स्मृति smṛtiis mindfulness or awareness, a spiritual or psychological faculty (indriya) that forms an essential part of Buddhist practice. It is the first factor of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. "Correct" or "right" mindfulness (Pali: sammā-sati, Sanskrit samyak-smṛti) is the seventh element of the Noble Eightfold Path.
It originates from the Pali term sati and its Sanskrit counterpart smṛti. From Sanskrit, it was translated into trenpa in Tibetan (transliteration: dran pa) and nian 念 in Chinese.
正念 • (shōnen) (historical kana しやうねん)
- the seventh part of the Noble Eightfold Path in Buddhism; right mindfulness
- calm, peaceful thoughts
In 1881, Thomas William Rhys Davids first translated sati into English mindfulness in sammā-sati "Right Mindfulness; the active, watchful mind". Noting that Daniel John Gogerly (1845) initially rendered sammā-sati as "Correct meditation", Davids explained,
Henry Alabaster, in The Wheel of the Law: Buddhism Illustrated From Siamese Sources by the Modern Buddhist, A Life of Buddha, and an Account of the Phrabat (1871), had earlier defined "Satipatthan/Smrityupasthana" as "The act of keeping one's self-mindful."
The English term mindfulness already existed before it came to be used in a (western) Buddhist context. It was first recorded as myndfulness in 1530 (John Palsgrave translates French pensée), as mindfulnesse in 1561, and mindfulness in 1817. Morphologically earlier terms include mindful (first recorded in 1340), mindfully (1382), and the obsolete mindiness (ca. 1200).
John D. Dunne, an associate professor at Emory University whose current research focuses especially on the concept of "mindfulness" in both theoretical and practical contexts, asserts that the translation of sati and smṛti as mindfulness is confusing and that a number of Buddhist scholars have started trying to establish "retention" as the preferred alternative.
Bhikkhu Bodhi also points to the meaning of "sati" as "memory":
Sanskrit
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The Sanskrit word smṛti स्मृति (also transliterated variously as smriti, smRti, or sm'Rti) literally means "that which is remembered", and refers both to "mindfulness" in Buddhism and "a category of metrical texts" in Hinduism, considered second in authority to the Śruti scriptures.
Monier Monier-Williams's Sanskrit-English Dictionary differentiates eight meanings of smṛti स्मृति, "remembrance, reminiscence, thinking of or upon, calling to mind, memory":
- memory as one of the Vyabhicāri-bhāvas [transient feelings];
- Memory (personified either as the daughter of Daksha and wife of Aṅgiras or as the daughter of Dharma and Medhā);
- the whole body of sacred tradition or what is remembered by human teachers (in contradistinction to Śruti or what is directly heard or revealed to the Rishis; in its widest acceptation this use of the term Smṛti includes the 6 Vedangas, the Sūtras both Śrauta and Grhya, the Manusmṛti, the Itihāsas (e.g., the Mahābhārata and Ramayana), the Puranas and the Nītiśāstras, "according to such and such a traditional precept or legal text";
- the whole body of codes of law as handed down memoriter or by tradition (esp. the codes of Manusmṛti, Yājñavalkya Smṛti and the 16 succeeding inspired lawgivers) … all these lawgivers being held to be inspired and to have based their precepts on the Vedas;
- the symbolical name for the number 18 (from the 18 lawgivers above);
- a kind of meter;
- the name of the letter g- ग्;
- desire, wish
Chinese
Buddhist scholars translated smṛti with the Chinese word nian 念 "study; read aloud; think of; remember; remind". Nian is commonly used in Modern Standard Chinese words such as guannian 觀念 (观念) "concept; idea", huainian 懷念 (怀念) "cherish the memory of; think of", nianshu 念書 (念书) "read; study", and niantou 念頭 (念头) "thought; idea; intention". Two specialized Buddhist terms are nianfo 念佛 "chant the name of Buddha; pray to Buddha" and nianjing 念經 (念经) "chant/recite sutras".
This Chinese character nian 念 is composed of jin 今 "now; this" and xin 心 "heart; mind". Bernhard Karlgren graphically explains nian meaning "reflect, think; to study, learn by heart, remember; recite, read – to have 今 present to 心 the mind". The Chinese character nian or nien 念 is pronounced as Korean yeom or yŏm 염, Japanese ネン or nen, and Vietnamese niệm.
A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms gives basic translations of nian: "Recollection, memory; to think on, reflect; repeat, intone; a thought; a moment."
