Mindfulness will do much more than a phone

[Aloka]

I saw this quote from Thich Nhat Hahn :

“You think that you’re safe when carrying your phone. But the truth is that mindfulness will do much more than a phone to protect you, to help you suffer less, and to improve your communication.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Communicating

... and I wondered if anyone had any comments/reflections?

[philg]

I guess the height of irony would be someone reading an article about mindfulness on their phone whilst stepping off the kerb in front of a bus. There's a big difference between mindfully carrying your phone in case it's needed and not using it mindfully as you walk along. In reality, though, his point is pretty ridiculous in the sense that you can't equate the two things, mindfulness and a phone. What he meant, I think, is that mindfulness will help you more than anything to keep you safe from suffering in the Buddhist sense, and even safer when out and about, as in keeping your wits about you. His last point about communication is valid in the sense that nothing helps communication more than mindfulness, as the best phone is only a tool and a tool is only as good as its user.

[woodscooter]

...you can't equate the two things, mindfulness and a phone...

Maybe no, you can't equate mindfulness and a phone. But you can make a comparison between the two, which is what TNH is doing here.

The person-to-person communication provided by a phone is kind of single-dimensional. It may be limited by our surroundings, it may be hurried. It could be a tweet restricted to 280 characters. It may be born of anger or some other emotion. It might not be a conversation, it can often be a single-direction text or voice message.

Talking to someone in the same room, mindfulness fully engaged, is going to achieve something. There is most likely to be understanding and acceptance. There may be disagreement that will be fully accepted too. That, I think, is the point of communication.

[philg]

Yes, I think the worst thing about modern phones is that they are always there. There's no cooling off period if you don't use them mindfully. How many regret not having a gap between the anger and the means of communicating it?