The Power Of Intention And Mindfulness

In this dharma talk, we look at how remembering what our intention is can be a powerful aid to our mindfulness practice. In a way strengthens our mindfulness practice because we are remembering at the same time what it is that's so important to us so we can let go of what's distracting us from it.

Transcript

I do want to talk a little bit about the intention that we set in our meditation when we ask what it is that's most important to us and really talk about that in relationship to our mindfulness practice.

Because when I ask the question in the meditation and I'm asking you what it is that's most important,

What is it that you intrinsically want to feel,

To know?

And then I always give the instruction to make sure that it's not something that's dependent on external conditions,

That it's a feeling,

That it's something we want to know.

The most common answer,

And I'll use this as a pointer for the talk,

The most common answer is peace.

And whatever word you're coming up with is probably some type of variation of that word,

Of peace.

It's pointing to something that we want,

That we want to experience,

That we intrinsically want to know,

That all the things that we're reaching for in the external world are because we think it's going to give us this feeling.

That's why we spend so much time grasping in the external world,

Trying to get to some state of peace.

So in the meditation,

What we're doing is we are planting the seed of your deepest intention.

And we plant that seed a lot in our meditations here.

I ask this question a lot because,

I mean,

What else is more important than knowing what it is that we want to feel?

So we plant the seed in the meditation.

And of course,

We're nurturing the seed in the meditation as well.

But then outside of our meditation practice,

We want to make sure that we're also really nurturing and tending to our seeds,

To our little seedlings with our mindfulness practice.

So that when we become mindful,

That we're getting lost in our thoughts,

We're just having a fantasy about me in the future,

More spiritual,

Me in the future,

More peaceful,

Me in the future,

More mindful.

We've all had those fantasies.

We're just me in the future,

More successful,

More secure,

More loved,

More whole,

Or we're trying to fix something.

We've got a difficult person in our lives,

A challenge,

And we're trying to fix it.

I need to get this resolved.

When we remember our intention,

We can remember as we're being mindful,

Oh,

Is my peace dependent upon this?

What I'm thinking about?

What I'm thinking about where I need to get to in the future?

Am I making my deepest intention that is not dependent upon anything outside of me?

Am I setting up this arbitrary dependency on this,

Believing that I need this in order to be peaceful?

Because while we say it in the meditation,

That it's not dependent upon anything,

It is literally five seconds later,

We start making our peace dependent upon things again.

Because the energy of this habit of peace being dependent or happiness being dependent on something external is just incredibly strong.

We want to bring in the energy of mindfulness,

Of course,

But when we add in the energy of our intention as well,

It's like we're increasing the power on the flashlight that we're putting on our experience.

We bring in our mindfulness on one level,

Level one of light.

Then the moment that we remember our intention alongside our mindfulness,

It's like the light goes up to full strength.

We really see what's going on.

That,

Oh,

Here I am holding on to something over here.

While I'm holding on to this,

I can't feel the peace that I am seeking.

Yet I am so convinced that this is where my peace is.

This is why we don't let it go.

Because we are so convinced in that what we are thinking about is going to bring us to this state of peace,

Of feeling worthy,

Of feeling whole,

Of feeling complete.

Often in our mindfulness practice,

Just alone,

Just being aware of it isn't enough to help us let go.

We need the power of our intention to come in to remind us,

Ah,

If I let go of this,

Then I drop back into the peace that I am seeking because it is here.

So it really helps to kind of show us,

Like it opens up our awareness,

The picture of what's going on and saying,

You said you want peace independent of the external world because we know that our peace is independent of the external world.

The peace that we're seeking inside,

The non-grasping,

The non-craving,

The non-clinging,

The being present with what is,

Even if it's unpleasant,

Even if we were just criticized,

We're embarrassed,

We lost something,

Even in the unpleasant,

That when we recognize,

So first needing that mindfulness,

Recognizing what's going on,

And then remembering my intention is peace.

And then that almost giving us kind of that momentum,

That shift,

That push or the release to let go of what we're holding on,

Holding on to,

So that the peace that is always here can now be experienced.

It's another way of investigating,

Of really coming into our experience to become aware,

Am I making my peace dependent again?

Am I still lost in the illusion of just this one thing?

If I could just get this one thing,

Then I can follow everything,

You know,

What all the teachers are saying,

Right?

