In clinical psychology and well-being, mindfulness is the practice of maintaining moment-by-moment awareness of bodily sensations, feelings, thoughts, and immediate surroundings According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, mindfulness may also refer to "a state of being aware". Synonyms for this "state of being aware" are wakefulness, attention, alertness, prudence, Noting that Daniel John Gogerly (1845) initially rendered sammā-sati as "correct meditation", Davids writes:
According to Bryan Levman, "the word incorporates the meaning of 'memory' and 'remembrance' in much of its usage in both the and the [traditional Buddhist] commentary, and [...] without the memory component, the notion of mindfulness cannot be properly understood or applied, as mindfulness requires memory for its effectiveness".
According to Robert Sharf, originally meant 'to remember', 'to recollect', 'to bear in mind', as in the Vedic tradition of remembering the sacred texts. The term also means 'to remember'.
John D. Dunne says that the translation of and as 'mindfulness' is confusing. A number of Buddhist scholars have started trying to establish 'retention' as the preferred alternative. Bhikkhu Bodhi also describes the meaning of as 'memory'.
Definitions
Buddhism
Secular mindfulness is derived from Buddhist meditation techniques; the word 'mindfulness' translates the terms and .
Robert H. Sharf notes that Buddhist practice is aimed at the attainment of "correct view", not just "bare attention". Jay L. Garfield, quoting Shantideva and other sources, stresses that mindfulness is constituted by the union of two functions, and vigilantly . He demonstrates that there is a direct connection between the practice of mindfulness and the cultivation of moralityat least in the context of Buddhism, from which modern interpretations of mindfulness are stemming.
Memory
The Pali word , which is commonly translated as 'mindfulness', also carries the connotation of memory. Early Buddhist texts describe the concept not only as awareness of sense perceptions but also as recollection of the Buddha's teachings and past events:
According to American Buddhist monk Ven Bhante Vimalaramsi's book A Guide to Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation, the term "mindfulness" is often interpreted differently than what was originally formulated by the Buddha. In the context of Buddhism, he offers the following definition:
In Thich Nhat Hanh's lineage, mindfulness is closely intertwined with the concept of interbeing, the notion that all things are interconnected. This school of thought emphasizes awareness of the present moment and ethical living, reflecting the interconnected nature of existence.
Definitions arising in modern teaching of meditation
Since the 1970s, most books on meditation use definitions of mindfulness similar to Jon Kabat-Zinn's definition as "present moment awareness". However, recently a number of teachers of meditation have proposed quite different definitions of mindfulness. Shinzen Young says a person is mindful when they have mindful awareness, and defines that to be when "concentration power, sensory clarity, and equanimity [are] working together." John Yates (Culadasa) defines mindfulness to be "the optimal interaction between attention and peripheral awareness", where he distinguishes attention and peripheral awareness as two distinct modes in which one may be conscious of things. Thích Nhất Hạnh defined mindfulness as "the energy that sheds light on all things and all activities, producing the power of concentration, bringing forth deep insight and awakening."
Psychology
Definition
In psychology, mindfulness has a more limited meaning than in Buddhism. It is the cognitive skill of sustaining metacognitive awareness (paying attention) towards the present experience of sensory sensations (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and bodily sensations) and mental events or contents (thoughts, emotions, perceptions, and intentions) in the present moment with a non-judgmental or equanimous attitude.
A. M. Hayes and G. Feldman have highlighted that mindfulness can be seen as a strategy that stands in contrast to a strategy of avoidance of emotion on the one hand and to the strategy of emotional over-engagement on the other hand.
Trait, state and practice
According to Brown, Ryan, and Creswell, definitions of mindfulness are typically selectively interpreted based on who is studying it and how it is applied. Some have viewed mindfulness as a mental state, while others have viewed it as a set of skills and techniques. A distinction can also be made between the state of mindfulness and the trait of mindfulness.
