Mindfulness is...

[DS Star]

Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience.
It isn't more complicated that that.

It is opening to or recieving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is,
without either clinging to it or rejecting it.

Sylvia Boorstein

We often dwell too much into the past that we cannot change or in the future that is still uncertain, hence forget to live in the present where we can still manage.

Live in the present... this is the way of the yogi.

[RedLantern]

As a state of mindfulness, it can be conceptualized as a quality of the mind or mental faculty that co-arises with 3 other qualities:diligence,wisdom,and equanimous freedom from desire and discontent.The state of mindfulness is a form of awareness and can be more appropriately labeled,'mindful awareness'-The four qualities can be thought of as qualities that compose a method for  developing the mind-such method can also take the broader defination of minfulness as means to developing  and sustaining a healthy mind.This method is also describes to be applied towards four central domaines,the body,feeling states,ethical qualities of the mind,and any object of mind that arises.

[fruven]

Mindfulness is hard without some sort of training. Thank you for sharing this quote.

This reminds me of Chogyam Trungpa who taught about spiritual materialism. In a sense he talked about us focusing on external things, external accomplishments, when in fact the goal is internal. It becomes a chicken and egg like question, for me at least. One can also take the view of incremental and improvisation kind of goal. Without mini goals, so to speak, there would be no spiritual progress...

[Tenzin K]

My own definition of mindfulness is very simple:
Mindfulness is the gentle effort to be continuously present with experience.

But I like Jon Kabat-Zinn’s definition of mindfulness:

“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way;

On purpose,
in the present moment, and
nonjudgmentally.”

Kabat-Zinn, if you haven’t heard of him, is a famous teacher of mindfulness meditation and the founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

Paying attention “on purpose”

First of all, mindfulness involves paying attention “on purpose”. Mindfulness involves a conscious direction of our awareness. We sometimes (me included) talk about “mindfulness” and “awareness” as if they were interchangeable terms, but that’s not a good habit to get into. I may be aware I’m irritable, but that wouldn’t mean I was being mindful of my irritability. In order to be mindful I have to be purposefully aware of myself, not just vaguely and habitually aware. Knowing that you are eating is not the same as eating mindfully.

Let’s take that example of eating and look at it a bit further. When we are purposefully aware of eating, we are consciously being aware of the process of eating. We’re deliberately noticing the sensations and our responses to those sensations. We’re noticing the mind wandering, and when it does wander we purposefully bring our attention back.

When we’re eating unmindfully we may in theory be aware of what we’re doing, but we’re probably thinking about a hundred and one other things at the same time, and we may also be watching TV, talking, or reading — or even all three! So a very small part of our awareness is absorbed with eating, and we may be only barely aware of the physical sensations and even less aware of our thoughts and emotions.

Because we’re only dimly aware of our thoughts, they wander in an unrestricted way. There’s no conscious attempt to bring our attention back to our eating. There’s no purposefulness.

This purposefulness is a very important part of mindfulness. Having the purpose of staying with our experience, whether that’s the breath, or a particular emotion, or something as simple as eating, means that we are actively shaping the mind.

Paying attention “in the present moment”


Guided Mindfulness Meditation: A Complete Guided Mindfulness Meditation Program from Jon Kabat-Zinn
Left to itself the mind wanders through all kinds of thoughts — including thoughts expressing anger, craving, depression, revenge, self-pity, etc. As we indulge in these kinds of thoughts we reinforce those emotions in our hearts and cause ourselves to suffer. Mostly these thoughts are about the past or future. The past no longer exists. The future is just a fantasy until it happens. The one moment we actually can experience — the present moment — is the one we seem most to avoid.

So in mindfulness we’re concerned with noticing what’s going on right now. That doesn’t mean we can no longer think about the past or future, but when we do so we do so mindfully, so that we’re aware that right now we’re thinking about the past or future.

However in meditation, we are concerned with what’s arising in the present moment. When thoughts about the past or future take us away from our present moment experience and we “space out” we try to notice this and just come back to now.

By purposefully directing our awareness away from such thoughts and towards the “anchor” or our present moment experience, we decrease their effect on our lives and we create instead a space of freedom where calmness and contentment can grow.

Paying attention “non-judgmentally”

Mindfulness is an emotionally non-reactive state. We don’t judge that this experience is good and that one is bad. Or if we do make those judgements we simply notice them and let go of them. We don’t get upset because we’re experiencing something we don’t want to be experiencing or because we’re not experiencing what we would rather be experiencing. We simply accept whatever arises. We observe it mindfully. We notice it arising, passing through us, and ceasing to exist.

Whether it’s a pleasant experience or a painful experience we treat it the same way.

Cognitively, mindfulness is aware that certain experiences are pleasant and some are unpleasant, but on an emotional level we simply don’t react. We call this “equanimity” — stillness and balance of mind.

