Mindfulness Constructs in Early Buddhism and Theravāda: Another Contribution to the Memory Debate

Excerpt

The present paper, which serves as a reply to Levman (2018), published in the same issue of this journal, starts off with the premise that we need to recognize the existence of different constructs of mindfulness among various Buddhist traditions (as well as, of course, in modern clinical usage). Hence, when speaking of mindfulness in early Buddhism, for example, it needs to be borne in mind that this does not simply equate to Theravāda notions of this quality. Not appreciating this difference can easily obfuscate an accurate appraisal of aspects of a particular construct of mindfulness, such as the question of its relationship to memory. In order to recognize the distinct characteristics of various Buddhist conceptualizations of mindfulness, adopting the text-historical perspective is vital. Moreover, when examining satipaṭṭhāna meditation, it needs to be borne in mind that here mindfulness or sati cooperates with other mental qualities, in particular with sampajāna, clearly knowing. This in turn implies that, rather than simply equating sati with satipaṭṭhāna, closer examination is required in order to appreciate the precise role and function of mindfulness in this context. …