By Kalinga Seneviratne, The Buddhist Channel, Sept 8, 2016
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Mindfulness, the meditative practice, which has its roots in Buddhism as Vipassana Bhavana, encourages people to focus on the present, rather than on the anxieties of the past or future.
In the previous decade, however, it has become somewhat of a fad around the world. Particularly in the U.S., it is now everywhere: in schools, law firms, banks, governments, and even in the U.S. military. They are all offering mindfulness sessions to staff.
But Buddhists are worried about 'secularisation' of the practice that pays little heed to its moral and ethical aspects.
While welcoming the fact that a 2500 year old teaching that originated in Asia is now offering a panacea for Westerners and others around the world to overcome the stressful life they have created for themselves, they fear that it could be used for the wrong purpose such as making military officers become better snipers by improving their concentration or corporate bosses better exploiters of their workforce to increase productivity.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday met with leaders of Asian spiritual traditions in Jerusalem. From jpost.com
His Holiness the Karmapa in Paris, 2016
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The current abbot of Mahagandayon, Nayaka Sayadaw Abhidhaja Maha Rattha Guru Eindra Basabivansa. (Teza Hlaing / Frontier)
A view of Longquan 
