Mindfulness originates in Buddhism as a spiritual or psychological sense of awareness also known as sati. According to traditional Buddhist texts, it is the faculty of focus. To practice mindfulness in the Buddhist sense means to notice the path of your attention and intentionally direct it towards a particular object. The practitioner develops mindfulness as an ability.  

Mindfulness as a Buddhist Practice

There are two further ways of interpreting Dhyana: one is to Contemplate while the other is to Meditate. The contemplating version proposed that one must ponder and obtain the answers one was on a quest for, while the Meditative version suggests that one mustn’t ponder, that one should still one’s mind and eventually seek wisdom. Both gave rise to various kinds of meditative practices that fall under the banner of Vipassana (mindful) and Samatha (mind-less) meditations, respectively. 

State University of New York at Buffalo

It was during the period of ritualized worship that people began questioning the Artha (philosophies) behind its Karma (actions). Buddha questioned their fundamental beliefs- the Tapa (penance; act of depriving one’s senses from experiencing pleasures such as eating, drinking water, etc.) one puts themselves through and these Yajnas (rituals) one organizes, the concept of believing that doing the work alone would help attain Nirvana (enlightenment), won’t provide any wisdom, and that one must do Dhyana/Chintan (contemplate/ponder) over the Karma (actions) one’s performing to understand the Artha (philosophies) behind it. That was the proposed path for Enlightenment. 

Birth of Buddhist Meditative Practices

Dhyana’s earliest references can be found in the period between the Vedas (written 4000 years ago) and Puranas (2000 years ago).

In order to attain enlightenment, the two sides of the same coin, Dhyana (to close your eyes and look inwards) and Darshan (to open your eyes and observe the world), both are necessary for the sustenance of lifestyles that fall under the branch of Sanatana Dharma. 

In simplified terms, Dyana equates to Buddhism, an ascetic lifestyle and to look within oneself, while Darshan equates to Hinduism, a domestic lifestyle and acknowledging the society’s point of view. 

Dhyana and Darshan

Vetter, Tilmann (1988), The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism, BRILL

The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism

Pattanaik, Devdutt (2017), Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik, Penguin Random House Publishing

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