Mindfulness

Narratives, practices and materialities that are orientated in Buddhism, are currently being received in industrialised countries around the world as psychologically effective techniques. This reception is taking place on the basis of transcultural translation processes. Body and meditation practices of Buddhist decent are offered and practiced to positively influence the psyche to combat stress or other problems. The topos of mindfulness has been especially successful. It emerged from the Theravada Buddhist tradition of Vipassana and was initially received in therapeutic discourses in medicine and psychology in the 1970s. Since then, it has become a part of various discourses. Neuroscientists and psychotherapists are discussing and investigating the effects of meditative practices on mental health and the integration of meditative practices into psychotherapy is in increasingly higher demand. The Heidelberg Institute for Religious Studies is particularly interested in the question of legitimisation and plausibility strategies as well as the interplay between ascriptions and body practices in the field of mindfulness.