On Mindfulness and Meditation: Jon Kabat-Zinn '64
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The Whitehead Mindfulness Initiative, 在校园社区促进健康和减轻压力, 将这位冥想先驱带回欧洲杯买球app官网进行为期两天的访问.
Jon Kabat-Zinn '64, 这位科学家/思想家在1979年将正念与医学融合,并发起了一场仍在发展的现代运动, 看了看外面的300人,他们上周来到创始人大会堂听他的智慧之言,让他们核对一下时间. He knew the answer without looking.
"It's now. Check it again. You'll notice it's now again. 它有一个有趣的习惯,”他说,引来笑声.
然后他更严肃、更缓慢地说:“正念就是觉知. That's developed by paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, now, which is the only moment we ever have. 你是否活在生命中永恒的时刻?"
卡巴金带着目标重返校园,但也没有目标. 他的旅行是由怀特黑德正念倡议组织支付的, 促进学生和教师健康的校园项目, particularly during extra stressful times. Cynthia Whitehead,前董事会主席John C. Whitehead '43, 她在丈夫去年1月去世后开始了这个项目, 最初的资金来源是代替葬礼鲜花的捐款. 她希望卡巴金与欧洲杯买球app官网分享他的教义.
"Kids on campuses today, 就像我们其他人一样,尤其是孩子们,压力很大," she told the crowd before Kabat-Zinn's talk. "It's really shocking. 我想很多人都因此受到了伤害. It's very hard to meditate. 纪律很难管教,但孩子,这是必要的."
在他主持的两次指导冥想课程之一之后的一次采访中, Kabat-Zinn, 谁会拒绝他收到的大多数演讲邀请, said he'd taken no payment for this trip, 回到校园“点燃对社区中关心的人最重要的热情. I call that love. I came for love."
在被追问此行的目的时,卡巴金耸了耸肩. "I'm here because I'm here," he said. "I don't even know why. 也许20年后你就能告诉我这有什么影响了, but I don't pretend to think anything about it. We'll see. It's just an experiment."
Over the two days of programming, Kabat-Zinn,who has authored or co-authored 11 books, 包括与达赖喇嘛就冥想的治愈力量进行科学对话, 敦促他的听众放弃既定的计划,让日子慢慢展开. There's a sort of magic, he said, to being open.
他说:“无论你计划在你的生活中做什么,这可能都不会发生。. “最终你会意识到,生活中发生的每一件事都会影响你成为什么样的人。. Every experience gets imbibed, registered, and later, in completely unpredictable ways, has an impact."
对新体验持开放态度改变了卡巴金的人生轨迹. In 1965, 当时他是麻省理工学院分子生物学专业的学生,“压力太大了。,他看到一个牌子,邀请学生参加一个欧洲杯买球app官网“禅宗三柱”的讲座.他是参加这次活动的四名学生之一, and the introduction to meditation—to focusing on being 而不是做——为“正念减压”奠定了基础,这是他30多年来个人生活和职业生活的焦点.
正念减压疗法旨在通过冥想和瑜伽技术,为那些患有慢性疾病的人减轻身体和精神上的痛苦. 理论认为,缓解心理压力也会缓解身体压力. 1979年,卡巴金在马萨诸塞大学医学中心首次引入了这个项目. 现在世界各地都开设了这种课程,这种做法受到了顶尖医学专家的赞扬.
During the afternoon guided meditation, Kabat-Zinn告诉那些聚集在一起的人,不要把注意力集中在最擅长冥想或最擅长清空头脑上, but to focus on being. Some people, he said, become too caught up in being "enlightened," to the point that meditation isn't relaxing.
"Maybe there's no enlightenment, 只有启迪的时刻,我们越是团结在一起, 我们就会有越多成为开悟者的经验," he said.
这些话击中了计算机科学专业学生Anh Nguyen的要害, '16, 一个经常冥想的人,发现自己在练习中自我批评.
“你真的会陷入其中,这真的会把你搞得一团糟,造成很大的压力," she said. “我对自己很挑剔,即使在冥想的时候,如果我觉得自己做得不对,我也会责备自己. 他把它等同于爱和自爱的方式,太棒了."
16岁的Bryan Wang说,他之所以参加Kabat-Zinn的晚间讲座,是因为他对即将到来的毕业论文感到压力很大, approaching graduation, the need to find a job, and the attendant confusion and self doubt. 第二天早上,当他在校园里散步时,王说他觉得自己专注于简单的存在.
"My mind still wandered off a bit, but I was 95 percent aware of my surroundings," the psychology major said. “这真的改变了我的感觉,让我专注于保持清醒."
王最初想在冥想结束后停下来和卡巴金谈谈, perhaps ask him for career advice. 治疗结束后,他意识到那没有用.
“我意识到他永远无法给我答案,”王说. "I have to seek it myself."
-Natalie Pompilio