Mindfulness: Bhagavad Gita

(written on February 1, 2020)

(references: BG 17.16)

According to Buddhism, mindfulness means acute awareness of all movements, thoughts, and objects that are surrounding you in the present moment. Even though this is a correct definition, it is still vague. A more accurate description of right mindfulness is given in BG 17.16, “To make the mind austere is to detach it from sense gratification. It should be so trained that it can be always thinking of doing good for others. The best training for the mind is gravity in thought. One should not deviate from Kṛṣṇa consciousness and must always avoid sense gratification. To purify one’s nature is to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Satisfaction of the mind can be obtained only by taking the mind away from thoughts of sense enjoyment.” Srila Prabhupada says that mindfulness is basically equivalent to detaching the mind from sense gratification. So, although the Buddhist statement about mindfulness is correct, it is not complete. A more complete way to explain would be: mindfulness is a state of mind in which one is consciously aware of their surroundings and thoughts in order to detach from sense gratification. When one is mindful, then they have satisfaction in the mind. This means that the mind is satisfied and doesn’t have any materially motivated desires.