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)：为了行文的顺畅，本书中多译作“念住”。 意思是注意；是指把注意力专注于所选择对象上的能力。在一切形式的禅修中，这意味着一段时间把注意力集中在所选择的禅修对象，或者是集中于正在发生的观察对象上。无论什么禅修法门，念都是修行时所需要用到一个重要的能力。没有念，心必然不能稳定下来，致使修行无法达到目标。