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For the past seve ral months yo u ’ ve been in dialo g u ewith many Buddhist te a c h e rs on the topic of mindful-n e ss. What pro m p ted you to focus on this to p i c ? F o ryears I’ve been puzzled by the discrepancies betweenthe descriptions of mindfulness given by manymodern Vipassana teachers and psychologists who relyon them, on the one hand, and the definitions ofmindfulness we find in traditional Theravada andMahayana Buddhist literature on the other. When Ifirst noticed this disparity about thirty years ago, Ithought perhaps it was due to differences betweenTheravada and Mahayana Buddhism. But the more Ilooked into this, the more it appeared to me thattraditional Theravada and Mahayana sources arel a rgely in accord with each other, and it was themodern accounts of mindfulness that departed fromboth traditions.

In what ways do the modern accounts diffe r ? W h i l emindfulness (s a t i) is often equated with bare attention,my conversations with—and recent studies of worksby—the learned monks Bhikkhu Bodhi and BhikkhuAnalayo, and Rupert Gethin, president of the Pali Te x t

S o c i e t y, led me to conclude that bare attention corre-sponds much more closely to the Pali term m a n a s i k a r a,which is commonly translated as “attention” or “mentalengagement.” This word refers to the initial splitseconds of the bare cognizing of an object, before onebegins to recognize, identify, and conceptualize, and inBuddhist accounts it is not regarded as a wholesomemental factor. It is ethically neutral. The primarymeaning of s a t i , on the other hand, is recollection, non-f o rgetfulness. This includes r e t r o s p e c t i v e memory of thingsin the past, p r o s p e c t i v e l y remembering to do something inthe future, and present-centered recollection in the senseof maintaining unwavering attention to a present reality.The opposite of mindfulness is forgetfulness, so mindful-ness applied to the breath, for instance, involvescontinuous, unwavering attention to the respiration.Mindfulness may be used to s u s t a i n bare attention(m a n a s i k a r a), but nowhere do traditional Buddhistsources e q u a t e mindfulness with such attention.

Does the Buddha ever mention the term m a n a s i k a r ain his mindfulness inst r u c t i o n s ? Not that I know of.The term figures most prominently in Abhidhamma-

B u d d h i st scholar and teacher B. Alan Wa l l a ce is ap rolific author and tra n s l a tor of Buddhist texts. Witha B.A. in both physics and the philosophy of sciencef rom Amherst College and a Ph.D. in religious st u d-ies from Sta n fo rd Unive rsity, he devo tes much of histime combining his inte re sts in the study of Buddhistp h i lo s o p h i cal and co n te m p l a t i ve traditions and theirrelationship to modern science.

Wa l l a ce is founder and president of the SantaB a r b a ra Inst i t u te for Consciousness Studies, in S a n ta

B a r b a ra, California. Here he speaks in depth withT r i c y c l e about what he co n s i d e rs an essential butw i d e ly misunderstood Buddhist pra c t i ce: mindfulnessm e d i tation. Wa l l a ce argues that our poor understa n d-ing of the pra c t i ce has pro found implications for ourm e d i tation pra c t i ce, and may very well draw us fro mthe ultimate fruit of Buddhist pra c t i ce — l i b e ra t i o nf rom suffering and its underlying ca u s e s .

The inte r v i ew was co n d u c ted by email over theco u rse of seve ral months in 2007.

balanceWhat did the Buddha really mean by “mindfulness?” B. ALAN WA L L ACE describeshow misunderstanding the term can have implications for your practice.

Artwork by Sohan Qadri

a mindful

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based treatises on Buddhist psychology. In theB u d d h a ’s practical instructions on both s a m a t h a(tranquility meditation) and v i p a s s a n a (insight medita-tion), the terms s a t i and sampajanna appear most often.Sampajanna is usually translated from the Pali as “clearcomprehension,” but this type of awareness always hasa reflexive quality: It invariably entails a monitoringof the state of one’s body or mind, sometimes inrelation to one’s environment. For this reason, I preferto translate s a m p a j a n n a as “introspection,” which hereentails discerning observation not only of one’s mindbut of one’s physical and verbal activities as well.

