03/06/2026
**Can mindfulness help us become calmer without necessarily helping us become better people?**
That's one of the questions raised by a new paper I've contributed to, published today in *Mindfulness*:
**"Seneca Meets the Buddha: The Relationship Between Buddhist and Stoic Mindfulness"**
Many people assume that Stoicism and mindfulness are basically the same thing. Others think they are completely different! Our findings suggest there is considerable overlap, but also some important differences.
One key finding was that what we call **Stoic Mindfulness** (paying attention to our thoughts, judgements, intentions, and actions) was strongly related to mindfulness measures.
However, we also found evidence suggesting that some aspects of mindfulness may be less closely connected to ethical development and concern for others than Stoicism is.
The implication is not that mindfulness is bad. Far from it. Mindfulness has many well-established benefits.
Rather, the findings raise an interesting possibility: perhaps attention and awareness are only part of the story. How we choose to live, the values we adopt, and the kind of person we aspire to become may matter too.
That, of course, is something the Stoics were talking about nearly 2,000 years ago.
Many thanks to Johannes Karl and Ronald Fischer for a fascinating collaboration.
You can read the paper here:
https://rdcu.be/fmcD2
I'd be interested to hear what others think about the relationship between mindfulness, character, and wellbeing.
