McDonaldizing Spirituality: Mindfulness, Education, and Consumerism

The exponential growth of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in recent years has resulted in a marketisation and commodification of practice-popularly labeled McMindfulness-which divorces mindfulness from its spiritual and ethical origins in Buddhist traditions. Such commodification is criticized by utilising ideas and insights drawn from work in educational philosophy and policy analysis. The McDonaldization process is applied to the emerging populist versions of mindfulness and analysed in some detail, alongside the capitalization and marketisation of MBIs on the McMindfulness model. The central argument is that the crucial educational function of MBIs needs to be informed by the moral virtues which are at the heart of Buddhist mindfulness. Without such an ethical and educational foundation-actively connected with engaged Buddhist foundations aimed at individual and social transformation-mindfulness becomes just another fashionable self-help gimmick that is unlikely to be of any lasting individual or social benefit.