Mindfulness, Buddhism & Modern Psychology
The United Kingdom arguably represents the leading front in the globalised therapeutic culture of ‘mindfulness’. Promoted predominantly as an effective therapeutic technique for the relief of stress, depression, and anxiety, mindfulness has moved rapidly from the Buddhist monasteries of Southeast Asia and into the mainstream of Western societies.
In this talk, Dr Steven Stanley, will discuss the multiple ways in which ‘mindfulness’ is made manifest across sectors of health, education, work, politics and spirituality, and analyse the mainstream turn to mindfulness against the background of cutting-edge work at the borderlands of psychology, religion, and spirituality.
Reading Recommendations:
- Mindful America – Jeff Wilson
- Mindful Nation UK
- Beyond McMindfulness – Ron Purser and David Loy
- The Making of Buddhist Modernism – David McMahan
About the Speaker:

Dr Steven Stanley, PhD
Dr Steven Stanley is a critical psychologist and Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University, Wales. His academic background is in Psychology, and his research is focused on the therapeutic cultures of late modernity, with a particular focus on social studies of mindfulness.
Dr Stanley has a 20-year meditation practice, and has undertaken the two-year Committed Dharma Practitioner Programme at Gaia House, Devon, and Pāli Summer School at Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, Oxford. Currently, he is collaborating internationally on a series of studies of mindfulness, meditation, and mind wandering. You can follow him on twitter @Dr_SteveStanley.
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Next Event:
- University of Greenwich, 10 Stockwell Street Greenwich, London, SE10 9BD, United Kingdom
- 26/06/2022

Upcoming at TWU
This episode is sponsored by our upcoming Day on Changing Consciousness, taking place at the University of Greenwich on 26th June, 2022.
This will be The Weekend University’s first ‘in person’ event in over two years, and it’s shaping up to be a special occasion. The lectures will focus on consciousness paradigms that go beyond the brain, how they work, why they matter, and how understanding them can enhance your everyday experience of reality, with talks on:
–> Panpsychism: Is Everything Conscious? – Dr Philip Goff, PhD
–> From Ego-Centric to Eco-Centric: Changing Consciousness through Psychedelics – Dr Sam Gandy, PhD
–> Is Reality an Illusion? – Professor Donald Hoffman, PhD (via live video link)
By attending live, you can interact with the speakers in the Q&A sessions, connect with like-minded participants during the conference, and get CPD certification.
Should you be unable to attend in person, you’ll also be able to tune in from the comfort of home with a “Livestream Pass”.
As a listener of this podcast, you can get a discount on your ticket, if you go to https://bit.ly/ccj-twu, and use the discount code: POD when registering.