Abstract
While the search for Eastern meditative practices as health and quality of life technology has increased significantly in recent years, the lack of understanding regarding core concepts and values from which such techniques emerge produces proposals that can be either revolutionary or dystopic. This text proposes a brief discussion concerning the mindfulness movement based on Goodman’s gestalt. Thus, we (a) briefly present the transmission of these practices from Buddhist traditions to contemporary Western science; (b) highlight some theoretical aspects that bring gestalt-therapy closer to and distance it from Buddhist premises; and (c) discuss the appropriation of such traditions, their values and technologies by a utilitarian neoliberal paradigm.
Keywords:
mindfulness; gestalt therapy; ideology; mental health; politics