LucidMind wrote:For example, it seems like in Buddhism, you must believe in reincarnation (no-birth and no-death) to be truly free of fear and anxiety.
Many people consider the threat of rebirth - a kind of immortality fantasy, in my opinion - akin to one's soul 'cheating death' and being judged by God, as a motivator for being more moral. However, even though people may be motivated in this way, I believe that the constant fear of a bad rebirth or God's judgement after this present life ends actually keeps one in the grips of emotion, and thus
cognitive distortions.
Fear isn't a motivator in my opinion - it is more of a "dis-ease", as JKZ may put it. Fearing the consequences of not getting to sleep on a restless night isn't going to help one get to sleep. Buddhists fearing a bad rebirth as a means to relax and conquer fear seems like an equally pointless exercise from where I'm standing, and so rebirth-believing Buddhists tread water while secular mindfulness practitioners make progress. In Sri Lanka and here in China, for example, most Buddhists don't practice mindfulness - why would they? All they are going to find is never-ending fear welling up inside them without a way out unless they drop the belief in rebirth - something which they consider impossible.
Interestingly enough, Buddhism was apparently sought and brought into China initially because of the promises of a kind of immortality. The ancient
Qin Emperor of Terracotta Warriors fame was so powerful and self-obsessed that he sent investigators far and wide to find an immortality methodology - the elixir of life. Eventually he sided with eating mercury pills and the like - something which killed him prematurely at the age of 51. I love the moral that this story teaches.
It's worth noting that there are a few Buddhist teachers - Zen one's at that - who have dropped the old conceptions of rebirth (as preserved in the most ancient Buddhist pali scriptures) and have taught something more in line with the reinterpretation that JonW has mentioned - the Japanese Zen teacher
Nishijima is one, for example (maybe you picked up that perspective from Brad Warner, Jon, since Warner is a student of Nishijima).
LucidMind wrote:I wonder what specifically about the secular version of mindfulness (like MBSR and Jon Kabat-Zinn) works so well at reducing anxiety and worry, and enhancing life? I'd be really interested in hearing your opinions on why secular mindfulness is so effective!
Facing the apparent more likely 'fact' that this life is the only one we have, I think MBSR practitioners tend to practice harder, because they see their time to enjoy their brief moments in this beautiful world as limited - that raisin really does need to be appreciated more within this framework, because once death comes, then there's no more raisins - now, and this short life, are the only moments we have to really live. Once this initial motivating factor gets one 'in the groove' so to speak, then the practice becomes more vibrant.
Zen Buddhism - which in my experience doesn't emphasise the rebirth teachings as much as the other schools of Buddhism, and again, uniquely often emphasises allowing onself to be gripped by a sense of calm urgency during practice - like a Samurai involved in a duel, or a starving cat crouched watching it's prey - that kind of focus and attention, anyway.
If one considers that one can practice once reborn in the next lifetime, or some other lifetime in the distant future, then why bother practicing so hard now? There's plenty of time to be in this beautiful world, so no hurry, and so attention and focus aren't so strong.
Those are my present reflections, anyway.
