‘…although “Western Buddhism” presents itself as the remedy against the stressful tension of capitalistic dynamics, allowing us to uncouple and retain inner peace and Glassenheit, it actually functions as its perfect ideological supplement.’[1]
For Slavoj Zizek, Western Buddhism is sold as a cure, or at least a solution for the stress of the capitalistic society that is our world. But he argues that in fact, through Buddhist practise, we as individuals are able to take more on and therefore contemporary mindfulness does not hel to diminish the problems thrown onto us, yet in fact allows us to take on more. Zizek has rightly put Western Buddhism within quotation marks, as his issues are not that of Western Buddhism, yet that of the contemporary mindfulness movement that is rippling through the Western World; embodied in apps, literature and classes; any sellable product in fact[2]. Mindfulness, in this sense has become a product, a product that can be promoted with being both Buddhist, yet often not religious, and with great medical benefits. It has become a spiritual pill that the Western World has become eager to consume. Continue reading “Capitalistic Therapy”
