Mindful Inquiry

Mainstream science embraces the idea that the universe and human decision-making operate according to causal laws which can be objectively known. Understanding human behaviour requires an understanding of the mind. A great part of the workings of our mind, however, is based on subjective data, which is complex, detailed and often not replicable. Therefore, this view tends not to get a dominant place in mainstream science. The action research approach, however, leaves room for such subjective data. Mindful inquiry is a means of studying the mind. This entry focuses on the origin and the practice of mindful inquiry, an age-old technique that is recently being adapted for use in mainstream management. Mindful inquiry—as a means of understanding human behaviour and natural or social phenomena—has been applied by Western, Indian and Buddhist philosophers and saints. Mindful inquiry is a sort of foundational philosophy and easily adapts to different forms from intellectual first person inquiry, dialogues, reflexive individual thinking and contemplation to meditation. In this entry, mindful inquiry is discussed in the context of research. First, the mind is defined in its process of generating knowledge, then mindful inquiry is described and then an integral yogic view is proposed on knowledge and its impact on our attitude of inquiry followed by its application in the context of action research.