Mindfulness is a long-standing tradition and practice from Eastern religions, originally described by the Buddha and its foundations outlined in the venerated discourses Anapanasati Sutta (mindfulness of breathing) and Satipaṭṭhāna Sutra. The Satipaṭṭhāna is the direct path to Nibbana, the final liberation of the mind from suffering and desire. The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta shows us the process of freeing the mind. According to the discourses, the average person lives in a samsara, a state of consciousness where we “cycle endlessly through fantasy worlds in which our supposed but illusory self-strives to obtain objects of desire, to avoid or destroy objects of fear, and to remain ignorant of its true nature and condition.” Mindfulness allows us to be freed from suffering through enlightened awareness.

The mindful individual is free from preoccupation with the five hindrances: sensual desire, aversion, sloth-and-torpor, restlessness-and-worry, and doubt. The mindful individual investigates and develops the awakening factors: energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity. However, mindfulness itself is not the pursuit of an objective, so be watchful when setting mindfulness-related goals to reduce or avoid symptoms, fix a problem, or change to make better an experience you dislike. These well-intended goals dilute the Satipaṭṭhāna and ironically can move us away from the presence of being we seek to achieve. While present-moment focus is a key concept in Satipaṭṭhāna, its use is often oversimplified in the Western context. Satipaṭṭhāna aids us on our path toward enlightenment, not “for stress.” The mental states produced are a byproduct of Satipaṭṭhāna and not explicitly set as goals, which would be counterproductive to the training. The goal of mindfulness training is “realization of Nibbana.” Its development is a gradual deepening like that of the ocean and not likely to be realized from a weekend retreat or online workshop.

The following is a verbal exploration of the origins of mindfulness theory and how it is being described in clinical psychology and mental health. However, this verbal construction is merely a written introduction similar to the opening crawl of a Stars Wars film and does not capture the true essence of mindfulness, which needs to be individually explored and experienced.

Attention to and Awareness of the Experience of the Present Moment

Satipaṭṭhāna is derived from the terms sati (mindfulness) and upatthana (placing near). We find a place alongside mindfulness. Awasthi describes the Pali (the language of Buddhist texts) word sati as “remembering to be aware.” Thera’s work, the basis for most English translations and contemporary Western Buddhism, originally translated sati as “bare attention,” which closely resembles the literal translation of Satipaṭṭhāna, “attending with mindfulness.” The Buddha describes the development of sati as something that can lead to an awareness of the breadth of objects and reality. Thich Nhất Hanh tells us that mindfulness comes from the Sanskrit word smriti (remembering), which implies that we often forget to be aware and pay attention.

Mindfulness is an active process in which we remember to bring ourselves back into awareness. The mind may wander a thousand times, but will be brought back a thousand times. We allow the mind to wander through thoughts, emotions, and sensation, calmly acknowledging and watching the experience rise and fall from consciousness. The task is like that of an astronomer mapping out the stars, watching the galaxy as it moves, and precisely noting their findings. Mindfulness takes a similarly nonjudgmental and observational approach toward consciousness. This curious, investigative mindset allows us to open up to the experience of existence and allows events to unfold on their own accord. As we move toward this observer perspective, we move away from overidentification with the conceptualized self and automatic, reflexive impulses. We can focus on the object of consciousness in the present moment through a clear awareness of what is occurring in the perceptual field.

Mindfulness-based interventions in clinical settings strongly emphasize the present moment and immediate experience. Brown and Ryan describe mindfulness as attention to and awareness of our present consciousness. They emphasize the observational focus on thoughts, feelings, and sensations, akin to watching yourself on a screen without the ability to interrupt the flow of action and script. Feldman discriminates attention from awareness, with the former defined as a cognitive faculty and the latter a more ethereal aspect of consciousness. Brown and Ryan describe awareness as a sort of background sub-consciousness, similar to the diffused awareness or “floodlight consciousness” described by Alan Watts. Scott Bishop describes attention as the ability to concentrate on a particular object, such as the breath or a flickering candlelight. Attention is our “spotlight consciousness,” illuminating our object of focus by filtering out extraneous incoming information from the perceptual field.

Brown and Ryan distinguish consciousness from thought, suggesting that consciousness is not a cognitive faculty, rather, thoughts, feelings, and sensations are the contents of consciousness, and mindfulness is the mental activity that reveals the details. When we take time to listen and turn toward our experience, we notice a clear difference between the contents of our consciousness and the observing self. You can try this out right now:

If you are sitting, take a moment to notice the difference between a thought such as “I am sitting in this chair,” the sensation of the chair against your legs, and the observer who is noticing the thought and sensation. And notice when you deliberately bring attention and awareness to experience, you change your relationship with it.

Curiously Open to and Accepting of the Impermanent Nature of Existence

The mindful observer approaches the present moment and their impermanent nature with acceptance and openness. When observing the self from a non-judgmental, detached, and open stance, we do not attempt to alter our situation. There is a willingness to engage with experience as we allow thoughts, feelings, and sensations to exist uninterrupted. There is no evaluation avoidance of the present moment. The avoidant person constricts their way of living by avoiding difficult events instead of incorporating the total experience.  As we become fully accepting, attention relaxes, and more distinct feelings, thoughts, and sensations come to the mind. There is true freedom in that there are no attachments to subjective and impermanent experiences.