What are some of the pitfalls of viewing medita t i o ns i m p ly as a pro ce ss of bare atte n t i o n ? W h e nmindfulness is equated with bare attention, it caneasily lead to the misconception that the cultivation ofmindfulness has nothing to do with ethics or with thecultivation of wholesome states of mind and the atten-uation of unwholesome states. Nothing could befurther from the truth. In the Pali Abhidhamma,where mindfulness is listed as a wholesome mentalf a c t o r, it is not depicted as bare attention, but as amental factor that clearly distinguishes wholesomefrom unwholesome mental states and behavior. And itis used to support wholesome states and counteractunwholesome states.

What, then, is the ro le of bare atte n t i o n ? The cultiva-tion of bare attention is valuable in many ways, andt h e r e ’s a rapidly growing body of research on itsbenefits for both psychological and physiologicaldisorders. But it’s incorrect to equate that withmindfulness, and an even greater error to think that’sall there is to v i p a s s a n a. If that were the case, all theB u d d h a ’s teachings on ethics, s a m a d h i (highly focuseda t t e n t i o n ), and wisdom would be irrelevant. All toooften, people who assume that bare attention is allthere is to meditation reject the rest of Buddhism asclap-trap and mumbo-jumbo. The essential teachingsare dismissed rather than one’s own preconceptions.

A frequent claim is that bare aware n e ss willa u to m a t i ca l ly prevent unwholesome thoughts fro marising. Is there any basis for this notion in the tex t s ?Bare awareness as calm, nonreactive awareness of one’smeditative object plays a crucial role in samathapractice, which alleviates such afflictive mental states

as craving, aversion, dullness, agitation, and doubt.There are also many accounts in Buddhist texts ofpeople gaining profound, liberating insights throughwhat appears to be bare attention. Perhaps the mostwell-known case is that of the wandering asceticBahiya. After becoming a highly accomplishedcontemplative, he recognized that he still hadn’tachieved liberation, so he sought out the guidance ofthe Buddha, who told him, “In reference to the seen,there will be only the seen. In reference to the heard,only the heard. In reference to the sensed, only thesensed. In reference to the cognized, only thecognized. That is how you should train yourself.” AndBahiya immediately achieved liberation.

We could easily conclude from this that bareattention is all that is needed in insight meditation.But we must remember that Bahiya’s case wasexceptional. He had already achieved a very highlevel of spiritual maturation before he met theBuddha, so these quintessential instructions were allhe needed to completely purify his mind of allmental afflictions. For the rest of us, the rich diver-sity of theories and practices in Buddhism can be a

great aid. Bare awareness can play an important rolein this, and on occasion it may indeed preventunwholesome thoughts from arising. But if we stickto bare attention alone, it can also prevent whole-some thoughts from arising! For example,meditations for the cultivation of the four sublimevirtues of lovingkindness, compassion, empatheticj o y, and equanimity are all practiced with mindful-ness but not bare attention. Bare attention is not acomplete practice, and by itself it can be helpful andyet very limiting.

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Do the differing definitions of mindfulness have anyp ra c t i cal bearing? Or is this just a semantic iss u e ?It ’s far more than a semantic issue. In common usagethe English term m i n d f u l n e s s simply means to beaware, or heedful. S a t i has a much richer connotation,so those wishing to practice Buddhist meditation arewell advised to gain as clear an understanding of thisand other related terms as they can, based on themost authoritative sources they can find. Otherwise,Buddhist meditation quickly devolves into a vaguekind of “be here now” mentality, in which the

extraordinary depth and richness of Buddhist medita-tive traditions are lost.

