The difference between mindfulness and meditation

Mindfulness is a "state of being aware of the present moment without judgment", and meditation is one of the many tools to train you to enter and maintain this state. The two are related to "goals" and "paths" and are by no means identical, nor are they subordinate.

The two concepts were confused when I first came into contact with them. At that time, I practiced "mindfulness meditation" with a meditation app for three months. I sat there for 20 minutes every day and counted my breaths. I even proudly told my friends that I was practicing mindfulness. Until I was collecting cat litter at home on the weekend, the smell of the litter box that the cat had just finished pooping made people frown. I squatted on the ground and used a small shovel to shovel out the caked and splashed cat litter. I didn't think about the plan to rush out in the afternoon. I didn't complain about why the cat pooped so smelly again, and I didn't even realize that I was doing it. I was "working", and I didn't realize it until I finished cleaning up and stood up: In those ten minutes just now, I was completely in the present moment, without judgment or wandering - this was not at all the moment when I was sitting on the yoga mat with my eyes closed and meditating, but I was indeed in a state of mindfulness.

Looking back at the origin of the original concept, you will know that this distinction is actually very clear. In the practice system of Theravada Buddhism, mindfulness is the seventh branch of the Eightfold Path. It is a state of life that practitioners need to maintain for a long time. Practices such as sitting meditation and walking meditation that fall under the category of "meditation" are just paths to help practitioners anchor awareness and reduce distracting thoughts. Later, Dr. Kabat-Zinn of MIT separated mindfulness from the religious context and created the now globally popular Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). He specifically wrote in the course manual: Don’t equate mindfulness with sitting meditation. I teach you body scans, sitting meditation, and walking meditation, all to enable you to bring this awareness to every little thing like eating, going to work, and spending time with your family.

Of course, if you watch short videos or search for popular science, you will most likely see many people talking about "mindfulness meditation" or even directly equating the two words. There is no need to say that they are wrong. After all, for most ordinary people who are just getting started, it is too abstract to ask them to acquire the ability of "awareness without judgment" out of thin air. The easiest way to get started is to follow the guided audio and do 10 minutes of mindfulness-themed meditation.

I once led a novice experience camp. There was a student who worked very hard. He meditated for 40 minutes every morning. He was more active than anyone else. However, when he came to the group to share, he complained that he would be angry for half an hour when someone stepped on his feet when he was on the subway at work. He felt uncomfortable all over if he did not check the work group during meals. He would lie in bed at night and think about what the leader said during the day. To put it bluntly, his meditation was equivalent to practicing loneliness - did he meditate long enough? But he has not used the awareness developed through meditation at all in his life. Meditation is meditation, and life is life. This means that he has not touched the edge of mindfulness at all. On the other hand, I know an old craftsman who does wood carving. He doesn’t even know how to use a smartphone, let alone what meditation is. He sits there for three or four hours while working, staring at the carving knife in his hand, following the grain of the wood. If the carving is damaged, he doesn’t scold himself, but just changes it into a new shape according to the flaws. He said, “When working, I just want to do the living thing.” This is actually the most standard state of mindfulness.

Some people also ask me, "My mind always wanders when meditating. Is it impossible to learn mindfulness at all?" ”Hey, this is the best time to distinguish between the two - mind wandering is so normal in meditation practice. Even if you have practiced meditation for ten years, it is impossible to be free of distracting thoughts throughout the process. You can realize "Oh, my mind is wandering", and then gently bring your attention back to your breathing or the current feeling. This moment of "aware that your mind is wandering and then bring it back" is the moment when mindfulness truly takes place. To put it bluntly, meditation is a training ground. If you practice the muscles of "drawing attention back" in the training ground, in the real examination room of life, you will quickly react, "Oh, I am worried about next month's KPI again", "Oh, I am thinking over and over again about what I didn't say in the quarrel just now", and then bring your attention back to what you are doing at the moment. This is enough.

After all, there is no need to worry about how to divide these two terms. If you feel comfortable sitting down and meditating, just take 10 minutes to practice every day.； If you can't sit still, taste every bite of food while eating, feel the touch of your feet on the ground when walking, or even feel the strength of the shovel in your hand when wiping cat litter, and smell the (not so pleasant) smell of cat litter. These are all practices of mindfulness. Tools never have a standard answer. Only tools that can help you live well in the present are useful.