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contribute to the con-
    versation and perhaps amplify some of these issues as explicitly addressed in
    this volume. In part, it states:
    .... Many contemporary Buddhist teachers use the term mindfulness in a more
    comprehensive way than simply “remembering” or lacking confusion. Accord-
    ing to John Dunne, Buddhist scholar at Emory University, the components of
    mindfulness as it is more broadly construed might include not only sati , but
    also sampajanna (meaning clear comprehension) and appamada , (meaning
    heedfulness). Clear comprehension includes both the ability to perceive phe-
    nomena unclouded by distorting mental states (such as moods and emotions)
    and the meta-cognitive capacity to monitor the quality of attention. Heedful-
    ness in this context can be understood as bringing to bear during meditation
    what has been learned in the past about which thoughts, choices and actions
    lead to happiness and which lead to suffering.
    Though the contexts and interpretations of these terms may vary, scholars
    and meditation teachers would probably agree on the factors of sati , sampa-
    janna and appamada as foundational to the development of mind. Moreover,
    as both Buddhist and secular mindfulness programs proliferate in the west, this
    broader use of mindfulness has become a culturally meaningful and accessible
    “umbrella” term for the vast majority of practitioners unversed in the intrica-
    cies of translating Sanskrit or P ali.[9]
    As interest in mindfulness proliferates in both clinical and research envi-
    ronments, it is critical to keep in mind and communicate to others that mind-
    fulness; however, it is construed cognitively and conceptually, is a practice ,
    not merely a good idea. To my mind, one of the greatest risks we face in
    this growing field is that mindfulness will be grasped and understood in a
    limited way, simply as a concept. Unless we stress the element of embodied
    practice and the vibrant paradox of a non-striving orientation, unless we live
    it in our own lives as best we can, and allow it to inform both our research
    designs and our clinical work, it may be that many people yet to come into
    the field might imagine that they already understand what mindfulness is,
    and insist, naively but sincerely, perhaps, that they already live in the present
    moment and know how to be non-judgmental – and wonder what all the
    fuss is about. What is the big deal? Without grounding our concepts, intu-
    itions, and assumptions, however deep or superficial they may be, in actual
    practice, the true depths of the meditation practice cannot be experienced
    directly. Mindfulness as a living practice, as a way of being, makes available
    to us to the full extent of our first-person experience, itself a huge mystery
    worthy of scientific and philosophical inquiry and investigation [10] This has important implications for how mindfulness-based interventions are taught,
    and for basic teacher-readiness and competency standards (see point # 8
    below) [11].
    To mistake the concept of mindfulness for the actuality would be a betrayal
    of what the lawfulness of dharma is offering us at this moment of confluence
    between contemplative and scientific/medical disciplines. It would poten-
    tially collapse the hidden dimensions that lie at the heart of authentic medi-
    tative experience and eudaemonia [ 12,13] and thus deny both medicine and
    psychology the possibility of investigating on a much deeper level our under-
    Foreword
    xxxi
    standing of human nature, the nature of the mind itself, and of the mind/body
    connection, with its potential practical implications for health and disease
    across the lifespan. All this and more could be lost in a denaturing of the
    essence of mindfulness if divorced from a non-dual perspective, wisdom,
    and practice. This cautionary note must be kept in mind or our inveterate
    habits of unawareness may ironically obviate this most precious and most
    rare of opportunities for true