Would it help to sta n d a rdize the meaning of mindful-n e ss ? Out of respect for the integrity of eachtradition, it would be a mistake to force them all intothe same mold. It’s important to be sensitive to differ-ences among different schools. But insofar as thediscourses attributed to the Buddha and the majorcommentaries agree on the meaning of mindfulness,this should be recognized by Buddhists of all schools.

In his classic fifth-century work The Path ofP u r i f i c a t i o n , Buddhaghosa, the most authoritativecommentator in the Theravada tradition, begins hisexplanation of this topic by stating that it is bymeans of mindfulness that we are able to recall thingsor events in the past, which echoes the Buddha’sdefinition of this term. Its characteristic,Buddhaghosa writes, is “not floating,” in that themind is closely engaged with the chosen object ofattention. Its property is “not losing,” indicating thatmindfulness enables us to maintain our attentionwithout forgetfulness. Its manifestation is “guarding”or being “face to face with the object,” implying that“the rope of mindfulness” holds the attention firmlyto its chosen object, whether it is a relatively stable,single object or a continuum of interrelated events.Its basis is “strong noting,” suggesting its discerning

q u a l i t y, which is crucial when closely practicings a t i p a t t h a n a (the Four Applications of Mindfulness)—mindfulness of the body, feelings, thoughts, and otherphenomena. As Buddhaghosa comments thatmindfulness should be seen as a post set in its object,and as a gatekeeper guarding the doors of perception.On the basis of this classic, authoritative account, wecan easily see why mindfulness is essential for s a m a t h aand v i p a s s a n a in particular and for spiritual practice ingeneral. Tr a d i t i o n a l l y, s a m a t h a is the primary methodfor cultivating mindfulness, while in the practice of

v i p a s s a n a one applies mindfulness and wisdom (p a n n a)to body, mind, feelings, and other phenomena.

In its psychological role as recollection, s a t i is anordinary mental faculty we use in daily life. Some ofthe exercises in s a t i p a t t h a n a , such as contemplatingthe anatomical parts of the body, can’t possibly bedone with bare attention—for example, ass a t i p a t t h a n a is used in the practice of mentallyscanning bodily sensations. In all cases, mindfulnessas it is cultivated in spiritual practice is applied withdiscerning intelligence, often viewing phenomenawithin the contexts of Buddhist categories such as thefive aggregates. This is evident in the Buddha’sprimary discourse on satipatthana, which goes farbeyond bare attention.

W h a t ’s the diffe re n ce between mindfulness and rightm i n d f u l n e ss? Is there such a thing as wrong mindful-n e ss ? A sniper hiding in the grass, waiting to shoothis enemy, may be quietly aware of whatever ariseswith each passing moment. But because he is intent onkilling, he is practicing wrong mindfulness. In fact,what he’s practicing is bare attention without anethical component. Generally speaking, right mindful-ness has to be integrated with sampajanna—again,introspection involving clear comprehension—and it isonly when these two work together that right mindful-ness can fulfill its intended purpose. Specifically, in the

It’s incorrect to equate bare attention withmindfulness, and an even greater error tothink that’s all there is to vipassana.

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practice of the Four Applications of Mindfulness, rightmindfulness has to occur in the context of the fullNoble Eightfold Path: For example, it must be guidedby right view, motivated by right intention, groundedin ethics, and be cultivated in conjunction with righteffort. Without right view or right intention, onecould be practicing bare attention without its everdeveloping into right mindfulness. So bare attentiond o e s n ’t by any means capture the complete signifi-cance of v i p a s s a n a, but represents only the initial phasein the meditative development of right mindfulness.

