Mindfulness and clear comprehension

Buddhists take refuge in the Three Jewels or Triple Gem (also known as the "Three Refuges").

The training of the faculty called "mindfulness" (Pali: sati, Sanskrit: sm?ti, literally meaning "recollection, remembering") is central in Buddhism. According to Analayo, mindfulness is a full awareness of the present moment which enhances and strengthens memory.[304] The Indian Buddhist philosopher Asanga defined mindfulness thus: "It is non-forgetting by the mind with regard to the object experienced. Its function is non-distraction."[305] According to Rupert Gethin, sati is also "an awareness of things in relation to things, and hence an awareness of their relative value."[306]

There are different practices and exercises for training mindfulness in the early discourses, such as the four Satipa??hanas (Sanskrit: sm?tyupasthana, "establishments of mindfulness") and Anapanasati (Sanskrit: anapanasm?ti, "mindfulness of breathing").

A closely related mental faculty, which is often mentioned side by side with mindfulness, is sampajañña ("clear comprehension"). This faculty is the ability to comprehend what one is doing and is happening in the mind, and whether it is being influenced by unwholesome states or wholesome ones.[307]

Mindfulness is also the psychological process of purposely bringing one's attention to experiences occurring in the present moment without judgment,[1][2][note 1][3][4] which one develops through the practice of meditation and through other training.[2][5][6] Mindfulness derives from sati, a significant element of Buddhist traditions,[7][8] and based on Zen, Vipassana, and Tibetan meditation techniques.[9][10][note 2] Though definitions and techniques of mindfulness are wide-ranging,[16] Buddhist traditions explain what constitutes mindfulness such as how past, present and future moments arise and cease as momentary sense impressions and mental phenomena.[7][17][18] Individuals who have contributed to the popularity of mindfulness in the modern Western context include Thích Nh?t H?nh (1926– ), Herbert Benson (1935– ), Jon Kabat-Zinn (1944– ), and Richard J. Davidson (1951– ).[19][20][21]

Clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on mindfulness for helping people experiencing a variety of psychological conditions.[21] Mindfulness practice has been employed to reduce depression,[22][23][24] to reduce stress,[23][25][26] anxiety,[22][23][26] and in the treatment of drug addiction.[27][28][29] Programs based on mindfulness models have been adopted within schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans' centers, and other environments, and mindfulness programs have been applied for additional outcomes such as for healthy aging, weight management, athletic performance, helping children with special needs, and as an intervention during the perinatal period.

Clinical studies have documented both physical- and mental-health benefits of mindfulness in different patient categories as well as in healthy adults and children.[3][30][31] Research studies have shown a positive relationship between trait mindfulness (see below) and psychological health.[32][33] The practice of mindfulness appears to provide therapeutic benefits to people with psychiatric disorders,[34][35][36] including moderate benefits to those with psychosis.[37][38][39] Studies also indicate that rumination and worry contribute to a variety of mental disorders,[40][41][42] and that mindfulness-based interventions can reduce both rumination and worry.[42][43][44] Further, the practice of mindfulness may be a preventive strategy to halt the development of mental-health problems.[45][46]

There is also evidence that suggest engaging in mindfulness meditation may influence physical health. For example, the psychological habit of repeatedly dwelling on stressful thoughts (i.e., rumination) appears to intensify the physiological effects of the stressor (as a result of the continual activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis) with the potential to lead to physical health related clinical manifestations.[47][48][49] Studies indicate that mindfulness meditation, which brings about reductions in rumination, may alter these biological clinical pathways.[47][42][50] Further, research indicates that mindfulness may favourably influence the immune system as well as inflammation,[3][51][52] which can consequently impact physical health, especially considering that inflammation has been linked to the development of several chronic health conditions.[53][54] Other studies support these findings.[55][56][50] Additionally, mindfulness appears to bring about lowered activity of the default mode network of the brain, and thereby contribute towards a lowered risk of developing conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease.[47]