When People Sing a Different Tune about Contemplative Education: The Introduction of Mindfulness Practices into Faculties of Mahidol University, Thailand

Abstract

Amongst such misconception towards mindfulness practices using contemplation- based learning process that has been commonly perceived by people in Mahidol University, Thailand at large, this article came up with the question of how we can change the people’s attitude towards mindfulness practices using contemplation- based learning process. The objective of this article is to study the attitudes and personal transformation of those who have participated in the project of “Grounding Contemplative Education for Wellbeing in Society, year 1” conducted by Contemplative Education Center, Mahidol University, Thailand. The methodology of this article was documentary research and the main data obtained from Grounding Contemplative Education for Wellbeing in Society, year 1 Report were then analyzed qualitatively. As there were two main types of learning process, namely a short-term process, and a long-term process, all the results correspondingly indicated changes in many positive ways. The result of this article found that Contemplation-based learning processes could obviously bring about new understandings and experiences regarding mindfulness practices, i.e. on the surface level they could trigger the right attitude regarding mindfulness in participants realizing that it can be done in nontraditional ways easily adaptable for all styles of modern life, and in the deeper level they could provide participants essential skills, like deep listening, to improve their relationship and also to make them ready for the next steps of spiritual advancement by gaining trust and opening up their own vulnerability.