Episode 23 – Payal Khurana & Elliot Larkin

 MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness is “the intentional, accepting and non-judgemental focus of one’s attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment”, which can be trained by meditational practice derived from Buddhist anapanasati.

The term “mindfulness” is derived from the Pali-term sati, “mindfulness”, which is an essential element of Buddhist practice, including vipassana, satipaṭṭhāna and anapanasati.

Mindfulness practice is being employed in psychology to alleviate a variety of mental and physical conditions, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and in the prevention of relapse in depression and drug addiction. It has gained worldwide popularity as a distinctive method to handle emotions.

Sati and smṛti

The Buddhist term translated into English as “mindfulness” originates in the Pali term sati and in its Sanskrit counterpart smṛti. The Abhidhammattha-sangaha, a keyabhidharma text from the Theravada tradition, defines sati as follows:

The word sati derives from a root meaning ‘to remember,’ but as a mental factor it signifies presence of mind, attentiveness to the present, rather than the faculty of memory regarding the past. It has the characteristic of not wobbling, i.e. not floating away from the object. Its function is absence of confusion or non-forgetfulness. It is manifested as guardianship, or as the state of confronting an objective field. Its proximate cause is strong perception (thirasaññā) or the four foundations of mindfulness.

Sati means not only, “moment to moment awareness of present events,” but also, “remembering to be aware of something or to do something at a designated time in the future”. In fact, “the primary connotation of this Sanskrit term [smrti] (and its corresponding Pali term sati) is recollection”.

Translation

The Pali-language scholar Thomas William Rhys Davids (1843–1922) first translated sati in 1881 as English mindfulness in sammā-sati “Right Mindfulness; the active, watchful mind”. Noting that Daniel John Gogerly (1845) initially rendered sammā-sati as “Correct meditation”,[ Davids explained, sati is literally ‘memory’ but is used with reference to the constantly repeated phrase ‘mindful and thoughtful’ (sato sampajâno); and means that activity of mind and constant presence of mind which is one of the duties most frequently inculcated on the good Buddhist.”[

Clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on mindfulness for helping people who are experiencing a variety of psychological conditions. Clinical studies have documented the physical and mental health benefits of mindfulness in general, and MBSR in particular. Programs based on MBSR and similar models have been widely adapted in schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans centers, and other environments.Find Minndfulness is a 30 day self-exploration course.

This program is designed to awaken joy and offer tools to help guide you to the realization that you are in charge of your wellbeing. The course features an intimate setting and fosters a supportive community.