The contemplation during mindfulness training presupposes wisdom as it moves from internal experience to external. In general, we begin by contemplating subjective, internal stimuli, then move outward to explore our immediate environment and our place within it, and finally expanding toward the true nature of the universe. Mindfulness is our superpower, a human ability to gather information and access knowledge beyond basic consciousness. However, wisdom gained from mindfulness practice is not simply an intellectual exercise developed through intensive cramming of scholarly text; rather, it is a patient, maturing process that unfolds through confrontation of experience.

John Kabat-Zinn describes wisdom as knowledge of the self. It is an open curiosity about the present moment. We investigate the flow of information as it enters and leaves our field of attention. We are able to understand meaning and provide complex descriptions as we become more understanding of the information and processes in our consciousness. The purpose of such knowledge is to remove delusions and ignorance from the mind.

Awareness of impermanence is the wisdom of mindfulness training. As one recognizes and navigates the transient nature of experience and objects, deep understanding emerges. The second law of thermodynamics tells us that entropy in the universe is always increasing and moving toward chaotic disorder. Paradoxically, the only constant is change. Moment to moment, we can attend to and witness the impermanent nature of existence. There is no stable existence or permanent self. The very nature of existence is temporary, which includes our thoughts, feelings, bodies, and sensations. As the wave rises, falls, and retreats from the shore, so does all in existence. This perspective is not judged and evaluative as negative, which is in contrast to the existential anxiety associated with the Western view of death. There is a sense of freedom in detachment from impermanent objects, including the body, which is explored through Maraṇasati meditation (meditation on the corpse).

When we consider the physical body, red blood cells regenerate every 4 months, white blood cells every year, and skin cells every few weeks. Hair grows at a rate of about an inch per month. Fingernails grow at a rate of about 3mm per month and are completely replaced every 3-6 months. The majority of cells in the human body are non-human. It is estimated that more than 500 species are living in the adult intestine at any given time. According Carolyn Bohach of University of Idaho, there are about ten times as many bacteria in the human body than human cells. These cells are constantly being replaced and replenished through cell replication, growth, and death. We exist in symbiosis, colonized by microbes, enclosed in the microverse that is our body.

About seventy percent of the human body is water. According to H.H. Mitchell, the brain and heart are composed of about seventy-three percent water, lungs are about eighty-three percent, the skin contains sixty-four percent, muscles and kidneys are seventy-nine percent, and even the bones are about thirty-one percent water. We consume water to aid in replenishment. When we consume with mindfulness, we are aware of the history of our water and the transformative process it has undergone. The water on our planet has been here for billions of years. Our ancestors drank and were made up of the same molecules of water as we. The water we drink has likely already been passed through prehistoric creatures such as mammoths and dinosaurs.

The human body is made up of about ninety-nine percent hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon. These are the basic building blocks of life. All living organisms on this planet follow a similar structural makeup. From where did these basic elements come? They were formed a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, when the ancient stars became immensely hot through a process called Stellar Nucleosynthesis. The basis of existence is ninety-two naturally occurring elements formed during this process. As Carl Sagan tells us, “The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of star stuff.”

Compassion and Ethical Behavior

Mindfulness requires the compassionate experiencing of the self and others. Kraus and Sears describe this attitude as being open with loving kindness, joy, and compassion toward the self and others. Hoffman, Grossman, and Hinton describe loving compassion as foundational for achieving a state of mindfulness. Loving-compassion involves the directing of unconditional love toward the self, good friends, neutral parties, and enemies through meditative practice. The compassionate mind is one in which love supersedes judgment for the self and others. In the path toward freedom from suffering, the right mindfulness demonstrates ethical knowledge of what is wholesome. Inherent to ethical behavior is the tenet of “do no harm.” The ethical individual emanates warmth and compassion toward all persons and experiences in the world, enabling us to build the bridge that connects us to our humanity. Compassion allows us to nurture our existential distress and suffering. It is the tender care and attention given to the sprout that allows it to thrive.

One becomes selfless by focusing externally on others while in their presence, which also moves us away from preoccupation with internal experiences. The Buddha would directly face speakers during conversation and intensely focus on what they have to say. He would be able to recognize changes in facial expressions, tone of voice, posture, and other non-verbal communication. In meditative practice, one begins by focusing internally and gradually shifting externally. Once an individual is able to understand and process their own thoughts, feelings, and reactions, they can begin to observe and understand others. Without the focus on external stimuli, we would become self-absorbed, narcissistic, and submit to excess desires. Mindfulness balances and supervises the mental factors to prevent this self-absorption and excess desire. It has a protective role in that it prevents unwholesome thoughts from entering. It “guards the mind” as it manages outside influences, stabilizing and preventing us from being distracted by the hindrances. It guides us to be of service to others and to help express qualities such as patience, harmlessness, loving kindness, and compassion.

Final Thoughts

Remember that this is only a starting point to our understanding of mindfulness. The practice of mindfulness is ongoing, and as we continue to learn, the subtle aspects will be revealed. Currently, it appears that mindfulness theory captures elements of: 1) Attention to and awareness of the experience of the present moment 2) Curiously open to and accepting of the impermanent nature of existence, and 3) Compassion and ethical behavior. Anālayo succinctly summarizes Satipaṭṭhāna as follows: Keep Calmy Knowing Change.