With the increased interest in mindfulness research, there remains a practical and theoretical need to establish a testable, operational definition of mindfulness. Part of this challenge is that the concept of mindfulness is compatible with multiple explanatory frameworks from various disciplines such as contemplative theories,1 clinical, and neuroscientific frameworks.2 Framing mindfulness in a scientific context compatible to clinical medicine and psychology is helpful in that it can be communicated directly to patients, healthcare providers, and researchers. However, this secularized perspective might critically overlook elements that contribute to the potentially transformative effects of mindfulness practice that first emerged beyond the context of medicine, psychology, and neuroscience.
Rather than proposing a single definition, mindfulness might be better understood in relation to the phenomenology of the various contemplative traditions and practices that intend to develop mindfulness. This article will explore how early Buddhist conceptualizations of mindfulness led to varying theoretical accounts that consider how ethics, concentration, and insight align with the concept of mindfulness. These varying theoretical considerations will then be linked to contemporary Buddhist and modern scientific accounts of mindfulness.
While mindfulness is understood as both a process (mindful practice) and an outcome (mindful awareness),3 important differences are amplified by the various approaches that seek to cultivate mindfulness.4 Broadly, the construct of mindfulness has been used to refer to a mental trait or phenomenological state, a spiritual path that reduces suffering and promotes wellness, and as a cognitive process that is capable of being enhanced through training.5
Mindfulness as a concept rooted in Buddhist origins goes back 2,500 years. However, many spiritual traditions, psychological, and Western philosophical schools of thought also describe its phenomenological nature.6 While these diverse, yet converging conceptualizations of mindfulness attempt to convey mindfulness as a universal human capacity that transcends any single culture, philosophy, or religion,3 most clinical adaptations of mindfulness have drawn from Buddhist techniques and theories. Mindfulness was first introduced in its clinical capacity by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, who drew on Zen Buddhist teachings and applied them in a secular, clinical context. Mindfulness has been considered the heart of Buddhist meditation,8 however Buddhist scholars point to a rich history of debate that concludes that there is no single authoritative account of mindfulness.9, 10 Examining these original Buddhist sources provides the basis for understanding whether our contemporary approaches align with original theoretical accounts.
Mindfulness, as it is described by Buddhist teachers, goes beyond simple practices and techniques.
For Buddhist practitioners, mindfulness might entail a commitment to a way of living and a general orientation toward experiences. This sentiment has been captured by Nyanaponika Thera, who described mindfulness as “the clear and single-minded awareness of what actually happens to us and in us at the successive moments of perception.” 11 (p5) Thich Nhat Hanh has similarly characterized mindfulness as “keeping one’s consciousness alive to the present reality.” 12(p11) Buddhist scholars remind us that mindfulness practice includes motivation, goals, and often an ethical framework to live one’s life.10
Mindfulness is the focus of the practice of satipatthana.13 This practice derives from ‘sati’ (mindfulness) and ‘sampajanna’ (clear comprehension). While the concept of ‘sati’ originally meant ‘memory,’ it is believed that the Buddha altered its meaning for his teachings to reflect ‘lucid awareness’ of the phenomenal field or the impermanence of all bodily and mental experiences. Mindfulness practices help reduce craving and aversion by allowing the practitioner to understand the selfless nature of all objective and subjective phenomena. Greater mindfulness leads to a clearer comprehension of the nature of those arising phenomena and interprets them as transient experiences until this process becomes direct insight (vipassana) and wisdom (panna).
When practitioners of mindfulness are better at distinguishing wholesome states of mind from harmful conditions, they can engage in purposeful action that nurtures more wholesome qualities. ‘Right mindfulness’ is included as the seventh factor in the Noble 8 Fold Path (samma sati) between ‘right effort’ and ‘right concentration’ and represents the mind’s energetic application to its stilling and purification. Buddhist scholars note that different traditions promote varying approaches to mindfulness. Each prescribes techniques that align with their theoretical account about the ability to observe mental phenomena as impermanent.1
“…mindfulness has been used to refer to a mental trait or phenomenological state, a soteriological or spiritual path that reduces suffering and promotes wellness, and as a cognitive process that is capable of being enhanced through training.”
