How would you define mindfulness?

[Username]

Jon  Kabat-Zinn defines it as

“the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally”

How would you define it?

Is it a sorry state of affairs that people cant even give a definitive answer to the most basic of questions regarding this subject? Lots have a differing definition form one another.

But yea how would you define it?

Kind regards

[Middleway]

What’s wrong with Jon Kabat-Zinn definition?

[Username]

The main issue is everyone is giving a different definition , you know they may be all near enough to the mark but its a bit confidence reducing when the practitioners and experts cant even define what they are doing with consensus and precision

[Siddharth]

The main issue is everyone is giving a different definition , you know they may be all near enough to the mark but its a bit confidence reducing when the practitioners and experts cant even define what they are doing with consensus and precision

I understand your dilemma. It is okay to feel that way. Everyone here is basically searching the truth on their own, and the community is like an oasis where people can share their experiences and help each other move ahead..
Everyone is a traveler on the path, just like you and no-one is there yet, so all we do is share our experience hoping to aid the community. Had you gotten the same definition from everyone, it would have meant you had joined a cult. this is not a cult. Take everything here with a grain of salt and go on experiencing your own truth...
I am often fascinated by the saying : "To suggest is to create, to describe is to destroy"
I hope you progress in dhamma and find peace,
Siddharth

[stillpointdancer]

The main issue is everyone is giving a different definition , you know they may be all near enough to the mark but its a bit confidence reducing when the practitioners and experts cant even define what they are doing with consensus and precision

That's the problem of working on something as elusive as mindfulness. In the end you don't need consensus and precision, you just need a mindfulness practice which works for you. Try one, and if it isn't having the effect you want either stick with it for a bit longer or try another. We are all different and all need a somewhat different practice within the limits of the Buddhist path, so finding the 'precise' definition might actually hold people back.

[Alex]

Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.

So what’s happening inside?
Here are a some of your statements in this thread
-   It’s a sorry state of affairs…
-   The main issue…
-   It’s confidence reducing...
-   …without consensus and precision.

Are you aware of the workings of your-body mind that lead to these statements. What can you learn about yourself? What can you awaken to?

A suggestion, you can explore it or not, that’s up to you… maybe there is confusion, or desire to control the progress/understanding. This would be totally normal as a beginner, by the way.
Can you be minfdull of these mental states when they are present? The outside world is most often just a mirror…

[dharma bum]

That's the problem of working on something as elusive as mindfulness. In the end you don't need consensus and precision, you just need a mindfulness practice which works for you. Try one, and if it isn't having the effect you want either stick with it for a bit longer or try another. We are all different and all need a somewhat different practice within the limits of the Buddhist path, so finding the 'precise' definition might actually hold people back.

Agreed completely. Not only is everyone different, the same person is different at different times.

[Laurent]

For me, the important thing is understanding what we are doing.
I practiced blindly for a long time because such and such
so-and-so said it was better like this or that, and there seems to be
contradictions between what the teachers say. It is also
the fact that it is sometimes difficult to translate what they say,
although often they say the same thing.
Today, I think I have partly reformulated the teaching of
Buddha with my own words and ideas, and I understand what I
do even though it will probably be difficult for me to pass it on to
someone else.
I couldn't really decide between two different aspects but maybe
complementary to mindfulness which are:

1. The receptive attitude of the mind to what is happening in the present moment, without
discrimination, therefore without choice and therefore without focusing.

2. Focusing (I think it is useless to define this last point as it is
clear for everyone)

I wish I could take the next step, but I'm stuck here because I can't
choose between these two aspects. Sometimes I practice one, sometimes the other, sometimes
both at the same time (but in this case the balance is difficult to maintain the mind having a tendency
focus on an object or abandon any object).
Both strike me as an acceptable and interesting philosophical approach, but they seem
exclude himself and the masters, the Buddha himself, seem to teach both in turn.

However,

In both cases, the initial cause that establishes this mindfulness is the same:
 it is the establishment of attention in the present moment.
And I have come to this conclusion, which I will call an understanding.
So when I practice I KNOW that I have to keep my attention in the moment, what
whatever form it takes, concentrated or not. I know I have to do this, without a shadow of a doubt
and this gives a strong stability in meditative practice.
Now, it remains for me to understand the rest of the program ...


(This text was translated from French on an automatic Google translator so be tolerant )