Dear Friends,
I like to start off the month talking about intention. For me, this has a different flavor than a resolution.
In a recent post, Jack Kornfield wrote,
We all know about New Year’s resolutions and how short-lived they can be. Consider setting a long-term intention. …
Setting a long-term intention is like setting the compass of our heart. No matter how rough the storms, how difficult the terrain, even if we have to backtrack around obstacles, our direction is clear.
Kornfield, Jack. “Inspired New Year’s Intentions.” Jack Kornfield, 27 Dec. 2021
https://jackkornfield.com/dedication-and-long-term-intention/
Gregory Kramer describes intention in terms of three time scales: momentary, episodic, and overarching. (See e.g. A Whole-Life Path: A Lay Buddhist’s Guide to Crafting a Dhamma-Infused Life. Insight Dialogue Community, 2020, pp. 73–78.)
Our momentary intentions are continually changing as different experiences arise and pass in our awareness. We can set an intention for a period of time to pay attention to as many of these “about-to” moments as we can. How does that affect your choices?
Episodic intentions apply for a set amount of time while doing a specific task or encounter (a meeting, writing an email, doing the dishes, meditating).
Overarching intentions represent our deepest values – the compass of our heart, as Jack described above. It’s our commitment to our overarching intentions that provide the motivation to keep coming back again and again.
Of course, these intentions overlap and interact with each other. My overarching intention to be of service to reduce suffering in the world informs my episodic intention trying to compose this email with some care, which informs the momentary intention of leaning over to pick up Gregory’s book again.
So today might be a good day to review your overarching intentions to ensure they align with your deepest values. Then bring intention into parts of your day – a meditation or other activity – or this next moment.
What’s your heart’s compass aligned toward?
Here’s a brief talk on intention, followed by a meditation, by bruni dávila:
https://www.dharmaseed.org/talks/65658/
With gratitude for your intention to read this message!
Andrea
Thank you Andrea … What a beautiful way to begin 2022!
Hi Sarah – I’m grateful that you are joining me this month!
Jeanne’s teaching on the Way of the Goose comes to mind. The geese in their flight are often just off course in their journey north or south. But they re-calibrate. Their adjustment in the flight path can be just one degrees – micro change, but that one degrees over hundreds of miles allows the long term change that allows them to arrive at their destination safely. That teaching hit home with me. I always think I want my totem animal to be a wolf, or a bear or at least an eagle – the dramatic, fiery members of my animal brethren. I am a “goose” adherent now. Small changes in intention can lead to transformative change in the end.
ps. Andrea, thanks for doing this for us. The spark of illumination in this dark month is what I need. R
Hi Robbie – I love Jeanne’s goose teaching as well! I’m glad that we’re flocking together this month!