I woke up this morning and I saw something that annoyed me. I noticed almost immediately how unhelpful it was for me to be annoyed, which gave me a temporary sense of satisfaction. But I still went down the rabbit hole. The details are unimportant because I am sure all of us could easily relate: "How could that person possibly have made that choice? Don't they know how inconvenient their choice will be for me? Don't they know what I want?" I could just sense the anger bubbling over and I felt almost helpless.
Most of the public enthusiasm for mindfulness stems from the reputation it has for reducing stress. But scholars and researchers who work on mindfulness, and the Buddhist tradition itself, paint a more complex picture than does the popular media.