T h e re ’s a tendency in some circ les to fa vor vipass a n ap ra c t i ce over samatha pra c t i ce. Can you saysomething about that? The term s a m a t h a , v a r i o u s l ytranslated as “tranquility” or “meditative quies-cence,” refers to a wide range of practices for thepurpose of achieving s a m a d h i , or highly focusedattention, or single-pointed concentration. Bothmindfulness and introspection are integral to alls a m a t h a practices, and the concentrated awarenessone achieves through such practice may be appliedto any kind of object, small or large, simple orcomplex, relatively stable or changing. S a m a t h apractice is often overlooked or at best marg i n a l i z e din many contemporary schools of Buddhism,including Zen, Theravada, and Tibetan Buddhism.With its emphasis on “sudden enlightenment,” theZen tradition doesn’t teach s a m a t h a as a separatepractice. Rather, it’s incorporated into the z a z e npractice of “just sitting” and into meditations onk o a n s. This same trend has recently carried over intothe modern Vipassana tradition, which de-empha-sizes s a m a t h a. But in traditional Theravada andMahayana literature, s a m a t h a practices take a centralrole in the familiar triad of ethics, mental balance(the broader meaning of s a m a d h i), and wisdom.M o r e o v e r, the array of Buddhist practices taught inthe category of s a m a d h i covers much more than justdeveloping single-pointed concentration. Thesepractices are aimed at cultivating exceptional statesof mental health and balance, and all insightmeditations are optimally practiced on that basis.Without mindfulness, mental balance cannot bedeveloped. And without the stability and vividnessof attention achieved through s a m a t h a p r a c t i c e ,Buddhist wisdom practices are bound to beimpaired by mental agitation, dullness, and other

hindrances. Ethics and mental balance support eacho t h e r, as do s a m a t h a and v i p a s s a n a.

M i n d f u l n e ss as a pra c t i ce is normally ass o c i a ted withthe Thera vada tradition. What ro le does it play inVa j ra yana pra c t i ce ? Mindfulness, as the faculty ofsustaining continuous attention on a chosen object, isindispensable for all kinds of meditation. In the manyvisualization exercises included in Vajrayana medita-tions, mindfulness enables one to sustain such imagerywith stability and clarity. Vajrayana also includes

Mahamudra and Dzogchen meditations, and here,once again, stable, luminous, nonreactive attention isstrongly emphasized, as it is in Zen. But the basis forthese wisdom practices is still the cultivation ofmental balance, including calm, vivid attention.

In authentic Mahamudra practice, for instance, onefirst trains in the fundamental teachings of the FourNoble Truths, including the practices of ethics,mental balance, and wisdom. Then one ventures intothe Mahayana teachings, especially those on theBodhisattva ideal, the (continued on page 109)

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“Perfection of Wisdom” expla-nations of emptiness and dependent origination, andthe Buddha-nature. On that basis, one is initiatedinto Vajrayana Buddhism, with its own uniquepractices for transmuting one’s body, speech, andmind into the body, speech, and mind of a buddha.F i n a l l y, one is trained in the specific view, medita-tion, and way of life of the Mahamudra tradition. Themeditation entails a kind of radical “not-doing,” inwhich one rests in unstructured awareness, releasinggrasping onto all kinds of sensory appearances,memories, and thoughts. As a result of such practice,all experiences gradually arise as aids to one’s spiritualawakening, and finally all phenomena are perceived aspure expressions of primordial consciousness, orBuddha-nature.

The first phase of Dzogchen meditation, known asthe “breakthrough,” is very similar to Mahamudra,and at first glance they may seem identical to the bareattention practiced in the modern Vipassana traditionand in Zen. But as we’ve noted in the discussion ofright mindfulness, the context of one’s practice is

crucial, and methods that appear the same on thesurface may have deep, underlying differences.Tr a d i t i o n a l l y, Zen monks, for example, wouldcommonly train in ethics and study the great treatisesof their tradition for years before they would devotethemselves single-pointedly to meditation. The sameis often true in the Theravada and Tibetan Buddhism.Each of these traditions presents the practice ofmeditation within the context of its own worldview,deeply informed by Buddhist insights.