A Classical Buddhist perspective links suffering with distorted cognitions that lead to maladaptive actions and mental states. Suffering occurs when one misperceives phenomena as conducive to pleasure when they are actually creating suffering, and permanent when they are actually impermanent. Therefore, Classical contemplative practices’ central goal is to cease these distortions by attaining a level of insight (vipassana) that recognizes that these sensory phenomena and conditioned aspects of the mind are impermanent, selfless, and may lead to suffering. According to the traditional Abhidharma, a Buddhist theoretical account, mindfulness confers focus that allows the practitioner to see the true nature of these phenomena. The emphasis is placed on ‘remaining in the present’ without further conceptual elaboration.
The Classical contemplative approaches help the practitioner to see beyond distorted cognitions and prior conditioning of the mind. These approaches also call for a “heedfulness” (apramāda) of one’s ethical and spiritual intentions.1 During formal practices, an ethical framework (śīla) encourages the practitioner to make a discernment between mental states that are wholesome and are “to be adopted” (upādeya) versus those that are unwholesome and are “to be abandoned” (heya).1
Many Classical traditions hope to instill a capacity to sustain these efforts during contemplative training and beyond the context of training, thus encouraging practitioners to see beyond the dualistic notion of formal and informal practice and consistently maintain a heedful awareness of their activities. This requires a practitioner to employ judgment that explicitly connects back to an ethical framework. The Classical Buddhist style explicitly requires an intensive recollection of vows and ethics to live a mindful life.
Contrasting the Classical approach, a Non-Dual account of suffering is attributed to a false distinction between subject and object. A Non-Dual approach, encourages dissolving this false distinction through a non-dual experience (advaya).1 According to the Abhidharma account, mindfulness as a concept is a mental phenomenon and can only occur if there is a subject-object duality. In essence, there is only a phenomenological presentation of an object (e.g., apple) only when there is a separate phenomenological subject (e.g., person perceiving the apple). Since duality is viewed as the primary source of delusion, mindfulness as a concept is considered to be within this subject-object illusion.
A Non-Dual approach to contemplative practice does not encourage the practitioner to cultivate mindfulness, but rather the “non-mindfulness (asmrti),” 14 which is a “mindfulness of mere non-distraction.” 1(p263) This philosophical position would later be advanced by the Apoha theory, which invites the perspective of experiencing mental phenomena as a form of consciousness rather than the object that it represents.1 This theory underlies a contemplative technique known in contemporary terms as ‘decentering,’ ‘dereification,’ ‘cognitive insight,’ ‘mindfulness awareness,’ and ‘diffusion.’ Whereas Classical approaches to contemplative practices emphasize an ethical paradigm, Non-dual approaches are based on insight and therefore encourages one to abandon any paradigm during formal practice, which facilitates insight during informal settings as well. Ethical judgment is viewed as a form of conceptuality that can become an obstacle and, therefore, should be suspended as one maintains a present-centered focus.
“This process, referred to as ‘decentering’ or ‘cognitive insight,’ allows the practitioner to observe mental phenomena without over-identifying and reacting to them habitually.”
Current conceptualizations of mindfulness include a non-elaborative, non-judgmental, and present-centered awareness whereby mental phenomena, including thoughts, feelings, and sensations, are acknowledged and accepted.15 This has been most commonly defined by Jon Kabat- Zinn, PhD, as “paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” 16(p27) Formal training in a contemporary approach helps the practitioner develop present-centered attention to an object, most commonly the breath. Following a present-centeredness, practitioners are encouraged to monitor their awareness for distractions with a non-judgmental orientation. Practitioners are not to evaluate whether the distracting mental states are to be cultivated, abandoned, nor further analyzed. 1 Instead, practitioners are to recognize that they are distracted and are encouraged to return to the focal object, such as the breath, without further conceptual elaboration. 16 This process, referred to as ‘decentering’ or ‘cognitive insight,’ allows the practitioner to observe mental phenomena without over-identifying and reacting to them habitually. Instead, practitioners allow space for these thoughts, and they can respond with greater intention, skill, and equanimity.
In abandoning the explicit ethical framework central to the Classical tradition, contemporary approaches toward mindfulness align more closely with the Non-dual approaches that emphasize present-centeredness rather than ethics. Buddhist scholars note that an appeal is made to the emergence of innate capacities 16 similar to specific Non-dual traditions (e.g., Mahāmudrā);1 however, it is clear that contemporary approaches do not necessitate explicit ethical paradigms. Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs, a common form of mindfulness training utilized in clinical practice, do not teach evaluative nor ethical frameworks as a tool for mindfulness practice. Normative and simple goals are not recommended during MBSR training. Instead, practitioners are encouraged to cultivate a present-centeredness.
