David Forbes

David Forbes joins us to speak about Mindfulness and Its Discontents.

As we see mindfulness in the news, on social media, in public classrooms and private industry, questions will and should arise. “What are we doing?” is valid to ask, and discussions answering that question will continue for years to come. These critiques are helpful — they keep us honest, they challenge our thinking, and help us understand our own ideas and beliefs, perhaps overthrowing some, or making others stronger as they stand up to scrutiny. We may not always agree, but these are dialogues worth having this early in the lifetime of secular mindfulness, to see what’s there, what could be there, and perhaps what shouldn’t be there.

David Forbes, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the School Counseling program at Brooklyn College and affiliate faculty in the Urban Education doctoral program at the CUNY Graduate Center. He wrote “Occupy Mindfulness” on the need to critically situate mindfulness within current neoliberal contexts, challenge social injustices, and promote full self development. His recent media articles include, “They Want Kids to be Robots” in Salon.com, and “Search Outside Yourself: Google Misses a Lesson in Wisdom 101” in Huffington Post. David wrote Boyz 2 Buddhas: Counseling Urban High School Male Athletes in the Zone on his work with a high school football team. He was a co-recipient of a program fellowship from the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society in 2005, and is a licensed mental health counselor.

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Music for This Episode Courtesy of Rodrigo Rodriguez

The music heard in this podcast is from Rodrigo Rodriguez. You can visit his website to hear more of his music, get the full discography, and view his upcoming tour dates.