In meditation circles there are a handful of books seasoned practitioners refer beginners to, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Wherever You Go There You Are is one of them, and for good reason. Kabat-Zinn developed the system of practice known as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, based on eastern meditation practices. In this book he essentially lays out the basics of that practice and theory in an easy to read guide for anyone with an interest in the subject of meditation. This review will discuss what beginning meditators will most likely find of value in Kabat-Zinn’s work, and discuss portions of the book that readers might want to take more lightly.
Helpful Meditation Instructions
Wherever You Go There You Are is split into three sections. An introduction section with more of an emphasis on the state of mind or attitude with which to bring to meditation practice; a practical session with detailed instruction for a variety of meditation practices, and accompanying postures; and finally a much more philosophical exposition of how meditation and mindfulness practice fits into the world. Beginning meditators will likely find the first two sections on attitude and practice most useful.
Paradox of Practice
In terms of attitude, Kabat-Zinn stresses the paradox of practice. Although most activities in life are propelled by an expectation of getting somewhere or something in the end, meditation is not one of those. The reviewer found that Kabat-Zinn’s instructions to let go of trying to get anywhere at all, were particularly helpful. (16). The pull of cultural forces emphasize a constant need to be a better person, to get somewhere in life, but Kabat-Zinn emphasizes to “let things be just as they are”. (98). This line of thinking is a good first step in subduing the greedy tendency of the mind to accomplish and conquer.
Don’t Look for Anything
Of course Kabat-Zinn gives helpful advice on precisely how to allow things to be just as they are, “Sit down and enter into your breathing, if only for a few minutes. Don’t look for anything. . . .”. (99). This reviewer has found that bringing a few moments of mindfulness to any situation, especially the unsatisfying ones, adds a dimension of sanity and reasonableness that can become the foundation for a state of wellbeing.
Put the Welcome Mat in Front of the Meditation Cushion
Another useful aspect of the practice laid out by the author is the emphasis on bringing awareness to whatever experience arise in the mind, without added baggage, “If you put the welcome mat out for them and investigate their qualities and let them be, you may learn a lot about what is strong and unwavering in yourself.” (126). Not only does this practice calm the mind, but it has the power to transform situations that would have drained all the meditator’s psychic energy, and allow them to see that whatever comes up is just fine.
Trust in Awareness
Finally, in all of this Kabat-Zinn reminds us, as the title of the book suggests, that where ever you are, just trust in that. You do not need to ask “’is this what is supposed’ to happen”. (130). Rather, you can learn to trust your awareness. In meditation, all that you really need to know can be found in this experience of the body, in this breath, in this moment.
Less Helpful Teachings
Although Wherever You Go There You Are is a great book for beginning meditators, they should keep in mind not to take everything the author says at face value. Examples of unhelpful meditation structure include concepts that are too vague and amorphous to be useful. These concepts are not necessarily vague but Kabat-Zinn seems to dodge the doctrinal underpinning of these teachings, which make them easier to understand. The reason is most likely because he wants to avoid association with new-age thought, or that he wants to be seen as more impartial to Buddhism.
Teachings on Karma
What Kabat-Zinn explains as karma can just as easily be attributed to neurological conditioning. (222). He avoids discussing that even single actions in the past can ripen into later occurrences. He also avoids any discussion of rebirth, which is essential to the philosophy of Karma in both Buddhist and many Hindu sects. On the other hand, some contemporary teachers argue that the Buddha taught rebirth as a metaphor, Kabat-Zinn may be advocating for this approach in his work.
Eachness and Suchness
It seems that Kabat-Zinn attempts to describe emptiness using the zen notions of suchness. (230). Interestingly he relies more heavily on passages from wise men of the past in this section than in any others, probably because he realizes that his explanation of something as profound as he is attempting to explain will always fail as a result of the inadequacies of language. But, the biggest problem of this section is that the short quotations are so ambiguous that can be interpreted really any direction, can seem contradictory, and at worst may look like nonsense. For example, “the chickadee hops near to me.” And midnight. No waves; no wind, the empty boat is flooded with moonlight” could be simply describing in a poetic way, an image. A more philosophical rendering could be that the chickadee and the observer are one but second quote could be taken to mean that we are all without an essential self. So its very unclear and without further exposition, simply confusing especially to a beginning meditation student.
Lake and Mountain Meditations
Although some readers might find that the addition of the visualization heavy meditations on the lake and mountain useful, The reviewer found these meditations resulted in an undisciplined proliferation of mental imagery rather than a stable steady continuity of mindfulness.
Too Many Meditation Tools
Finally, in a point related to the previous note Kabat-Zinn was perhaps a little over-ambitious in including so many different techniques in this single book. Any single meditator could be overwhelmed with knowledge, and find herself jumping from technique to technique. Although Kabat-Zinn warns against this, (197) the warning is somewhat hidden and is made in connection with looking for special experiences. The bigger concern is that jumping from technique to technique can simply happen because a meditator thinks that is what is needed to practice stillness. On a related note the reviewer would have liked to see a more robust explanation in the introductory section about the necessity of having a good meditation teacher.
In Defense of Kabat-Zinn
Kabat-Zinn likely had convincing reasons to leave in these more philosophical forays into karma and emptiness. Admittedly the practice seems really incomplete without some discussion of this. Further, Kabat Zinn likely sees through his experience that yogis need some idea of what to do once they have been meditating for a while and still feel lost in the world. This philosophical underpinning in the book can give them some direction of wholesome avenues of life direction.
Conclusion
Wherever You Go There You Are is a stimulating and wholesome read. New meditators will find a systematic, but not dogmatic, method of practice. As a more experienced meditator I found the book to be a refreshing look at the basics. I still find myself getting caught proliferating on events in my life that I find to be unfair, and lapse into really greedy or deluded mind states. But if I practiced everything that Kabat-Zinn teaches in this book with more regularity, those mind states would soon become less appealing to me and eventually no longer bother me.