[metta girl]

Mindfulness is when you are truly there, mind and body together. You breathe in and out mindfully, you bring your mind back to your body, and you are there. When your mind is there with your body, you are established in the present moment. Then you can recognize the many conditions of happiness that are in you and around you, and happiness just comes naturally. -Thich Nhat Hanh on The Practice of Mindfulness

[Matibhadra]

Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience.

If one just ”accepts the present experience”, one is gullibly accepting as well the imagined substantiality of that which is experienced, and therefore cannot be either balanced or mindful.

Therefore, the above definition, proposed by the Jewish pseudo-Buddhist ideologue Sylvia Boorstein, not only is self-contradictory, but also has nothing to do with mindfulness as it is understood in Buddhism.

Surely it has to do with Judaism, where ”presence” actually means ”presence of God” (the psychotic gruesome substantially existent entity), to whose acceptance the Jew is hell bent on inducing others.

Buddhism teaches a critical view of reality, and therefore not just to mindlessly accept the ”present experience”, but rather to mindfully criticize it, to realize the emptiness or lack of substantiality of that which is experienced, and thus to achieve balance or liberation.

[Matibhadra]

Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience.

Since the present experience is deceptive, accepting it means to be deceived, the very root of samsara.

Therefore, the Judaic ”mindfulness” of Boorstein is the sure way to create more samsara, and the very negation of Buddhadharma.

It is a shame that some Buddhists, instead of relying on authentic Buddhist teachers and teachings, resort to pseudo-Buddhist media-promoted charlatans, such as Boorstein or Kabat-Zin, just be duped into Jewish tenets transvestite as Buddhadharma.

[Manisha Kudo]

Mindfulness cannot be defined in words and it cannot be spoken of. Mindfulness is not mindfulness.

[Manjushri]

Mindfulness is being aware of your presence at the present moment. When you sit on the chair, you feel the chair in contact with your body, when you breathe, you feel the air at the bridge between your upper lip and nostrils, when you eat, you are aware of each step from picking up the food with your utensils, to the smell, to putting the food in your mouth, to chewing. To me, that is the definition of mindfulness, which stems from being aware.

[Midakpa]

Mindfulness a mental factor that functions not to forget the the object realized by the primary mind. In Sanskrit, it is "smrti" (Tib. "dran pa"; Pali "sati"). "Mindfulness is one of the focal points of meditative practice in Buddhism, which involves cultivating awareness of one's body, actions, and thoughts in order to become consciously aware of what one does and one's motivatons. It is the seventh part of the noble eightfold path (aryastangamarga), and it leads to direct understanding of the transitory, conditioned nature of all existence." (John Powers, "A Concise Encyclopedia of Buddhism")

[xyz_generation]

If we are mindful in the way we think, we talk and our action in our everyday life, happiness will be the result.
This is just my 2 cents.

[Matibhadra]

Mindfulness a mental factor that functions not to forget the the object realized by the primary mind.

Finally a meaningful statement, after the barrage of Judaic pseudo-Buddhist nonsense taken from the likes of Boorstein and Kabat-Zinn.

”Mindfulness is one of the focal points of meditative practice in Buddhism, which involves cultivating awareness of one's body, actions, and thoughts in order to become consciously aware of what one does and one's motivatons.” [...] (John Powers, "A Concise Encyclopedia of Buddhism")

The author completely missed the point, and even contradicts the very traditional definition of ”mindfulness”, already given in the first quote above.

Indeed, the so-called ”awareness of one's body, actions, and thoughts” just implies the mental factor called attention, not mindfulness, which is very different, as already defined in the first quote above.

Besides, to say ”cultivating awareness of one's body, actions, and thoughts in order to become consciously aware of what one does and one's motivations” is tantamount to say ”cultivating awareness of something in order to become aware of exactly the same” -- a tautology even George Dubbia Bush would be ashamed of.

Also, the ”consciously aware” phrase adds nothing, since whatever is conscious is necessarily aware, and whatever is aware is necessarily conscious. The author just had to throw in another word (”consciously”) in the vain attempt of disguising the nonsense of his statement.

Besides, just to be ”aware of one's body, actions and thoughts” is of no big use as far as Dharma is concerned. One may be very much aware of those and still act in extremely unskilful ways.

Therefore, and as made clear by the very definition in the fisrt quote above, mindfulness (a mental factor) is not an awareness or consciousness (a primary mind), but rather the non-forgetfulness of something previously realized (by a previous awareness or consciousness).

And what is this something, realized by a previous consciousness, one should not forget in order to be mindful, and thus enabled to practice the Dharma? Any teaching of the Buddha, from respect towards one's guru up to the union of no-more-learning.

[Midakpa]

The author completely missed the point, and even contradicts the very traditional definition of ”mindfulness”, already given in the first quote above.

Indeed, the so-called ”awareness of one's body, actions, and thoughts” just implies the mental factor called attention, not mindfulness, which is very different, as already defined in the first quote above.

jspitanga,

Thank you for pointing out the errors in John Powers' definition of mindfulness. It shows we must not accept without question any author's statements in relation to Buddhism, if he/she is not a practitioner and is merely giving his/her point of view probably from a personal or intellectual understanding of the subject.

