The Origin of Mindfulness Meditation (+ Modern Manifestations)

What’s mindfulness meditation rooted in? How did it come to the West and become so popular?

The origin of mindfulness meditation is primarily in Theravada Buddhism, the oldest of the three major Buddhist schools. It evolved from traditional practices and was simplified for wider accessibility. Western travelers, including authors Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson, brought these techniques from India in the 1970s.

Read on to discover the fascinating journey of mindfulness from ancient spiritual traditions to modern-day applications.

The Origin of Mindfulness Meditation

The authors of the book Altered Traits explain that their interest in meditation began when they traveled to India to explore the spiritual traditions of the far-flung subcontinent. Distilling their experiences, they lay out the origin of mindfulness meditation, the most prevalent form of meditation in the modern West. Mindfulness is a practice that centers on developing a calm, nonjudgmental awareness, and it comes in large part from Theravada, the oldest of the three major Buddhist schools.

Theravadan teaching draws largely on the Visuddhimagga, a fifth-century Pali text that describes the Theravadan understanding of the Buddha’s teachings. According to the authors, when Buddhist organizations revitalized and popularized the Theravadan tradition in Burma during the 20th century, they stripped down its elaborate theory and practice to present a simplified version of meditation to the public. 

That meditation method, the authors say, became what we know today as mindfulness. When they and a number of other Westerners went to India in the 1970s, they were taught according to the Burmese Theravadan tradition. They brought that method back with them.

(Shortform note: While Theravada-based mindfulness practice may have become the most prevalent form of meditation in the modern West, other Buddhist traditions like Zen and Tibetan Dzogchen have also had some influence. For instance, Zen Buddhism, which emerged as a distinct school in China and later took root in Japan, reached the United States as early as the 19th century. It boomed in popularity during the 1950s-60s. Zen is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism, another of the major three schools. Zen teaches zazen, a form of meditation that centers on intensive practice and rigorous focus on the breath.)

Traditional Paths to Enlightenment

Modern mindfulness reached the West through the Burmese Theravadan tradition that the authors studied in India. But, what is it in practice, and how does it fit into the tapestry of traditional Buddhist practices? Historically, modern mindfulness draws on insight meditation, which the Buddha innovated to improve an earlier focus-based meditation method. Let’s explore that focus meditation first.

Focus Meditation

According to the authors, early Indian meditation practice centered on jhana, a state of intense bliss that arises from focusing on a single object like a candle or your breath. By repeatedly drawing your attention back to that focal point, you develop a quiet, absorbed state of concentration that, over time, becomes undisturbed by ordinary mental chatter. 

The Visudhimmagga describes eight stages of jhana, beginning with absorption in one-pointed focus. Ultimately, the practice of jhana culminates in a final state of complete absorption in focus and accompanying sensations of blissful tranquility. 

Insight Meditation

The Buddha is said to have practiced focus meditation. However, he also realized that one-pointed focus needs the complement of insight. 

With a strong basis in focus meditation, which trains you to access deep concentration at will, you can also remain mindful—or open, nonreactive, and nonjudgmental—to whatever arises in your mind. In other words, you first focus, and then you learn to relax into a state of calm, open awareness by quietly observing the cacophony of transient thoughts, feelings, and sensations that you experience. 

This way of being aware is called sati, which we translate as mindfulness. In the modern West, practitioners often apply sati through vipassana, the simplified mindfulness meditation method devised by Burmese Theravadans and taught to the authors (and other Westerners) in the 1970s. Most often, you start a vipassana practice by developing mindful awareness of your breath. In time, you gradually expand that basic awareness to observe and become mindful of the rest of your subjective experience.

According to the authors, when the Buddha combined focus with insight, he innovated a new path to nirvana, or enlightenment: a state of complete spiritual liberation characterized by tranquility, clarity of mind, bliss, and unshakably mindful awareness. For the authors, the question remained: Is enlightenment real? Do lifelong meditators and yogis really experience these states of profound concentration, bliss, clarity, and liberation?

Mindfulness in the Modern West

In its transition to the modern age and the Western world, mindfulness meditation has been reinterpreted and reformulated for many fields and uses. The authors explain that, today, Westerners approach meditation either through more traditional means or more secular means:

• Via traditional means, you practice meditation as a way of life. You follow a time-honored path toward enlightenment, learning from a lineage of established teachers. Monks who take Buddhist vows and live in monasteries exemplify this path.
• Via secular means, you take meditation more as a tool for worldly self-improvement outcomes, such as better mental and emotional health. For instance, an entrepreneur might practice mindfulness to focus and to regulate his stress.

According to the authors, practicing meditation through traditional means, with a deep level of commitment, gives the most profound results. In the authors’ view, these more authentic ways to meditate provide the most compelling benefits, such as lasting changes to your brain that increase your capacity for compassion, selflessness, and tranquility.

In contrast, secular means offer accessible benefits to more people. After all, not everyone is able to commit to a monastic lifestyle in a traditional Buddhist setting. However, secular tools often overpromise their benefits. For example, an app won’t solve all your mental health challenges (as some marketing might imply)—but it might, as the authors say, provide some shallower positive gains.

Meditation Is a Field of Practice

The authors make one key clarification: Meditation isn’t a single thing, but rather a field of practice. That is, “meditation” is similar to “athletics,” in that it refers to a wide variety of techniques and approaches. Different forms of athletics train your body in different ways, just as different forms of meditation train your mind in distinct ways.

As the authors explain, this means that the specific kind of meditation you choose corresponds to the results you get. So, if you want to research or practice meditation, you need to get precise about what kind you’re interested in. Pick a specific kind with means and ends that appeal to you. That way, it’ll be much easier to stick with your research or practice because you’ll enjoy the effort and the payoffs. 

For instance, you wouldn’t practice barre to get a bodybuilder’s physique. In the same way, you wouldn’t prioritize loving-kindness meditation (which centers on cultivating compassion) if you want to train your ability to concentrate at will.