co-reliance

Erik van den Brink

Mindfulness and self-compassion training has sprung up like mushrooms to help people become more stress-resistant and self-reliant in an increasingly stressful world. It was often assumed that these training courses would automatically lead to us taking better care of each other and creating a healthier society. However, stress production only increased and there is a crisis-like atmosphere in more and more areas of our existence. There are increasing calls to get rid of the meditation cushion and terms such as 'social' or 'ecological' mindfulness are used. How can we recognize not only our unhealthy individual patterns, but also the harmful collective patterns that are bringing the earth to the brink of the abyss? How do we move from self-reliant to collaborative? What does it mean to live a truly compassionate life? Don't expect ready-made answers in this lecture. It is already a start to consider the questions, with an exercise and reflection.