I agree with your interpretation of the quotes. The first quote was taken from a Buddhist source which is why it is found to be a logical and correct definition of "mindfulness". In fact, we must always be guided by  the Buddha's teachings, the Dharma, which will lead us to enlightenment and not be distracted by sources that are misleading and will not lead us anywhere.

If we take the trouble to go to the source, i.e. Buddha Shakyamuni, as well as the lineage gurus, we can  rest assured that we will not go wrong.

[OMB]

Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present moment. We observe our thoughts and feelings without judging them. We are able to accept what is, we are able to see our problems more clearly and make smart decisions when under pressure.

[Matibhadra]

Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present moment.

This is mere attention, not mindfulness. Attention is defined as the mental factor which functions to focus the principal mind on an object's particular feature. Mindfulness is not a type or intensity of attention, as the above quote implies, but rather that which, depending on attention, carries into the present a past realization; something related to, but rather different from, attention.

Attention is a pervading mental factor, because there is no principal mind without some degree of attention, whereas mindfulness, while dependent on attention, is not pervading, just as is the case with the other related mental factor of concentration as well.

Now, “active”, “open”, and “present moment” are meaningless and irrelevant additions by the Jewish pseudo-Buddhist proselitizers Kabat-Zinn, Boorstein and others.

Indeed, every instance of attention is preceded by an instance of intention, and therefore is necessarily “active” or “purposeful”.

“Open” is just coded wording for lack of discrimination, such as gullibly accepting the Jewish “god”, or substantial realities, or unskilful motivations and actions, in a non-critical way. Nothing to do with Buddhism, which emphasizes a critical, discriminating, rather than a gullible, reckless attitude.

“Present“ is irrelevant, as both the past and the future of an object exist in the present. It is also coded wording for the “appearance“ or “presence“ of the Jewish “god”, which every faithful Jew is hell bent on inducing if not forcing others into accepting. Besides, mindfulness bears in mind something from or realized in the past, or carries something from the past into the present. Mindfulness of karma implies realizing the connection between past, present and future actions and their results, but for the Jewish “god” karma is anathema, as it would undermine its claim to omnipotence -- whence the Jewish proselitizers' insistence on the “present”, intended as the presence of the Jewish “god”.

Therefore, under the deceptive guise of pseudo-Buddhist teachers, the Jewish proselitizers Kabat-Zinn, Boorstein etc. try to deceive immature Buddhists into unwittingly subscribing to Jewish anti-Buddhist tenets. This is called corruption of Dharma, and follows a very well-defined and actively promoted agenda.

We observe our thoughts and feelings without judging them.

Following our thoughts and feelings without judging them is precisely a blatant instance of lack of mindfulness. Mindfulness implies bearing in mind, for instance, that a violent thought -- such as the thought of killing a Palestinian, or the thought of nuking Iran -- is unskilful, will bring suffering even for oneself in the future, has already happened in the past but did not bring any happiness to the present, and so forth.

Buddhadharma, on the other hand, was summarized by our teacher, the compassionate Buddha, as “avoiding unskilful actions, practicing skilful actions, and benefitting others” -- which requires constant scrutiny or judgment of our actions and motivations, past and present, as well as their future results, as opposed to the reckless, unconsiderate, and uncompassionate attitude preached by the Jewish pseudo-Buddhist proselitizers Kabat-Zinn, Boorstein, and so forth.

We are able to accept what is, we are able to see our problems more clearly and make smart decisions when under pressure.

Rather, uncritically observing and following our thoughts -- a practice described by the great and glorious Pabongkha as purposeless and “slavish” -- will induce the gullible follower of the pseudo-Buddhist proselitizers into accepting what is not, an envious bloodthirsty “god“ as “good“, the non-substantial as substantial, violence and greed and deception as acceptable, and so forth, which is precisely the Jewish way of life, as exemplified by the monstrous deeds of their prophets and patriarchs such as Abraham, Jacob or Israel, Moses, Joshua, and many other criminal types, of which the faithful Jew is so proud of.

Besides, there is no smarter decision to make under pressure than the decision which will bring pleasant results and avoid unpleasant results in the future, for oneself and others, and thus one should definitely think about the future, and also ponder about the past, as opposed to the misleading advice of those deniers of karma, the pseudo-Buddhist Jewish proselitizers Kabat-Zinn and Boorstein. 

Therefore, reliance on an authentic teacher, endowed with the pure lineage coming from the compassionate sage, Buddha Shakyamuni, is essential for properly following the Buddhist path, and thus to bring peace, joy and fulfilment to oneself and others. For no other reason the founder of our pure Gelugpa lineage, Je Tsongkhapa, clearly stated in his lamrim text “Foundation of All Good Qualities” something like the following verse:

My kind Guru, foundation of all good qualities,
Pure devotion to you is the root of the path.
Inspire me to clearly see this
And thus to rely on you with great vigour.