What is the difference between mindfulness and meditation?

Generally speaking, meditation is a general term that includes dozens of active mind-aligning trainings. Mindfulness is one of the most popular branches of meditation at the moment. However, many traditional practitioners believe that mindfulness is an awareness method that is independent of meditation and can be used throughout daily life. In fact, there is no absolutely unified standard answer to the boundary between the two.

I have been practicing mindfulness for almost four years, and I used the two terms interchangeably at first. After leading dozens of novice training camps, I slowly figured out the differences between the two in actual use. For example, if you set aside 20 minutes on weekends, sit in a quiet corner, follow the guidance and focus on your breathing, and gently pull it back when your mind wanders, without judging yourself for being distracted again, what you are doing at this time is both a mindfulness practice and a type of meditation. But if you are squeezing the subway during the morning rush hour and are stepped on by someone, you are about to get angry, but suddenly you stop and notice the feeling of tightness in your chest and do not follow the anger. At this time, you are practicing mindfulness, but few people would call this momentary awareness meditation.

There are actually many types of meditation available on the market today, such as visualization meditation, mantra meditation, and transcendental meditation that many people practice. The core is to focus on specific images, mantras, or inner feelings through guidance. Some also pursue specific experiences of calmness or even trance. These all belong to the category of meditation, but they are completely different from the core requirements of mindfulness of "non-judgment, anchoring in the present," and naturally cannot be considered mindfulness practices.

Of course, there are different voices. I talked with a friend who practices Southern Buddhism before, and he did not agree with the statement that "mindfulness is a branch of meditation." In his understanding, mindfulness is the core practice method of the Eightfold Path. It should be used throughout daily life, such as eating, walking, and working. Sitting down specifically to meditate is just an introductory training method for mindfulness. Putting mindfulness under meditation limits its scope of application.

In fact, this is a bit like the debate about whether walking counts as fitness. If you define fitness as systematic training that goes to the gym, then walking does not count.； If you count all activities that actively improve physical fitness as fitness, then walking certainly counts. The same goes for the relationship between mindfulness and meditation. There is actually no need to struggle with definitions. For ordinary practitioners who want to improve anxiety and reduce internal friction, whether it is to sit down and practice meditation for 20 minutes, or pay more attention to the aroma of two mouthfuls of food when eating, as long as it can make you less distracted by past regrets or future anxieties, it is a useful method.