Kabat-Zinn was born in New York City in 1944 as the oldest of three children to
Elvin Kabat, a biomedical scientist, and Sally Kabat, a painter. He graduated from
Haverford College in 1964 and went on to earn a Ph.D. in
molecular biology in 1971 from
MIT, where he studied under
Salvador Luria,
Nobel Laureate in medicine.
While at MIT, Kabat-Zinn was a leading campaigner against military research at the university and against the
Vietnam war.[6] To reduce student protests, MIT appointed him - alongside
Noam Chomsky and
George Katsiaficas - to an advisory panel on the future of the university's military labs.[7] During this time, he pondered his life's purpose, which he called his "karmic assignment."[8]
Career
Kabat-Zinn was first introduced to meditation by
Philip Kapleau, a Zen missionary who came to speak at MIT where Kabat-Zinn was a student. Kabat-Zinn went on to study meditation with other Buddhist teachers such as
Seungsahn.[9] He also studied at the
Insight Meditation Society with
Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein, and eventually taught there.[3][9] In 1979 he founded the Stress Reduction Clinic at the
University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he adapted the Soto Zen, Vipassana, Hatha Yoga and Advaita Vedanta teachings and developed the Stress Reduction and Relaxation Program.[3] He subsequently renamed the structured eight-week course
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). He removed the
soteriological goals of the religious and spiritual systems that influenced the MBSR and any connection between mindfulness and Buddhism, instead putting MBSR in a scientific context.[9][10] He subsequently also founded the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. His secular technique of
Mindful Yoga, which combines meditation and
yoga as exercise, has since spread worldwide.[9] The course aims to help patients cope with stress, pain, and illness by using what is called "moment-to-moment awareness."[11][12]
Kabat-Zinn's MBSR began to get increasing notice with the publication of his first book, Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness (1991), which gave detailed instructions for the practice.[5][13] Then, in 1993, his work in the Stress Reduction Clinic was featured in
Bill Moyers's PBS special Healing and the Mind, spurring wide interest in MBSR and helping to make Kabat-Zinn nationally famous.[9] In 1994 Kabat-Zinn's second book, titled
Wherever You Go, There You Are, became a national bestseller.[14] In the latter part of the 1990s, many MBSR clinics were opened, either as standalone centers or as part of a hospital's holistic medicine program.[9]
Research by Kabat-Zinn includes the effect of MBSR on
psoriasis, pain, anxiety, brain function, and immune function.[15]
MBSR has been adapted for use by the US military to improve combatants' "operational effectiveness," apparently with Kabat-Zinn's approval, which has provoked some controversy among mindfulness practitioners.[17][18][19]
Discussing the integration of narratives into mindfulness practice, Kabat-Zinn has said, "the map... can occlude... the territory.' That is, thinking about a storyline can get in the way, like creating a mental representation 'map' rather than directly experiencing the 'territory' of the present moment.
Kabat-Zinn is Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.[20]
Personal life
Kabat-Zinn is married to Myla Zinn, the daughter of the historian and playwright
Howard Zinn and his wife Roslyn. They have three grown children.[21]
Kabat-Zinn grew up in a non-practicing Jewish family.[22] He has stated that his beliefs growing up were a fusion of science and art.[20] Although he has been "trained in Buddhism and espouses its principles", he rejects the label of "Buddhist",[14] preferring to "apply mindfulness within a scientific rather than a religious frame".[9]
Awards
2008: Mind and Brain Prize from the Center for Cognitive Science, University of Torino, Italy
2007: Inaugural Pioneer in Integrative Medicine Award from the Bravewell Philanthropic Collaborative for Integrative Medicine
2005: Distinguished Friend Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies[23]
The Power of Meditation and Prayer, with Sogyal Rinpoche,
Larry Dossey, Michael Toms. Hay House, 1997.
ISBN1-56170-423-7.
Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting, with Myla Kabat-Zinn. Hyperion, 1997.
ISBN978-0-7868-8314-1.
Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness. Hyperion, 2006.
ISBN0-7868-8654-4.
The mindful way through depression: freeing yourself from chronic unhappiness, by J. Mark G. Williams, John D. Teasdale, Zindel V. Segal, Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Guilford Press, 2007.
ISBN1593851286.
Arriving at Your Own Door. Piatkus Books, 2008.
ISBN0-7499-2861-1. The book contains 180 verses that discuss the connection between mindfulness and our physical and spiritual wellbeing and can lead to healing and transformation.[24][25][26][27]
Letting Everything Become Your Teacher: 100 Lessons in Mindfulness. Dell Publishing Company, 2009.
ISBN0-385-34323-X.
The Mind's Own Physician: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama on the Healing Power of Meditation, co-authored with
Richard Davidson (New Harbinger, 2012) (based on the 13th
Mind and Life Institute Dialogue in 2005).
Mindfulness for Beginners: reclaiming the present moment - and your life. Sounds True, Inc., 2012.
ISBN978-1-60407-753-7.
^Fitzpatrick, Liam (24 January 2019).
"The Monk Who Taught the World Mindfulness Awaits the End of This Life". Time. Retrieved 22 June 2020. Among his students was the American doctor Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course that is now offered at hospitals and medical centers worldwide.
^Nelkin, Dorothy (1972). The University and Military Research, Moral Politics at MIT. Cornell University Press.
pp. 67-8, 81-2, 105; Knight, Chris (2016). Decoding Chomsky. Yale University Press.
pp. 34-5
^Kabat-Zinn, Jon (2011).
"Contemporary Buddhism"(PDF). University of Massachusetts Medical School. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
^
abcdefgWilson, Jeff (2014). Mindful America: The Mutual Transformation of Buddhist Meditation and American Culture. Oxford University Press. p. 35.
^Gesund durch Meditation p330 and 331 the German translation of Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness
^Kabat-Zinn, Jon (2012). Mindfulness for Beginners: reclaiming the present moment--and your life. Boulder, Colorado: Sounds True, Inc. p. 165.
ISBN978-1-60407-658-5.
OCLC747533622.