What is the Value of Mindfulness Meditation in Buddhist Psychotherapy

Abstract

It seems necessary before to go further to understand what is really mindfulness and its origins. Nowadays, mindfulness is really fashion everywhere through the world; we can see a lot of newspapers, magazine dedicated to mindfulness and numerous centers where it is possible to practice mindfulness. However, it’s seems always hard when we read these newspapers or magazine to get a right view of what is mindfulness and sometimes it could be really misleading. So what is mindfulness and which impact mindfulness has with the buddhist psychotherapy? What is to be mindful? Actually is to pay attention in a particular way. The key word here is the ‘way’ because some write from the standpoint of buddhism and other from the standpoint of psychology. However, there is common sense to say that there is an emphasis on awareness being alive to what is immediately presented to it. In some definition, mindful awareness is apparently directed and focused by deliberate effort and according this definition it should not have a particular object. In addition, we can notice that mindfulness has a particular qualities which are acceptance and non-judgment. In a way, being mindful is to be alert to what is happening now to the exclusion of the past or the future. This kind of definition are used by some authors like John Kabat-Zinn who note that: “mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way on purpose in the present moment and nonjudgmentally” or Gunaratana said that: “mindfulness reminds us of what are supposed to be doing, it see things as they really are and it sees the true nature of all phenomena”