What are some of the dist i n c t i ve fe a t u res in theM a h a yana and Va j ra yana wo r l d v i ews that wo u l dm a ke their use of mindfulness diffe rent from that ofthe Thera vada tra d i t i o n ? Right mindfulness emerg e sonly within the context of right view and rightintention, and each of those schools of Buddhismhas its own distinct interpretation of these lattertwo elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. InTheravada Buddhism, right view focuses on thethree themes of impermanence, suffering, andnonself. Right intention is a motivation for practice

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based on the recognition of the nature and causes ofsuffering and the yearning to gain irreversible liber-ation from all mental afflictions that lie at the rootof suffering. Some contemporary Vipassana teachersseldom emphasize right view or right intention,and I think it’s doubtful that the practice ofmindfulness alone will result in any “world-transcending” realizations. Again, if mindfulness asit is commonly understood today were all that isneeded to achieve liberation, then all the rest of theB u d d h a ’s teachings would be pointless.

In Mahayana Buddhism, right mindfulness ispracticed together with the view of emptiness,dependent origination, and Buddha-nature, and withthe intention to achieve perfect enlightenment forthe sake of all sentient beings. Without such a viewand motivation, it is said that the practice ofmindfulness and all related forms of meditation willnot lead to Buddhahood. In the Vajrayana tradition,right view includes the “pure vision” of perceivingall phenomena as expressions of primordialconsciousness, and right intention is the altruistic

motivation to achieve perfect enlightenment asswiftly as possible for the sake of all beings. This isthe same motivation as for Mahayana practice, but ithas a greater sense of urg e n c y.

In each of those cases, mindfulness takes on adistinct flavor, just as it does if it’s practiced with amaterialistic worldview and a mundane motiva-tion—that is, simply to relieve stress and findgreater happiness in this lifetime alone. When bareattention is practiced within the context of amodern, materialistic worldview, there’s no basis forbelieving it will produce the same results as wheni t ’s practiced within the context of Theravada,Mahayana, or Vajrayana Buddhism.

Over the past century, Buddhism has been under-going a kind of Protestant Reformation, with thedecline of Buddhist monasticism and the increasedpopularity of meditation among lay Buddhists. It iswonderful that so many people nowadays are incorpo-rating Buddhist meditation into their daily lives. Butit is important not to overlook the value of devotingyears to the study and practice of meditation as one’s

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sole vocation. After all, we would not entrust ourteeth to someone who had simply taken a number ofdentistry workshops and practiced for an hour or so ad a y, so shouldn’t we be even more careful aboutentrusting our minds to meditation instructorswithout years of professional training in the theoryand practice of meditation?

It all depends on our view and intention with regardto meditation. If what we really want is a kind ofmeditative therapy to help us relieve stress, workthrough personal psychological problems, and lead amore balanced life, we don’t need highly trainedmeditation teachers. But insofar as we set our goalshigher—to liberation from the cycle of existence andthe realization of perfect enlightenment—then weneed to rely on those who have been professionallytrained for years in the theory and practice of medita-tion. Tr a d i t i o n a l l y, monastics have played a crucialrole in this regard, and I hope they will continue to doso in the future. But for that to happen, they need tobe supported by the Buddhist laity, as they have beenin the past.

With part-time Buddhists in our We stern co m m u n i-ties, are we unlike ly to pro d u ce enlighte n e dte a c h e rs ? If we had only part-time scientists, then nobranch of science would have progressed to its currentlevel of sophistication. Likewise, if we had only part-time doctors and psychotherapists, we would be muchworse off with respect to our physical and mentalhealthcare. More broadly, imagine the world with onlypart-time mechanics, electricians, farmers, andteachers. If we left all the major professions in thehands of amateurs, modern civilization would beimmeasurably impoverished.

The path to spiritual awakening is the mostchallenging of all human endeavors and entails thedeepest transformation of a human being from adeluded, miserable creature to an enlightened sage. Ifwe wish to produce enlightened teachers in moderns o c i e t y, then individuals who wholeheartedly wish todevote themselves to this path—whether or not theywant to take monastic ordination—should be given allpossible support. This would be our greatest gift tofuture generations. ▼

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