non-judgmental, non-discursive attending to the moment-to-moment flow of consciousness. This approach to Buddhist meditation can be traced to Burmese Buddhist reform movements of the first half of the 20th century, and is arguably at odds with more traditional Theravāda Buddhist doctrine and meditative practices. But the cultivation of present-centered awareness is not without precedent in Buddhist history; similar innovations arose in medieval Chinese Zen (Chan) and Tibetan Dzogchen. These movements have several things in common. In each case the reforms were, in part, attempts to render Buddhist practice and insight accessible to laypersons unfamiliar with Buddhist philosophy and/or unwilling to adopt a renunciatory lifestyle. In addition, these movements all promised astonishingly quick results. And finally, the innovations in practice were met with suspicion and criticism from traditional Buddhist quarters. Those interested in the therapeutic effects of mindfulness and bare attention are often not aware of the existence, much less the content, of the controversies surrounding these practices in Asian Buddhist history.
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17 Own interpretation · 9 No basis given · 5 Not checked yet · 4 Sources not found · 1 No full text of the sources
In the paper
“In my own work on the roots of the Zen (Chinese: Chan) tradition in 8thcentury China, I found that certain early Zen teachers seem to have turned away from traditional forms of meditation-repentance practices, meditations on corpses and the impurity of the body, and so on-in favor of instructing their disciples to simply set aside all distinctions and conceptualizations, and allow the mind to come”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Critiques of mindfulness as bare attention
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Sharf, 2014b
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“and is arguably at odds with more traditional Therava ¯da Buddhist doctrine and meditative practices.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Abstract
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In addition, these movements all promised astonishingly quick results.”
- Also stated in: § Critiques of mindfulness as bare attention · plain
“they touted a method that was simple, promised quick results, and could be cultivated by anyone in a short period of time.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Abstract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § Critiques of mindfulness as bare attention · plain
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Instead, Mah as ı placed emphasis on the notion of sati, understood as the moment-to-moment, lucid, non-reactive, non-judgmental awareness of whatever appears to consciousness.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Buddhist modernism and the rhetoric of bare attention
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“And finally, the innovations in practice were met with suspicion and criticism from traditional Buddhist quarters.”
- Also stated in: § Critiques of mindfulness as bare attention · plain
“Given the ambiguities surrounding sati, it is not surprising that the Mah as ı method quickly came under fire from a number of quarters, including both Therav ada traditionalists in Southeast Asia and practitioners and scholars in the West.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Abstract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § Critiques of mindfulness as bare attention · plain
In the paper
“The psychological model behind Nyanaponika's understanding of sati as bare attention may owe more to internalist and empiricist epistemologies than it owes to early Buddhist or traditional Therav ada formulations (Sharf, 1998).”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Critiques of mindfulness as bare attention
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Sharf, 1998
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In each case the reforms were, in part, attempts to render Buddhist practice and insight accessible to laypersons unfamiliar with Buddhist philosophy and/or unwilling to adopt a renunciatory lifestyle.”
- Also stated in: § Buddhist modernism and the rhetoric of bare attention · plain
“Designed to be accessible to laypersons, it did not require familiarity with Buddhist philosophy or literature”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Abstract
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § Buddhist modernism and the rhetoric of bare attention · plain
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“(3) escape requires, among other things, abandoning hope that happiness in this world is possible.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Introduction
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Mah as ı designed this method with laypersons in mind, including those with little or no prior exposure to Buddhist doctrine or liturgical practice.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Buddhist modernism and the rhetoric of bare attention
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“early Buddhist sutras in general, and Therav ada teachings in particular, hold that (1) to live is to suffer”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Introduction
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- It may state two separate claims as one. 7
- Probably not a substantial claim. 7
- The quote only partly states this claim. 1
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Modern teachers of mindfulness rarely make such demands of their students; the liberating, or if you will therapeutic, benefits apparently do not require dramatic changes in the way one lives.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Critiques of mindfulness as bare attention
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Designed to be accessible to laypersons, it did not require familiarity with Buddhist philosophy or literature, most notably with the scholastic literature known as abhidhamma.”
- Also stated in: § Buddhist modernism and the rhetoric of bare attention · hedged
“It also did not require renunciation of lay life, and it could be taught in a relatively short period of time in a retreat format.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Buddhist modernism and the rhetoric of bare attention
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § Buddhist modernism and the rhetoric of bare attention · hedged
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Perhaps most radical was Mah as ı's claim that the cultivation of liberating insight did not require advanced skill in concentration (samatha) or the experience of absorption (jh ana).”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Buddhist modernism and the rhetoric of bare attention
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“an approach to Buddhism that evolved out of a complex intellectual exchange between Asia and the West that took place over the last 150 years or so.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Buddhist modernism and the rhetoric of bare attention
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Mindfulness is promoted as a cure-all for anxiety and affective disorders including post-traumatic stress, for alcoholism and drug dependency, for attention-deficit disorder, for anti-social and criminal behavior, and for the commonplace debilitating stresses of modern urban life.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Introduction
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“the emotional valence of this advanced stage of insight is likened to that of a mother being forced to witness the execution of all three of her sons.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Introduction
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The problem is that, in America at least, these commitments so resemble those of mainstream consumer culture that they go largely unnoticed.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Critiques of mindfulness as bare attention
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: Mainstream consumer culture is ethically dubious and politically reactionary.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The packaging of mindfulness in programs such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is arguably a variant on the same theme.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Critiques of mindfulness as bare attention
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. The quote only partly states this claim.
