Asian Studies Theses and Dissertations

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American Mindfulness: A Case Study of the Transnational Reception of “Mindfulness – Maindofurunesu” in Japan
(University of Oregon, 2019-09-18) Duong, Anh Tu; Unno, Mark
Over the past few decades, “mindfulness” has become popular and spread throughout the world, from North American to Australia. It has been applied in numerous context: mental health, education, and business, among others. Although mindfulness has its roots in Buddhist meditation practices, it has been removed from its religious contexts and secularized. Significantly, this standardized form of mindfulness, which can be called American Mindfulness, has been reimported back into Asia. In the case of Japan, American Mindfulness has become popular at the public level, and there are prominent Zen Buddhist priests claiming that American Mindfulness is in fact a part of Japanese Zen. Through analysis of the broader Japanese cultural environment and the Japanese Buddhist context, this thesis will explain how Japanese Zen Buddhists come to make their claim on American Mindfulness.