mindfulness (sati): Attentiveness; the ability to keep one”s attention delib­erately fixed on whatever one chooses to observe. In all forms of medita­tion, this means an uninterrupted span of attention focused directly on the chosen object of meditation or on the unfolding process of occurring phenomena that is the subject of investigation. Mindfulness is the one faculty that”s essential to every type of meditation. Without it the mind will invariably falter and fail to achieve its objectives.

　　念(sati)：爲了行文的順暢，本書中多譯作“念住”。 意思是注意；是指把注意力專注于所選擇對象上的能力。在一切形式的禅修中，這意味著一段時間把注意力集中在所選擇的禅修對象，或者是集中于正在發生的觀察對象上。無論什麼禅修法門，念都是修行時所需要用到一個重要的能力。沒有念，心必然不能穩定下來，致使修行無法達到目標。