Mindfulness and Liminality - watching thoughts become thinking

This paper provides contexts for the emergence of secular mindfulness and a critical account of the emergence of mindfulness. Mindfulness has emerged in the late 20th century as a technique which has been applied in multiple professional and personal contexts. This paper suggests that conditions of secularisation, individualism and sanitised views of Buddhism may have been influential in this development. For as long as advocates of mindfulness do not consider these factors it remains vulnerable to critique. Beyond the many applications of mindfulness various professions this paper also posits that mindful awareness can cultivate insight into the process of identity formation. In this way it is a way of understanding and navigating the liminal spaces within our own consciousness.