In his quest for awakening, according to the traditional account the Buddha tried and discarded various ancient Indian practices as being not in themselves conducive to awakening. Nevertheless, closer inspection shows that key elements of these practices became part of the Buddhist path, a transformation that involves mindfulness in one way or another. In this way, fasting transforms into mindful eating, breath control into mindfulness of breathing, and a reformulation of an aspiration for annihilation of the self, apparently held by ancient Indian cultivators of the meditative sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, comes to be conjoined to the cultivation of mindfulness of the body. These transformations shed light on the importance and adaptability of mindfulness in early Buddhist soteriology.

在追求觉醒的过程中，根据传统记载，佛陀尝试并摒弃了各种古印度的做法，因为它们本身就无助于觉醒。然而，仔细观察后发现，这些修行的关键要素成为了佛教道路的一部分，这种转变以某种方式涉及正念。就这样，禁食转化为正念饮食，呼吸控制转化为呼吸正念，以及对自我毁灭的渴望的重新表述，显然是古印度非想非非想像领域的修行者所持有的，与身体正念的培养相结合。这些转变揭示了正念在早期佛教救世论中的重要性和适应性。