The relationship between mindfulness and meditation

Mindfulness and meditation are neither equal nor subordinate - mindfulness is a quality of attention that "consciously and non-judgmentally dwells in the present moment", and meditation is the most common and systematic vehicle for training this quality. The two are deeply bound, but they are by no means the same thing.

Don’t think this definition is confusing. When I led novice introductory camps two years ago, I saw too many people equate the two and get into trouble. A girl who works in operations asked when she first joined the group: "I follow the APP and sit for 10 minutes of mindfulness meditation every day. Why can't I help myself to browse Taobao for half an hour at work? Why do I still feel so anxious that I cry when I am rushing to work?" ”You see, this directly equates "doing meditation" and "obtaining a state of mindfulness". In essence, it is the same logic as thinking that you have lost weight after getting a fitness card.

Interestingly, regarding the relationship between the two, practitioners in different fields have quite different views.

Most practitioners who are deeply involved in the tradition of Theravada Vipassana will feel that mindfulness is one of the "seven factors of enlightenment" that naturally arises at a certain stage of practice, and meditation (that is, Zen practice) is the only way to go. Without long-term fixed meditation practice, you can't stabilize your attention at all. Saying "you can be mindful while walking, and you can be mindful while washing dishes" are all empty words floating in the air. When encountering some stressful event, you will be immediately carried away by your emotions, without any concentration. I know a teacher who has been in the Myanmar Zen Forest for 12 years, and he still maintains the habit of sitting for four hours a day. He said that his state of mindfulness was developed through hundreds of thousands of minutes of sitting, and there are no shortcuts.

The modern field of clinical psychology takes a much looser view. When Kabat-Zinn defined mindfulness, he did not tie it to meditation at all - "consciously and non-judgmentally aware of the present moment." You can obtain this state while sitting cross-legged in silence, or while drinking coffee, squeezing the subway, or even during a needs review meeting. I have seen many corporate EAP teachers who will not force students to sit for long enough every day. Instead, they will teach everyone, "Before getting angry in every meeting, touch the back of your chair for 3 seconds to feel the texture of the fabric." Such a small action is actually mobilizing mindfulness, and there is no need for futons and light music.

I myself have stepped into the trap of binding the two. When I first got into the business, I clocked in and meditated every day, and even boasted to people around me that I had clocked in for 21 days in a row. Then I got into an argument with the rider because the delivery was 10 minutes late. It’s quite funny now that I think about it. At that time, I didn’t practice mindfulness. I just practiced the ritual of “sitting cross-legged.” Later, I rushed to three in the morning to finish a manuscript. My mind was as confused as cotton soaked in water. I wanted to sit down for 10 minutes to meditate and calm down. But after sitting for 5 minutes, all I could think about was "Will the editor rush me? There are still 3 pages left to finish." The more I sat, the more annoyed I got, so I just got up and made coffee. I deliberately slowed down all my actions that day: touching the frosted metal shell of the coffee can, listening to the clatter of beans being poured into the grinder, and smelling the burnt aroma rising when the hot water was washed down. In those three minutes, I suddenly relaxed. I wasn't meditating at all at that time, but I was definitely in a state of mindfulness.

Nowadays, "mindfulness meditation" is always sold as one word in the market. This is essentially the result of commercial communication - after all, if you want to make a standardized product, you can't teach users to "feel the bubbles of dishwashing liquid when you wash the dishes." It is better to just make a 10-minute audio and let users follow it, which can be easily quantified and charged. But when it comes to actual practice, there is really no need to worry about the subordination between the two.

If you can sit still and take 10 minutes a day to meditate with the audio, it is indeed the most efficient way to train. Just like if you go to the gym to lift dumbbells to build muscles, you will definitely get faster results than moving boxes. If you really can't sit still, there's no need to force yourself. Don't check your phone while eating. Chew a few bites of food carefully to taste the saltiness. Don't always check short videos while squeezing in the subway. Feel the force of your feet on the ground. These are all mindfulness exercises and you don't have to have a "meditation" ritual.

To put it bluntly, whether it is mindfulness or meditation, the ultimate goal is not to make you a "perfect person" who will not be angry or distracted. It just helps you have an extra anchor point, so that you are less dragged by past regrets, less pushed by future anxieties, and can stay in the present for a while longer - this is enough.