Toward A Quality Leisure Experience: The Practice of Mindfulness

Mindfulness practice is a self-observing contemplative practice originally derived from the ancient Buddhist tradition. In this tradition, our ordinary state of consciousness is viewed as being limited and distracted by others. The practice releases us from the busy ‘prison’ state and leads to the state of being awake and liberated, making it possible for us to live our lives with a full spectrum. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the essential process of mindfulness practice and its relationship to leisure. The main ideas of this paper are two-fold. First, contemplative practice is the essence of leisure. Second, contemplative practice produces a quality leisure experience. For the former, the ancient meaning of the word ‘leisure’ is investigated in its relationship to contemplation. For the latter, mindfulness practice is viewed in terms of the original sutra, and the therapeutic effects and benefits of this practice are discussed in some specific cases. As a result of the analysis, this paper finds that mindfulness practice creates a special experience which has profound relevance to the quality of leisure such as choice, freedom, tranquility, flow, satisfaction and positive outcomes. It creates not only internal balance but also wellbeing, the positive sense of health. As leisure professionals, this study suggests, in conclusion, that we need to restore the essence of leisure—the contemplative quality—reclaiming our leisure-identity and significant role in a world obsessed by the ‘rapids.’