Mindfulness = Sati

Meditation = Samādhi

1. Meaning and Basic Characteristics

Samādhi refers to calmness, stability, and collectedness of the mind.

Sati, or awareness, refers to knowing or being aware of what is happening in the present moment. The practice emphasizes cultivating awareness through bodily movement, rūpa, in order to recognize and keep pace with thoughts and mental activity, nāma. Sati functions like the owner of a house or a gatekeeper who remains watchful and sees the thief, which represents thought, as soon as it appears.

2. Methods of Practice

Samādhi practice often emphasizes sitting with the eyes closed and using a repeated meditation word or phrase, such as Buddho, or mentally noting rising and falling, in order to calm and steady the mind.

Sati practice emphasizes cultivating direct awareness through movements of the hands, walking meditation, and maintaining awareness throughout ordinary daily life. It does not necessarily require the repetition of a meditation word. The purpose is for awareness to reach the mind directly and keep clear comprehension, sati-sampajañña, awake and active continuously.

3. Different Results and Different Kinds of Calmness

Samādhi without sati, or moha-samādhi, can occur when one merely sits still with the eyes closed and enters a state of calmness that remains under the influence of delusion, moha. A practitioner may become attached to pleasant feelings, visions, lights, colors, or states in which the mind sinks deeply and becomes difficult to withdraw from. Although the mind may feel peaceful during meditation, that peace may not necessarily enable the practitioner to overcome anger or suffering once the meditation ends.

Sati as a direct path works differently. Practicing awareness through movement helps the practitioner clearly observe the processes of rūpa and nāma, body and mind. When sati sees a thought, just as the owner of a house sees the thief, that thought can no longer operate unnoticed and eventually dissolves by itself. In this way, suffering or anger can be transformed into non-suffering without having to suppress or forcibly control the mind.

4. Application in Daily Life

Still or seated samādhi is often associated with formal meditation, such as sitting practice in a meditation room, shrine room, or another quiet place.

Sati, or awareness, can be practiced in every posture and activity of daily life. Whether sweeping the floor, doing laundry, washing dishes, walking, or driving, if awareness is continuously present, the activity itself becomes a natural form of meditation integrated into everyday life.

In summary, sati is the knowing quality that keeps us awake to the present moment and enables us to see reality as it is. Samādhi is stability and collectedness of mind. When samādhi arises on the foundation of sati, the mind becomes balanced and secure, creating the conditions for genuine wisdom to arise.