"Mindfulness" and corporate spirituality (video)

Glenn Wallis (speculativenonbuddhism.com); Amber Larson, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

Google corporation used to have a simple charter: "Don't be evil." Used to have.

(Heart-of-the-city.org) Members of the Heart of the City Collective deliver an unexpected public service announcement during Google's presentation "3 Steps to Build Corporate Mindfulness the Google Way" at the Wisdom 2.0 Conference. As three Google speakers introduced the session, four protesters jumped on stage, unfurled an "Eviction Free San Francisco" banner, and proceeded to chant, "Wisdom Means Stop Displacement; Wisdom Means Stop Surveillance; San Francisco: Not For Sale!" After two minutes on stage, security guards and conference managers ushered them away after a literal game of tug of war for the banner, which the activists won. Google and conference leaders proceeded to talk about "wisdom and mindfulness" but failed to address the grievances of Bay Area communities or the company's own hypocrisy in purporting to be "mindful."
 

Because we are progressive and broadminded, we like to hear all sides of a story, listen to our critics as well as our cheerleaders, our detractors and our fans.

Today we go to the now defunct Speculative Non-Buddhism site for a sobering look at "corporate spirituality" in the Silicon Valley. (Glenn Wallis, let's not blame the Buddha or Buddhism for the shortcomings of would-be Buddhists the way we avoid criticizing Christ or Christianity for the faults of the fan club.

• When the media lies, where is truth? (The Intercept)

Google, evil? Oops, too late! - Free Tibet!

This video clip [of the "spiritual" goings on at Google, Inc.] is a dazzling and devastating testimony to the complete moral bankruptcy of the American mindfulness movement. Think of it as a microcosmic display of the mindfulness macrocosm.

The stage is the world. The protestors are agents of change. The people on the couch are mindfulness/x-Buddhist practitioners. What happens is something right out of a brilliant Tutteji Wachtmeister send-up. (Links below.)

 

Stop spying on us, Google/NSA/FBI/NSC!

We are at the Wisdom 2.0 Conference in San Francisco...February 14-17, 2014. The New York Times describes it like this: “Founders from Facebook, Twitter, eBay, Zynga and PayPal, and executives and managers from companies like Google, Microsoft, Cisco…in conversations with experts in yoga and mindfulness.”

 

Speaker 1: “Every year, Google brings us some new exploration, and today it is: “Three Steps to Build Corporate Mindfulness”…pause…“the Google Way.” Pan to our three mindful experts sitting so contentedly, smiling at ease…Oh, sh-t. More

The U.S. gov't has thoroughly infiltrated and co-opted Google corporation (stoltenow.com)

Star Wars: droids "google it" instead of a better search (Robert Yasumura/twitter.com)