Page 46 - EH72

44 EASTERN HORIZON | FACE TO FACE

The Benefits of Mindful Living

By Dr Yeoh Kar Kheng

Yeoh Kar Kheng holds a doctorate degree from Oxford University and currently
serves as a senior lecturer at Universiti Sains Malaysia. In 2015, he founded
the Malaysia Mindfulness Association. At the request of Benny Liow on behalf
of Eastern Horizon, Kar Kheng responded to several questions he was asked
regarding his interest in mindfulness, the purpose of mindfulness, Buddhist
concept of mindfulness and the western secular approach, as well as his project
Malaysian Mindfulness Association.

Benny: How did the interest in mindfulness began
for you? Has it anything to do with your education
as a chemist?

Kar Kheng: My introduction to Buddhist mindfulness
came at a time when I was earnestly seeking relief from
unsettling emotions and insomnia stemming from a
personal challenge. In the year 2000, I embarked on
my inaugural Vipassana retreat at Buddhist Lunas
Hermitage.

Mindfulness has its origins in the Buddha’s
Fast forward to 2010, during my academic pursuit at
teaching. Do you see parallels in the Buddha’s
Oxford University, I enrolled in the 8-week Mindfulness
definition of mindfulness with the current popular
Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) course at the Oxford
understanding and practice of mindfulness?
Mindfulness Centre. This marked my first direct
experience with what is often termed contemporary or
modern mindfulness. In Buddhist teachings, mindfulness, known as ‘sati’ in
Pali and ‘smrti’ in Sanskrit, is frequently described as
After coming back to Malaysia, I initiated Mindful@ the capacity to remember or bring to mind something
Sejahtera, a community project aimed at fostering previously experienced or learned. For example, you
mindfulness-based emotional intelligence and wellness need to remember where you placed your mobile
programs at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), where I phone, enabling you to later recall it, this function of
have been serving as a senior lecturer to this day. memory is encapsulated in the essence of ‘mindfulness.’
If the action is carried out mindlessly, signifying a lack
What I found intriguing was the parallel that emerged of full presence, recollection becomes a challenge.
between my roles as a mindfulness practitioner and
my background as a chemist. In both realms, there is a On the other hand, Jon Kabat-Zinn, often hailed as the
shared fascination with dissecting and comprehending ‘father of modern mindfulness,’ defines mindfulness
as “awareness that arises from paying attention in
the intricate processes of change and transformation,
albeit on different scales. a particular way.” The crucial point here lies in the
quality (attitude) and the subject of your attention.