- Rests on an assumption: Mainstream consumer culture is ethically dubious and politically reactionary.
In the paper
“To the extent that the modern approach to mindfulness can be found in premodern Asia, it was a minority position that was met with considerable criticism from traditional quarters.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Conclusion
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Ahn, 2007
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: In the early period, the Buddhist samgha was a renunciate community that embodied a critique of mainstream social values and cultural norms.
- Rests on an assumption: For the early samgha, liberation required letting go, which meant a radical change in lifestyle: opting out of family ties and worldly pursuits and into a communal, celibate, highly regulated lifestyle.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“the early Zen patriarchs and Dzogchen masters, like their modern Burmese counterparts, were interested in developing a method simple enough to be accessible to those who were unschooled in Buddhist doctrine and scripture, who were not necessarily wedded to classical Indian cosmology, who may not have had the time or inclination for extended monastic practice, and who were interested in immediate”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Critiques of mindfulness as bare attention
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“This is not the place to weigh in on this issue, except to note that this critique too emerges not from without, but from within the Buddhist tradition itself.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Critiques of mindfulness as bare attention
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Hubbard & Swanson, 1997 source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“There may be no better exemplar of this ethically dubious and politically reactionary stance than Tricycle Magazine, with its advertisements for expensive meditation gear, for dharmic dating services, dharmic dentists and accountants, and its implicit authorization of the entrepreneurial and commercial activities of countless dharma centers and self-styled Buddhist masters.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Critiques of mindfulness as bare attention
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: Mainstream consumer culture is ethically dubious and politically reactionary.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The early Zen reformers, like the Burmese reformers in the 20th century, were popularizers: they touted a method that was simple, promised quick results, and could be cultivated by anyone in a short period of time.”
§ Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) > Critiques of mindfulness as bare attention
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper relies on this without support.
Those interested in the therapeutic effects of mindfulness and bare attention are often unaware of the existence or content of controversies surrounding these practices in Asian Buddhist history.
“Those interested in the therapeutic effects of mindfulness and bare attention are often not aware of the existence, much less the content, of the controversies surrounding these practices in Asian Buddhist history.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Modern exponents of mindfulness meditation may see little need to explore the intellectual history of the concept in Buddhism.
“and thus modern exponents of mindfulness meditation may see little need to explore the intellectual history of the concept in Buddhism.”
The paper relies on this without support.
In the early period, the Buddhist samgha was a renunciate community that embodied a critique of mainstream social values and cultural norms.
“Note that, in the early period at least, the Buddhist institution-known as the sam _ gha-comprised a renunciate community that embodied, quite literally, a critique of mainstream social values and cultural norms.”
The paper relies on this without support.
For the early samgha, liberation required letting go, which meant a radical change in lifestyle: opting out of family ties and worldly pursuits and into a communal, celibate, highly regulated lifestyle.
“For the sam _ gha, liberation required”
“Rather, it necessitated a radical change in the way one lived; one was required to opt out of family ties and worldly pursuits, and opt into an alternative, communal, celibate, and highly regulated lifestyle.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Mainstream consumer culture is ethically dubious and politically reactionary.
“There may be no better exemplar of this ethically dubious and politically reactionary stance than Tricycle Magazine, with its advertisements”
The paper relies on this without support.
Many psychologists, cognitive scientists, and sociologists researching Burmese style mindfulness practices assume that the psychological benefits of such practice are borne out by centuries of Buddhist experience.
“To conclude, it is my impression that many of the psychologists, cognitive scientists, and sociologists doing research on Burmese style mindfulness practices seem to assume that the psychological benefits of such practice are born out by centuries of Buddhist experience.”
Claims other papers make about this one
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In the citing paper
“Associating Buddhist mindfulness with resilience has been widely regarded as a particularly western modern reinterpretation of Buddhism (Samuel 2015; Sharf 2015; Wilson 2014; Gleig 2019).”
From Introduction: Buddhism and Resilience (2021) · cites this paper as Sharf 2015
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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Sorted by citations
Van Dam, N. T., van Vugt, M. K., Vago, D. R., Schmalzl, L., Saron, C. D., Olendzki, A., Meissner, T., Lazar, S. W., Kerr, C. E., Gorchov, J., et al. (2018) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691617709589 · Cited by 1,506
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Mindfulness in cultural context
Kirmayer, L. J. (2015) · Transcultural Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/1363461515598949 · Cited by 190
“In the first article in this issue, Robert Sharf (2015) discusses the historical roots of concepts of mindfulness.”
BackgroundThe brain on silent: mind wandering, mindful awareness, and states of mental tranquility
Vago, D. R., & Zeidan, F. Z. (2016) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/nyas.13171 · Cited by 175
Metadata
- Authors
- Sharf, R. H.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sharf, Robert H.
- Venue
- Transcultural Psychiatry
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2014-10-31
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 470-484
- ISSN
- 1363-4615 (ISSN-L)
- 1461-7471
- OpenAlex
- W2170759063
- Cited by
- 226
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 25 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 191.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- escholarship.org
- Locations
- Transcultural Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- McGill University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Indian and Buddhist Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Keywords
- mindfulness meditation, Theravada Buddhism, Dzogchen, lay Buddhist practice
- MeSH terms
- Attention, Awareness, Buddhism, Humans, Religion and Psychology, Meditation, History, 19th Century, History, 20th Century, History, Ancient, Mindfulness
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