The History Of Mindfulness: This Is How It Developed From Meditation

Mindfulness is becoming an increasingly valued resource by different disciplines related to health and education. There are many psychologists, psychiatrists and educators interested in researching the potential of this tool that has been developed from the principles of vipassana meditation, a practice associated with the Buddhist tradition.

However, unlike meditation rituals that originated thousands of years ago, Mindfulness exists solely for its ability to produce objective changes in people’s well-being, and has nothing to do with religious purposes. It is an effort to develop a series of systematic principles that allow scientific study of a phenomenon based fundamentally on the regulation of attentional focus and states of consciousness.

In this article we will carry out a brief review of the history of Mindfulness to help understand how it has been developed and how it has evolved.

The origins of Mindfulness: the history behind this practice

Locating the origins of Mindfulness is not easy, since, as is the case with disciplines that start from a very ancient tradition, there is a wide time frame during which we can consider that what we are describing begins. It is something that happens with Psychology, whose seed is attributed by some to the philosophers of Greece in the 5th century BC, and happens with Mindfulness, which rests on the ancient pillars of meditation practiced in many places in Asia.

The beginnings: vipassana meditation and sati

It is important to note that the pillars on which the history of Mindfulness is based is called vipassana meditation, a practice that is part of the religious rituals of many areas of Asia included or close to India, and which in turn has to do with a broader philosophical doctrine that has to do with meditation in general.

A lot could be said about the tradition of vipassana meditation in Asia, but the main thing is to understand that it is a phenomenon that began with Buddhism approximately 3,500 years ago. The philosophical root of what Mindfulness would one day become was known in the world of Buddhism as sati, one of the main factors on the path of enlightenment and liberation according to the ideas of Buddha Gautama. In fact, sati can be translated as full consciousness; or, in English, “mindfulness”.

The clash of cultures: the West comes into play

But Mindfulness itself, unlike the vipassana meditation from which it is based, is a product of the mixture of cultures of the West and the regions of the Far East in which Buddhism has taken root.

Initially, this contact between different types of companies came through the British colonization of India, at the end of the 19th century. Although the interests of this European empire were basically economic and military, this invasion also had scientific and intellectual implications. The British who settled in these lands were surprised by many of the things they saw there, among them the calm and philosophy of life of those who had dedicated time and effort to practicing certain types of meditation. This motivated a series of investigations that were developed throughout the 20th century.

These types of studies received new waves of interest from European academics and researchers following the discovery, in parallel, of many other phenomena foreign to European culture that fascinated authors and scientists of all kinds, from thinkers like Carl Jung to anthropologists who set out to learn more about that region of the world, until not so long ago relatively isolated from the rest. As globalization intensified its effects, so did cultural exchanges

One of the turning points in the development of the history of Mindfulness can be found in the research carried out by Jon Kabat-Zinn. This American doctor is famous for having proposed, since the 1970s, the use of mindfulness in the clinical setting, as a tool that allows achieving therapeutic objectives. From that project initiated what is known as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction or Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, with the aim of taking the therapeutically useful elements of meditation, investigating them and enhancing them in the field of applied science, once separated from their role in Buddhism.

The option of spiritual retreats

The connection between Mindfulness and the religious tradition in which it has its roots always generates much debate, given that although it is true that it is possible to systematize certain practices that appeared for the first time within the framework of Buddhism, the experience associated for centuries with these rituals They also inform us about the nature of this tool.

That’s why spiritual retreats are frequently held linked to the practice of Mindfulness in which activities very similar to those that make up the daily life of Buddhist monks are carried out, although without placing faith in a system of religious beliefs.

In this sense, people who want to get started in Mindfulness or practice it in a special way have the interesting opportunity to sign up for the first spiritual retreat in Spain that will be attended by Jon Kabat-Zinn himself, as well as with other prestigious speakers, such as Dr. Javier García Campayo, one of the main experts in Mindfulness in Spain. The retreat will take place on June 19, 2018, and participation in it is included in registration for the 5th International Mindfulness Congress that will take place from June 20 to 23 at the World Trade Center in Zaragoza.

To receive more information or register, you can access the contact information of Dr. Javier García Campayo or his website through this link.