The Digital Dictionary of Buddhism gives more detailed translations of nian "mindfulness, memory":
- Recollection (Skt. smṛti; Tib. dran pa). To recall, remember. That which is remembered. The function of remembering. The operation of the mind of not forgetting an object. Awareness, concentration. Mindfulness of the Buddha, as in Pure Land practice. In Abhidharma-kośa theory, one of the ten omnipresent factors 大地法. In Yogâcāra, one of the five 'object-dependent' mental factors 五別境;
- Settled recollection; (Skt. sthāpana; Tib. gnas pa). To ascertain one's thoughts;
- To think within one's mind (without expressing in speech). To contemplate; meditative wisdom;
- Mind, consciousness;
- A thought; a thought-moment; an instant of thought. (Skt. kṣana);
- Patience, forbearance.
Alternate translations
The terms sati/smriti have been translated as:
- Attention (Jack Kornfield)
- Awareness
- Concentrated attention (Mahasi Sayadaw)
- Inspection (Herbert Guenther)
- Mindful attention
- Mindfulness
- Recollecting mindfulness (Alexander Berzin)
- Recollection (Erik Pema Kunsang, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu)
- Reflective awareness (Buddhadasa Bhikkhu)
- Remindfulness (James H. Austin)[17]
- Retention
- Self-recollection (Jack Kornfield)
According to a recent study, published in the journal Sleep Health, adding just 29 minutes of sleep per night can improve mindfulness the next day.
This discovery adds to the myriad benefits of getting good quality sleep and suggests that even a bit of extra snoozing makes a meaningful difference when it comes to mental health.
"We all need mindfulness for better work performance and daily well-being," study co-author Soomi Lee, a researcher at the University of South Florida School of Aging Studies, tells Inverse.
"Findings from this study show that, if you sleep shorter or poorer than usual, it degrades next-day mindful attention."
सचेतन
Jon Kabat-Zinn: Defining Mindfulness
Mindfulness — being aware and paying attention to experiences occurring in the present moment without forming an opinion — as an effective antidote to mindless living.
In 1979, Jon Kabat-Zinn recruited chronically ill patients not responding well to traditional treatments to participate in his newly formed eight-week stress-reduction program, which we now call Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Since then, substantial research has mounted demonstrating how mindfulness-based interventions improve mental and physical health—comparably so to other psychological interventions. We sat down with him as about his definition of mindfulness:
The Definition of Mindfulness:
Mindfulness is the
“We all take ourselves too seriously because we believe that there’s someone to take seriously. That “me.” We become the star of our own movie. The story of “me”, starring, of course, me! And everyone else becomes a bit player in our movie. And then we forget that it’s a fabrication. It’s
How much of our time we are running the narrative of “I” “Me” and “Mine” which is now being identified with certain regions of the brain that do that narrative default mode kind of thing.
It’s just this breath. That out-breath. And it’s not me breathing, either. If it was up to me to be breathing I would have died a long time ago.
Mindfulness
Conscious ..... that is, to understand well about your meditation and mind, to gain knowledge of it, to become aware, to become involved in it simultaneously. Concentrate the mind towards a particular task ... what you are doing. Today's changing environment and the constraints of moving forward are stressed under the pressure of the field. For this, many people nowadays tirelessly try to become meditative in yoga, meditation, exercise, etc. In sleep we remain unconscious while in meditation in conscious sleep. Then it is said ..... Sleep is unconcious meditation and meditation is concious sleep.
Mahatma Buddha first indicated for the conscious state or the four areas of focus… body, emotions, brain and Dhamma i.e. religion.
Any thoughts come in the body, they can be any kind of good, bad, worldly, non-natural, willing, reluctant, somatic, physical, permanent, temporary. They affect our emotions. Sometimes makes happy, sometimes makes us sad, sometimes increases love feelings, sometimes communicates hatred, envy, malice and jealousy. We cannot separate from these natural and external facts, but we can try to balance their sensations to get rid of stress. As a result of its sharpness or inferiority, we react favourable or unfavourable to the brain…. Acts like joy, love, love, crying, singing, screaming, shouting, hatred, hate.
Knowing the art of balancing and controlling these external and internal emotions and the brain, is to have clear knowledge. It is necessary to have a clear knowledge of external natural or artificial problems and reactions from internal upheaval. Meditation, meditation, yoga etc. are resort to be free from desires. Let mental and physical anxiety go away and accept all these situations and keep balance. These circumstances are not compatible with our wishes. Wishes don't live up to expectations If our thinking and reality come in a huge gap, then slowly… a mental illness… strass takes the form of stress. Which gives us nothing but pain and loss.
Therefore, we must have the courage to accept all situations. Do not expect anything from anyone. If the circumstances are favourable, then one has to face the best, whether it is real or imposed. One thing is true, everyone is unstable, mortal. The process of arrival will continue uninterrupted.
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