[Avodah] What is Mindfulness and does Judaism have it

[Yonatan Kaganoff]

I am trying to respond to a number of responses to my original post in a single email.  Please forgive me if I err on the side of brevity.
   
  1) R. Micha Berger said:
  >There are related ideas that /are/ Jewish values... Zehirus is
>impossible without being mindful. Menuchas hanefesh, the ability to
>stop all the internal chatter and think clearly, is also related.
   
  I know many people who practice zehirus without being mindful.  Awareness of possibilities is not being Mindful.  In fact, the sterotypical neurotic Jew is zahir without being Mindful.  Or the neurotic OCD who is careful to keep every minutae of halakha and keep every Brisker chumrah without actually being present in the moment.
   
  One common model for zehirus is the mother watching several children in a new environment.  She is constantly zahir, but not very present.
   
  Menuchas Hanefesh is a possible understanding of Mindfulness.  However, an examination of Jewish mussar literature (Chovos HaLevavos, Reishit Chochmah, Tomer Devorah, Shelah Kav ha-Yashar, Mesilas Yesharim, etc.) Menuchas haNefesh is fairly absent. There is almost nothing written about how to cultivate Menuchas ha-Nefesh.  Furthermore, Menuchas Hanefesh is a fairly low lever of Mindfulness.
   
  >Less central in mussar discussions, but considered a primary middah by
>RSWolbe is hislamdus -- the ability to learn from watching the moment
>and how one responds to it. That is very similar to mindfulness, but
>still, a very different thing.Hislamdus requires one not only be in
>the moment, but also be able to use it toward the next moment.

  The fact that Rav Wolbe zt"l (who was widely read and highly educated in the Torah Im Derech Eretz Tradition) had to create a new term, hislamdus, further strengthens my point that Mindfulness is not indigenous to Judaism and to classic Jewish spiritual paths.
   
  So I still have yet to be convinced that Judaism teaches any form of Mindfulness, let alone Mindfulness 2.0.
   
  2) I personally think it a bit arrogant to describe all of Buddhaism [Mahayana, Hinayana (Theravad), Tibetan, (Rinzai and Soto) Zen, American Western, etc.] in broad strokes.  Especially, as most Western Jews (and Christians) practice a deracinated disconnected form of Buddhism, cut off from normative Buddhaism as it has been practiced for two thousand years. 
   
  But I think that MB has hit on a key appeal of Western Style Buddhism to many Jews.  Instead of constantly acting and reacting, constantly climbing up the ladder (whether that ladder is material success, spiritual accomplishment, or learning Torah) many Ju-Bus find in Buddhism the "Be Here Now" a stillness that is absent from Judaism as practiced in most circles.
   
  3) R. Micha Berger further said:
  >Shevisi Hashem lenegdi tamid.
>The idea is pretty fundamental, not just to the couple of sources cited.
   
  I think that this is also key. The Jewish Kavvanah tradition is about being in touch and aware of God, not where you are at any given moment or with the people who you happen to be around.  There are hundreds of not thousands of texts about cultivating God awareness.  But that is not Mindfulness.
   
  However, Buddhist have been cultivating Mindfulness for two thousand plus years with thousands of books on achieving Mindfulness.  One cannot expect Judaism, a much smaller religion whose energies have been poured primarily into the study of Torah to have as rich a literature or Tradition in these areas.

4) R. Akiva Miller equated "Mitzvos Tzrichos Kavana" with Mindfulness. However, at a minimum "Mitzvos Tzrichos Kavana" only requires one to be aware that one is performing an action when he is performing it.  At most, the Kabbalist-Ethical literature understand "Mitzvos Tzrichos Kavana" as an awareness of metaphysical processes or sefirot when performing the actions.  It is the exact opposite of being present in the moment.  It is specifically being somewhere else.
   
  5) R. Richard Wolpoe talking about not being distracted while involved in learning.  How is this any different than being so involved in playing video games that one doesn't notice the cold (or hunger or other people in the room with him)? Being absorbed in Torah learning is not Mindfulness.
   
  So I am left with my original question.  Is Mindfulness or being Present in the Moment a Jewish virtue?

       
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