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Intent. It changes everything.
But what is it? It’s not a thing, not something added on at the beginning or end. It’s an underpinning, a condition of the act being at all. Intent, or lack thereof, is constitutive.
The only time I hear much hay made of intention is in an Ethics seminar, debriefing disciplinary action… or at the beginning of yoga class. Right now I’m listenting to an audio seminar on Intention called Living With Intention written and researched by Lynne McTaggert. She’s a reporter and has compiled a really impressive compendium of studies, facts and theories about intention. At the beginning, she asks “What is Intention?” But I’ve never been satisfied with the definition, or lack thereof. Now, I’m still listening, I haven’t yet heard everything, so if I hear something better, I’ll get back to you.
What’s clear is that Intention and Attention are related, but not identical. Now, if you’ve followed my writing at Gather & other places on A New Earth, we’ve covered a lot of ground about what attention is. Attention is the conscious presence that maintains the space for things & relationships to reveal themselves. In my view, this makes it sacred: it is an ontological, or constitutive, condition for other things, relations and conditions.
Intention is specific attention. Focused Attention. But there are so many questions to remain. Any focus? Yes. And that’s how we create meaning and the lack thereof. There are many different levels on which to focus your attention, and it is characteristically Western to focus it on a thing or an event: a goal. This explains why intent matters in moral and ethical matters. Intent creates the ground of meaning. How other things, conditions, matters, consciousnesses interact to complete the meaning, which is never complete.
When we create intention at the beginning of yoga class, we are invoking sankalpa. The usual translation is merely intention, but we are really invoking a second order of intent: conscious intention, or intention about intention. What kind of meanings do we want to want, want to create?
Often, I think, we think “goal” when a teacher asks us to “set an intention”. Open hamstrings, clear heart chakra, world peace, love in my life.
I suggest we think of intention as a clear, quiet, neutral place to stand. Imagine a platform in the deep, deep forest. Like that from which a hunter - or maybe a biologist - might watch. But we are scientists of ourselves. We need a clear, quiet place from which to watch the thoughts, like forest animals. frollick. This is what we set with sankalpa. Like Hercules, we can lash ourselves to our post and have assurance the Sirens won’t lure us from our post.
But how to find our Sankalpa? How to set an appropriate intention? Well, think of what you’d like to have. Yes, that’s right, good, old fashioned goals and egocentric desire. Be really honest. Good. Now, what conditions have to be present for this gift to manifest? And what quality would you ascribe to these conditions? It’ll take a few moments to let the mist settle and see what emerges like an island from the surf. But that quality, the quality of the conditions which enable the manifestation of your deepest desire, that’s a good candidate for your Sankalpa.
Now that’s an intention worth your attention.
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Posted by jezzi on 2008-07-12 00:31:02 | Rating: | Views: 29
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Jezzi,
I really appreciate what you say about intention. You've chosen words that are clear and insightful. I consider I've been on a wonderful journey exploring intention.
Enjoy the Exploration.
Jeanie Marshall
http://www.empowering-personal-development.com/the- power-of-intention.html
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Posted by personaldevelopment
on 2008-07-13 12:51:36
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