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Mindfulness (Pali sati; Skt. smṛti; Tib. དྲན་པ་, drenpa, Wyl. dran pa) is one of the fifty-one mental states defined in Abhidharma literature. According to the Compendium of Abhidharma, it belongs to the subgroup of the five object-determining mental states.

Mindfulness is also the fifth antidote of the eight antidotes to the five faults in meditation practice. It’s the antidote to the second fault, forgetting the instructions or the object of focus.

Definitions

In the Khenjuk, Mipham Rinpoche says:

In terms of shamatha meditation, you could say that mindfulness protects and maintains the 'remaining' or stillness (Tib. གནས་པ་, népa) of mind, so you do not become distracted from it.

In the practice of maintaining discipline, mindfulness is defined as “not forgetting what should be adopted and abandoned.”

Subdivisions

In the Mahamudra teachings, there are said to be four kinds of mindfulness:

Tibetan

Snippet from Wikipedia: Tibetan

Tibetan may mean:

  • of, from, or related to Tibet
  • Tibetan people, an ethnic group
  • Tibetan language:
    • Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard
    • Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dialect
    • Tibetan pinyin, a method of writing Standard Tibetan in Latin script
    • Tibetan script
    • any other of the Tibetic languages

Tibetan may additionally refer to:

Alternative Translations

Teachings Given to the Rigpa Sangha

Category of Buddhist Key Terms Category of Abhidharma Category of Fifty-one mental states Category of Five object-determining mental states Category of Meditation Category of Eight antidotes