According to David S. Black, whereas "mindfulness" originally was associated with esoteric beliefs and religion, and "a capacity attainable only by certain people", scientific researchers have translated the term into measurable terms, providing a valid operational definition of mindfulness. Black mentions three possible domains:
- A trait, a dispositional characteristic (a relatively long-lasting trait), a person's tendency to more frequently enter into and more easily abide in mindful states;
- A state, an outcome (a state of awareness resulting from mindfulness training), being in a state of present-moment awareness;
- A practice (mindfulness meditation practice itself).
Trait-like constructs
According to Brown, mindfulness is "A quality of consciousness manifest in, but not isomorphic with, the activities through which it is enhanced."
Historical development
Buddhism
Mindfulness as a modern, Western practice is founded on Zen and modern Vipassanā, and involves the training of sati, which means "moment to moment awareness of present events", but also "remembering to be aware of something".
Early Buddhism
Sati is one of the seven factors of enlightenment. "Correct" or "right" mindfulness (Pali: sammā-sati, Sanskrit samyak-smṛti) is the seventh element of the Noble Eightfold Path. Mindfulness is an antidote to delusion and is considered as a 'power' (Pali: bala) which contributes to the attainment of Nibbana. This faculty becomes a power in particular when it is coupled with clear comprehension of whatever is taking place. Nirvana is a state of being in which greed, hatred and delusion (Pali: moha) have been overcome and abandoned, and are absent from the mind.
According to Paul Williams, referring to Erich Frauwallner, mindfulness provided the way in Early Buddhism to liberation, "constantly watching sensory experience in order to prevent the arising of cravings which would power future experience into rebirths." According to Vetter, Jhanas may have been the original core practice of the Buddha, which aided the maintenance of mindfulness.
According to Thomas William Rhys Davids, the doctrine of mindfulness is "perhaps the most important" after the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. T.W. Rhys Davids viewed the teachings of Gotama Buddha as a rational technique for self-actualization and rejected a few parts of it, mainly the doctrine of rebirth, as residual superstitions.
Zazen
The aim of zazen is just sitting, that is, suspending all judgmental thinking and letting words, ideas, images and thoughts pass by without getting involved in them.
Contemporary Vipassana-meditation
In modern vipassana-meditation, as propagated by the Vipassana movement, sati aids vipassana, insight into the true nature of reality, namely the three marks of existence, the impermanence of and the suffering of every conditioned thing that exists, and non-self. With this insight, the practitioner becomes a so-called Sotāpanna, a "stream-enterer", the first stage on the path to liberation.
Vipassana is practiced in tandem with Samatha, and also plays a central role in other Buddhist traditions. According to the contemporary Theravada orthodoxy, Samatha is used as a preparation for Vipassanā, pacifying the mind and strengthening the concentration in order to allow the work of insight, which leads to liberation.
Vipassanā-meditation has gained popularity in the west through the modern Buddhist vipassana movement, modeled after Theravāda Buddhism meditation practices, which employs vipassanā and ānāpāna meditation as its primary techniques and places emphasis on the teachings of the Sutta.
Anapanasati, satipaṭṭhāna, and vipassana
Anapanasati is mindfulness of breathing. "Sati" means mindfulness; "ānāpāna" refers to inhalation and exhalation. Anapanasati means to feel the sensations caused by the movements of the breath in the body. The Anapanasati Sutta gives an exposition on this practice.
Satipaṭṭhāna is the establishment of mindfulness in one's day-to-day life, maintaining as much as possible a calm awareness of one's body, feelings, mind, and dhammas. The practice of mindfulness supports analysis resulting in the arising of wisdom (Pali: paññā, Sanskrit: prajñā).
Samprajaña, apramāda and atappa
In contemporary Theravada practice, "mindfulness" also includes samprajaña, meaning "clear comprehension" and apramāda meaning "vigilance".
Monitoring mental processes
According to Buddhadasa, the aim of mindfulness is to stop the arising of disturbing thoughts and emotions, which arise from sense-contact.
