In a graduate course in Buddhist studies (about 1993) I started to write a paper on the topic of mindfulness, thinking it would be basic to further study and easy to grasp; simple and a good starting point. However, in preliminary research, I found the topic of mindfulness everywhere in the Buddhist texts.
Mindfulness may be a good starting point. It is basic, but thinking the fullness of mindfulness is simple or easy to embody is a mistake. Broadly speaking: Mindfulness is a mind of wholesome qualities and every wholesome quality includes mindfulness.
Sometimes, in popular use, there is a tendency to limit mindfulness to meaning attention, perhaps also with some neutral qualities like being non-judgmental (which sometimes gets confused with necessary and wise discernment). However attention, may not necessarily be wholesome. A common example is that of a mercenary, killing with skill, balanced attention and without ‘judgement’ (without discernment).
Thomas Merton wrote a great essay on Adolf Eichmann and issues around sanity and crime. Eichmann was found guilty of crimes against humanity. The guilty verdict was in part based on the fact that he was also found to be sane. Such a mind, which sanely, intentionally causes harm is definitely not Mindful.
Awareness of thinking or acting unskillfully is a definition of unwholesome and in buddhist philosophy, of karma producing activity; that is to say an experience that naturally builds or fosters further unwholesome qualities. Without conscious awareness, an unskillful act is born of ignorance, not knowing, bumbling into error. Similarly In Catholic Christian catechism the intention and knowingness in misdeeds raises the level of their gravity.
As the term mindfulness grows into continued popular use, lets not reduce it to attention, or confuse non-judgmental awareness with lack of discernment. Development of mind requires a much broader and deeper skill set, a skill set that includes the whole mind, all-inclusive qualities of mind, and mind, not just as thought, but as deep knowing of mind, heart, and body through other ways of knowing, perhaps parts of the mind and older ways of knowing that the thinking mind has lost touch with.
We can choose to be careful about this, not diluting mindfulness, but maintaining a broader, richer understanding. Thinking of mindfulness as attention may be like continually checking the air in your tires, when what you should be paying attention to also includes the tread and overall quality of the tire.
What do you “think”? Or how do you think? Consider playing with the tire analogy awhile. What do you notice about the terrain of your own mind? Are you aware of the overall quality of mind as well as the kind of attention that is present? Be be careful not to identify with the mind. Whatever you find, there is constant flux; yet discernible patterns may emerge. And remember also that any moment of clear seeing is a turning point, a wholesome moment in itself, and an opportunity for different following moments.