Thank you for this discussion, since I recently chatted with some people about meditation, and it was relevant to this. They practice “mindfulness”, which they consider to be “vipassana“.
Their practice was to be “fully present”, to be aware of what is going on in the moment: that one is breathing, that one is seeing something, hearing something, thinking something, etc.
This kind of practice, when cultivated well, probably brings a sense of deep calm (samatha) and is mistaken to be Buddhist meditation. Yet it is still mundane (anariya) meditation since it delves into the world of the senses.
It is good reminder for us from the “Sandha Sutta (AN 11.9)” as Lal pointed out above:
“…They don’t meditate (with the mind focused on) what is seen, heard, thought, known, attained, sought, or explored by the mind.”
Sadhu!
Lang