The origins of mindfulness

The origins of Mindfulness: The essential elements of mindfulness such as being present, connected to the senses, accepting, compassionate, non-attached and not living in a mental dreamworld are to be found in all of the world’s great wisdom traditions.

In fact, any time you have a moment of being truly aware and present you are discovering the origins of mindfulness for yourself. In the modern day many of the world’s leading practitioners and researchers of mindfulness have been inspired by the Buddhist tradition but you don’t need to be Buddhist to apply mindfulness in your own life. It can be applied in an entirely secular and practical way although the insights provided by wisdom traditions give a far greater depth to what it means to be truly mindful.

Wisdom traditions generally refers to the philosophical stream within religions such as Gnosticism within Christianity, Buddhism, Vedanta, Daoism, and Sufism within Islam as well as non-religious philosophical traditions such as Platonism. It could also include wisdom derived from these traditions and expressed in the world’s great literary works.