It is speculated that introducing a specific ethical code in secular clinical contexts could be problematic. A secularized format increases the accessibility of mindfulness practices and allows participants to embrace their own ethical framework that arises from their personal experience and creative appropriation.1 Despite the absence of an explicit ethical framework, an implicit framework is arguably provided in mindfulness-based training through its pedagogy, which includes poetry by Rumi, Mary Oliver, and others. These philosophical elements might implicitly suggest an intention by which to engage with the world. Even in the absence of an explicit ethical framework, practitioners’ intentions in clinical contexts appear to develop over time spontaneously. 17 At first, practitioners intend to improve their self-regulation, whereas further in their practice, they become motivated by self-exploration, followed by self-liberation, and finally devotion to selfless service.
“…a common underlying feature is the motivation to reduce suffering.”
Attempts to operationalize mindfulness have produced colorful and varied accounts. Mindfulness as a concept has been generally reconceived through a ‘family resemblance approach’ where the various cognitive processes are contextualized through postural, aspirational, and motivational dimensions that produce recognizable states within defined phenomenological dimensions. 5 In essence, these elements of mindfulness practice are first recognizable and then reproducible. Although various models have emerged to capture the complexity of mindfulness, two theoretical approaches are prominent.
Two-Component Model of Mindfulness
A systematic effort to establish an operational definition has led to a Two-Component model of mindfulness.18 The first component involves the self-regulation of attention to present-moment experiences. Through the practice of present moment awareness, practitioners should enhance their ability to sustain attention, switch attention back to the object of focus, and inhibit elaborative thinking. The second component of the model involves adopting a particular orientation that is curious, open, and accepting. Practitioners are encouraged to maintain a commitment to an attitude of curiosity, non-striving, and acceptance to the various mental experiences that arise. In summary, this model conceptualizes mindfulness as a process of openly relating to experiences.
Theoretically, this model predicts that practitioners abandon avoidance strategies over time as they progressively adopt a more open orientation to their distressing internal experiences. Mindfulness has been appropriated to psychotherapy interventions due to these shifts in metacognition. By gaining insight into the nature of their thoughts and emotions, patients can expand their repertoire of responses to uncomfortable internal experiences.19 Finally, this model considers mindfulness as a psychological process that more closely aligns with a temporary state rather than a stable trait since its evocation and maintenance depends on the active regulation of attention and a mindful orientation to experiences.
Phenomenological Matrix
Another prominent theoretical account of mindfulness is the Phenomenological Matrix, a heuristic tool for mapping various practice styles and expertise levels of mindfulness onto a multidimensional model 5. This model decomposes the multiple elements of mindfulness practice into three independent dimensions, including object orientation- the awareness of a particular object, dereification- interpretation of mental phenomena as mental processes rather than depictions of reality, and meta-awareness – the mental state of noticing the current contents of consciousness. These three primary dimensions are considered the main targets for all styles of mindfulness training.
In addition to these core dimensions, four secondary qualities are described, which account for relevant features of meditation experience influenced directly or indirectly by the specific instructions for practicing mindfulness. They include aperture, clarity, stability, and effort. Aperture describes the scope of attention. Clarity refers to the vividness of one’s experience. Stability entails the degree to which a phenomenological experience persists over time, either spontaneously or intentionally. Lastly, effort describes the amount of intention and energy to maintain a state of awareness. Together, this operationalization allows scientists to empirically examine these theoretical dimensions and communicate back their discoveries to the scientific community in a common language.
Historically, the concept of mindfulness has provided fertile grounds for theoretical discussion for over 2,500 years. The secularization of mindfulness as it enters the realm of science and medicine comes with mixed reviews between caution and appreciation.13 Despite clear differences in axiological approaches, especially in regards to the ethics of mindfulness, a common underlying feature is the motivation to reduce suffering.20 As this emerging field of contemplative sciences matures, theorists ought to consider whether mindfulness can be fully adopted without the traditional elements that have led to its successful proliferation over centuries, including ethics, faith, and devotion. It poses an important consideration: does the secularization of mindfulness miss the point upon which Buddhism and other contemplative traditions have been premised? These multiple attempts to understand and operationally define mindfulness are helpful, yet as theorists continue to enter space considered sacred by ancient traditions, a scientific approach accompanied by both humility and gratitude is warranted.
Michael is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Science of Mindfulness
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