Mindfulness

Mindfulness (Pali sati; Skt. smriti; Tib. drenpa; Wyl. dran pa)

• In terms of shamatha meditation, you could say that mindfulness protects and maintains the 'remaining' or stillness (Tib. népa) of mind, so you do not become distracted from it.
• Mindfulness is the fifth antidote of the eight antidotes to the five faults in meditation practice. It’s the antidote to the second fault, forgetting the instructions or the object of focus.
• In the practice of maintaining discipline, mindfulness is defined as "not forgetting what should be adopted and abandoned."

Subdivisions

In the Mahamudra teachings, there are said to be four kinds of mindfulness:

• deliberate mindfulness (Tib. tsol ché kyi drenpa)
• effortless mindfulness (Tib. tsol mé kyi drenpa)
• genuine mindfulness (Tib. yangdakpé drenpa)
• supreme king-like mindfulness (Tib. dren chok gyalpo)

See also four applications of mindfulness.