Pristine Mindfulness: Heartfulness and Beyond

Abstract

This chapter explains the practice and describes the rationale of pristine mindfulness or “heartfulness.” Pristine mindfulness is a process of eight states or steps which confluences the best of a demystified Theravada, Mahayana, and the psychology/therapy of Relational Buddhism, called Karma Transformation, a down-to-earth approach which defines karma as intentional action. Next, heartfulness is contrasted vis-à-vis the Buddhist-lite mindfulness-based interventions like mindfulness-based stress reduction. It is an attempt to come to terms with the Buddhist-lite approach which excludes basic Buddhist teachings like the dependent origination of feeling–thought–action, the illusion of self, and the delusion of isolation. Framed in a secular pan-Buddhism (covering basic Buddhist principles) and a this-worldly psychology of the Dharma, pristine mindfulness discerns the Buddha’s, Nagarjuna’s, Vasubandhu’s, and Chan-Zen’s Taoist views on emptiness of the smallest units of experience (dharmas) and adds a Relational Buddhist outlook on dharmas formulated as “ontologically-mute-social-constructions-empty-of-Transcendental-Truths.” This relational perspective promotes inter-mind which locates mind in-between people rather than only confined behind the eyeballs and envisions emptiness as a reset/reboot experience embedded in inter-mind that encompasses single minds. Thus, pristine mindfulness works towards liberation from unwholesome karmic intentional action which implies realizing an awakening of not-self and conducting a life of well-being that is empty of self, but full of delight in relational bliss.