The employment of mindfulness in a traditional setting includes the practice of recollection, which can serve to counter fear. In the early discourses, the role of the Buddha as the object of such recollection is not to embody some kind of cosmic principle, as has recently been suggested by Eviatar Shulman. Instead, the inspiration to be gained from recollecting the Buddha springs in particular from his having become totally free from defilements and teaching others how to do the same.
