Mindfulness translates sati — literally “memory” or “remembering” — the capacity to remember to be where one is. It is the first factor of awakening in the Pali sources and the foundation of Buddhist Vipassana practice.
Extracted from its soteriological frame by jon-kabat-zinn and others in the late 20th century, secular mindfulness has become a mainstream intervention for stress, pain, and emotional regulation. What it loses in metaphysical depth it sometimes gains in reach.
The traditions from which it comes insist that mindfulness is only one factor, not the whole path — and that it is only as good as what it is paired with.