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Does your practice involve watching Intention?
Will_Baker
Vermont Veteran
Mine does, and I'm curious as to the experience of others in this regard...
3
Comments
Absolutely. In myself and others. Intention/attitude is not as advanced as non-action/wu-wei
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_wei
The Sage is occupied with the unspoken
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
"The Buddha explains right intention as threefold: the intention of renunciation, the intention of good will, and the intention of harmlessness.[14] The three are opposed to three parallel kinds of wrong intention: intention governed by desire, intention governed by ill will, and intention governed by harmfulness.[15] Each kind of right intention counters the corresponding kind of wrong intention. The intention of renunciation counters the intention of desire, the intention of good will counters the intention of ill will, and the intention of harmlessness counters the intention of harmfulness."
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/waytoend.html#ch6
I guess if one is diligently practising, (practice being 24/7/365 on and off the cushion) right intention is a given...and if being mindful, one will automatically question ones thoughts before they are acted upon...
I've made it a point to keep intention at the forefront during my day to day actions. It's hard and I find a lot of the time I may fall short, but when I do manage to keep to the practise, it's a small victory that I acknowledge then keep going.
_ /\ _
If I'm playing with my dog or cat, then I might say aloud... As I play with my dog may all dogs have fun, plenty to eat and drink, a safe place to sleep, and freedom from cruelty and violence.
Or... As I eat this yogurt may all beings have plenty of food and water. May also beings never hunger. May all beings become enlightened.
I'm not sure if that's what you mean by intention, but that's how I practice intention.
What does practicing intention look like in your practice, @Will_Baker ?
I have started to but the only thing I've really got out of it so far is to see how much I lie to myself about what my intention is!!
Many times, when the activities of the day steamroller us into running, rather than calm abiding, it's difficult to get a handle on each moment, and consider 'Intention'.
The adage "Well, she meant well" is a well-worn one, because actually, it is, when all is said and done, a presumption.
Meaning well is a two-edged blade: one cuts for someone else, the other cuts for us.
We have to ask ourselves is Right Intention for others' benefit - or ours, more?
The Bodhisattva ideal (which in Theravada is initially directed towards self actualisation) is right intention enabled. Can we live up to/from the ideal? Increasingly through practice.
@Will_Baker does not ask about the intention of being aware of our intent but that is part of it. By developing the integrity to recognise the limited and limitless heart of our being, we learn to focus on the greater and dissolve the lesser.
That is the intention.
-My practice involves trying to remember to watch Intention. I have found that when I am watching Intention I am more inclined towards Right Intention.
Thank you all, for the responses...
My practice does @Will_Baker . I think it's important to understand what one's intentions are, including our own. The Dharma teaches that if a precept is broken unintentionally then it is not considered wrong so practicing intention in Buddhism is very important and something I have been trying to do more often. IMO
My practice also includes watching television.....
I find it challenging but revealing, asking myself why I am doing this or that.
Seeing intention requires real mindfulness in the moment. When something backfires or I say or do something unskillful, I see how absence of mindfulness and being unware of my intentions led me there. Breath and body awareness help in creating space to notice intentions arising and forming.
-There it is...