Mindfulness vs Vipassana: Difference and Comparison

Mindfulness and Vipassana may look similar, but both of them are different. There is confusion about these terms as they aim to do a similar thing.

Mindfulness points out to remembering but not past events. Vipassana points to the connection between the vents in the murder and our bodies. Mindfulness makes the person grateful for everything in their surrounding.

Key Takeaways

1. Mindfulness is the practice of being present at the moment, while Vipassana is a mindfulness meditation that focuses on self-observation and introspection.
2. Mindfulness can be practiced in any activity, while Vipassana is done in a retreat setting.
3. Mindfulness aims to bring attention to the present moment without judgment, while Vipassana is focused on observing the nature of reality.

Mindfulness vs Vipassana

The difference between Mindfulness and Vipassana is Mindfulness is the training of the mind, and Vipassana is a meditation of the mind by sitting in a quiet environment. Mindfulness was there for a very long time, but it did not come into existence before professor Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn introduced the mental training of the mind, which is Mindfulness.

Mindfulness is a combination of mental training and meditation. A professor Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts.

It highlights that this training makes a person’s thoughts slow down, and there should be no negativity in the mind and body. This is training done by deep breathing.

Vipassana is insight meditation. This is the oldest practice of Buddhist meditation. This meditation aims to let the person see the truth of the unsatisfactory, impermanence, and selflessness of phenomena.

This practice is the journey of self-exploration. This is a gentle technique of meditation. It is an interconnection between the mind and body.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Mindfulness	Vipassana
Kind	Mental Training	Meditation
Introduced in	Recent years	Buddhists time
Developed by	Dr. Jon Kabat Zinn	Buddhist Monk
Focus	Remove negative thoughts	Focus inside yourself
How	Deep Breathing	Closed eyes and crossed legs in a quiet environment
Aim	Focus on the present	Truth of impermanence

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the presence of the mind of any human being. The person should know his or her present. They should know what they are and where they are at the moment.

They should not overreact to anything in their surrounding. They should be grateful for everything in their surrounding.

The practice needs mental training where the person has to focus by keeping their eyes closed. This is a training where the person shares everything with emotions and sends signals to the brain.

This is direct contact of the person’s thoughts towards their brain and senses.

Mindfulness is not only meditation with closed eyes, but it is rather the practice where the person does not get too active to do work.

The person can calmly do their routine work rather than shouting in a phone call which Can be answered politely. These practices make Mindfulness.

Mindfulness is paying attention to work by not judging any action or anyone else’s action. It is rather the focus you pay to everything in the environment.

This training is all about self-understanding. It also needs wisdom in the person’s actions. The person should calm his or her brain and give some time to themselves.

What is Vipassana?

Vipassana comes from a Sanskrit word that means special. Buddhists consider Vipassana as insight. There are two qualities in Vipassana which are training of the mind and calming the mind.

This is the advantage of Vipassana. This is a form of meditation that makes you look inside yourself.

This makes you notice your true nature. These meditation practices stopped in the tenth century, and later the practice was again brought up by Konbaung and Toungoo back in the eighteenth century.

This relaxes your mind. It brings a feeling of inner peace to mind. The mind gets calm. Vipassana is a set of exercises.

This is a practice done to observe yourself through constant focus. This meditation aims to make your mind calm, focus on reality and accept reality without any judgments.

There should not be any worry in mind. The mind should focus, and it should calm down.

This practice is still done as it has great benefits on mental health, and it is a great stress reliever. There was a meditation course conducted, which showed the stress levels decreased in the participants.

They had self-kindness and took the importance of their well-being than the participants who did not take it.

Main Differences Between Mindfulness and Vipassana

1. Mindfulness is mental training, whereas Vipassana is meditation.
2. Mindfulness was introduced by a professor at the University of Massachusetts, and Buddhists developed Vipassana.
3. Mindfulness was developed by Dr.Jon Kabat-Zinn, and Vipassana was developed by a Buddhist monk.
4. Mindfulness pressures to remove negative thoughts from the mind and Vipassana is a set of exercises.
5. Mindfulness involves deep breathing, but Vipassana should be done in a quiet place with a straight back and legs crossed.
6. Mindfulness focuses on the present, but Vipassana is the truth of impermanence.

References

1. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1080/j.1440-1614.2006.01794.x
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167876013001888