Mindfulness, Heedfulness, and Ethics
Handbook of Ethical Foundations of Mindfulness January 1, 2018 Christian U. Krägeloh
Buddhist mindfulness integrates ethical guidelines, whereas Western psychology typically presents mindfulness as nonjudgmental awareness without a moral code. This paper argues that nonjudgmental characteristics are not necessarily misaligned with Buddhist practice. Theoretical confusion arises because ideas from diverse Buddhist traditions have been borrowed and integrated outside their original context, and modern psychology uses a single term for nuanced concepts that Buddhism distinguishes with rich jargon. The paper proposes adopting the term "heedfulness" from Buddhism to refer to self-regulatory aspects like monitoring behavior incongruent with a person's goals, values, or moral principles. Using heedfulness alongside mindfulness would refine psychological jargon and clarify future research on ethical dimensions of mindfulness.