MINDFULNESS Breath as a Refuge ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu

MINDFULNESS
Breath as a Refuge
~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu

QUESTION: My concept of Mindfulness it would also encompass the concept of mindfulness. I found difficult to understand this definition of Mindfulness in isolation without considering at the same time the full attention.

Could you explain this definition better?

AJAHN THANISSARO:
When the Buddha defines mindfulness, he defines it as a faculty of memory, and the term by itself, is simply the ability to keep something in mind. Now, when we are developing the Right Mindfulness, we bring surveillance and ardor and we apply all three qualities together in the present moment.

The Buddha never spoke about mindfulness in the sense of full attention, because the idea of ​​mindfulness emphasizes the
passive of receiving things through the senses, while that in the practice of the path, we are focusing more on the side
active mind and how it shapes your experience. Nor even vigilance is the same as mindfulness.

It focuses on a specific part of the present moment: specifically, what are you doing now and results of your actions. 

Now, all mindfulness can be useful when you realize that your mind is getting too narrow or limited. In addition, there are some forms of greed, aversion and delusion that will simply go away if you are aware of them. 

But there are other cases in which you have to actively manufacture - in terms of your breathing and other fabrications - so that you overcome these corruptions. 

That’s why we’ve used the word mindfulness and sati throughout the retreat for highlight the fact that we are working on this
aspect of practice, the active aspect: remembering which
lessons you've learned in the past, so that you can apply them skillfully in the present moment, while you becomes more and more aware of how you is shaping your experience here and now.”

Source: Breath as a Refuge

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/portugues/Respira%C3%A7%C3%A3oRetiro170220.pdf