According to Grzegorz Polak, the four upassanā (foundations of mindfulness) have been misunderstood by the developing Buddhist tradition, including Theravada, to refer to four different foundations. According to Polak, the four upassanā do not refer to four different foundations, but to the awareness of four different aspects of raising mindfulness:
- the six sense-bases which one needs to be aware of (kāyānupassanā);
- contemplation on vedanās, which arise with the contact between the senses and their objects (vedanānupassanā);
- the altered states of mind to which this practice leads (cittānupassanā);
- the development from the five hindrances to the seven factors of enlightenment (dhammānupassanā).
Stoicism
The Greek philosophical school of Stoicism founded by Zeno of Citium included practices resembling those of mindfulness, such as visualization exercises. In his Discourses, Stoic philosopher Epictetus addresses in particular the concept of attention (prosoche), an idea also found in Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. By cultivating it over time, this skill would prevent the practitioner from becoming unattentive and moved by instinct rather than according to reason.
Christianity
Mindfulness traditions are also found in some Christian spiritual traditions. In his Rules for Eating, St. Ignatius of Loyola teaches, "let him guard against all his soul being intent on what he is eating, and in eating let him not go hurriedly, through appetite, but be master of himself, as well in the manner of eating as in the quantity which he eats." He might have been inspired by Epictetus' Enchiridion.
In addition, Jesus himself, in his Sermon on the Mount, said, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." —Matthew 6:34 (NIV)
Transcendentalism
Mindfulness practitioner Jon Kabat-Zinn refers to Thoreau as a predecessor of the interest in mindfulness, together with other eminent Transcendentalists such as Emerson and Whitman:
Buddhist commentators have criticized the movement as being presented as equivalent to Buddhist practice, while in reality it is very possibly denatured with undesirable consequences, such as being ungrounded in the traditional reflective morality and therefore, astray from traditional Buddhist ethics. Criticisms suggest it to be either de-moralized or re-moralized into clinically based ethics. The conflict is often presented with concern to the teacher's credentials and qualifications, rather than the student's actual practice. Reformed Buddhist-influenced practices are being standardized and manualized in a distinct separation from Buddhism - which is seen as a religion based in monastic temples - and expressed as "mindfulness" in a new psychology ethic, practiced in modern meditation centers.
Adverse effects
Meditation in general (of which mindfulness is just one type) has also been correlated with unpleasant experiences in some individuals. In some cases, it has also been linked to psychosis and suicide. Both the soundness of its scientific foundations and the desirability of its societal effects have been questioned.
In one cross-sectional online survey, published in 2019, of 1,232 regular meditators with at least two months of meditation experience, about a quarter reported having had particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences (such as anxiety, fear, distorted emotions or thoughts, altered sense of self or the world), which they thought may have been caused by their meditation practice. This survey used broad group of “regular meditators”, and did not specifically focus on mindfulness meditation. The survey also found that meditators with high levels of repetitive negative thinking and those who only engage in deconstructive meditation were more likely to report unpleasant side effects. Adverse effects were less frequently reported in women and religious meditators.
Another observational study from 2021 on the effects of mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) found negative side-effects in 37% of the sample while lasting bad effects in 6–14% of the sample. Most of the side effects were related to signs of dysregulated arousal (i.e., hyperarousal and dissociation). There are, however, several other studies that have found no harm following the standard, widely implemented Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program.
Further, while some studies have questioned the effects of mindfulness on prosocial behaviours, review articles on this subject generally indicate that mindfulness promotes prosocial behaviour although more longitudinal studies are needed to confirm this.
Difficult experiences encountered in meditation are mentioned in traditional sources; and some may be considered to be an expected part of the process, e.g., seven stages of purification mentioned in Theravāda Buddhism. Possible "unwholesome or frightening visions" are mentioned in a practical manual on vipassanā meditation. Classical sources have various terms for "meditation sickness" and related difficulties, such as zouhuorumo (), chanbing () and mojing ().
An article that describes Medieval Chinese Buddhist accounts of such phenomena (in the Journal of Buddhist Ethics) states,