It's a buzzword, it gets thrown around a lot in spiritual circles. It's also an important part of Buddhism that sometimes gets confused as the only part. The

It's a buzzword, it gets thrown around a lot in spiritual circles. It's also an important part of Buddhism that sometimes gets confused as the only part. The Theravadan tradition of Vipassana is sometimes called "mindfulness meditation" (it's also called "insight meditation") so there's a good chance when you hear the word it traces back to them. If somebody's giving a teaching it has a fairly specific meaning but when people just toss it around they're essentially saying they're making an effort to pay attention to whatever's in front of them, or whatever their mind is doing, or just whatever's happening at that moment. You kind of have to pick up from context exactly what it means to the person using it.