But just this one thing,

I just didn't like the way they said that to me.

If I could just figure out the right comeback,

Then I could come into the peace.

And so we need to bring more awareness that it's never in the external world,

It's always here and now.

And so bringing our attention to our intention,

Waking us up in that moment to really what it is that we are doing,

That we are so much of the time,

We are chasing peace outside of ourselves and just taking us further away from the peace that is here right now.

And the illusion is strong,

It is powerful.

The illusion of that you are separate and that you need something to be complete is incredibly strong.

The energy of that habit,

That thought habit is so powerful.

And so the energy of our mindfulness practice is incredibly powerful as well.

But you match that with your intention,

With really remembering your intention and saying,

This is where I need to remember my intention.

This is what really helps me to see what's going on so that I can let go of this habit.

Because each time you let go of this belief that your happiness is over there,

Your peace is over there,

Every time you let go of it and you drop into the present moment,

Right,

It's your attention going from the outwards back to here.

And then that expansion,

The expansiveness of the present moment,

Right,

We're not focused on this one little thing.

It's like,

Oh my God,

It was here.

Because each of us has to see this for ourselves.

This is the investigation part of our practice that each of us has to see for ourselves.

It is not enough to hear it.

And every time you pull yourself back,

Every time you do this,

You are starting to prove to yourself,

It is here.

The peace is here.

It doesn't mean that there's not something to be done,

Perhaps in the external world,

Right?

I mean,

Often there are things,

I mean,

There's things that need to be done.

I would say about 90% of what we're thinking about,

There's nothing to be done,

But simply to let it go,

Right?

And so if there's something that needs to be done,

Fine,

Do it.

Be peaceful,

Be mindful,

Be present.

Don't arbitrarily make your peace and happiness dependent upon it.

Don't tell yourself,

When I get over there,

When I get this done,

I'll be so happy.

Your words,

Your thoughts matter.

How you are framing this to yourself matters.

To keep remembering,

No,

It's here.

It's here.

Sure,

It'll feel nice when that's done,

But it also feels nice now.

It's okay now too.

I'm fine now,

Right?

To keep remembering that we're okay.

You know,

We're looking for this arbitrary point in the future where we think we're going to feel more okay,

Where we think we're going to feel more secure,

Where we think we're going to be able to be more whole and peaceful.

And all it does is keep us on this chasing cycle,

Taking us away from the peace and the joy and the ease and the expansiveness and the flow of our lives that is here right now.

So,

To remember to bring in your intention into your mindfulness practice that we're not just planting the seed in the meditation.

I mean,

We are,

And that's so important,

Right?

If we don't plant the seed,

Nothing's going to grow.

But if we plant the seed and we don't tend to that seed,

And if we don't water it,

And if we don't give it sunlight,

And then also give it the right amount of shade,

Give it the right amount of nutrients,

It's not going to turn out to be a very strong plant or tree.

So,

Mindfulness is where we can really nurture our little seedlings as they're coming up by just remembering.

What did I say?

I wanted peace.

Am I right now saying that my peace is dependent on that?

Am I saying,

Because think about how you are thinking in that moment.

There is this idea that there's something I need to get resolved here to feel peace.

And the more that you can bring awareness to that arbitrary way of setting up our peace,

And then also just seeing how it's not true,

Because it is right here.

It just,

It wakes us up in that moment,

Wakes us up.

It gives us the momentum to let go.

Go,

Oh yeah,

It's here.

It's here.

To trust this more,

To know that the peace that you are seeking is not outside of you.

It's not dependent upon anything.

It's just bringing our attention back.

It's bringing our attention back.

Our attention,

We get distracted.

That energy of that habit,

That thought habit and pattern,

Very strong.

So let's bring more than just the energy of our mindfulness practice.

Let's bring the energy of our intention.

I think our intentions,

When we have the right intention,

And we've talked about this before,

At least in my view,

When we have our intention as our internal goal,

All the secondary intentions,

What you want to do in the external world,

What kind of a job you want,

What kind of a partner you want,

Kind of a relationship,

Kind of a house,

Those in my mind are secondary,

Tertiary.

Those fall behind this,

Because when you focus on this as being the most important,

Then you will enjoy all of those other experiences.

Not because you think they're going to give you something,

Meaning everlasting peace.

They will give you an experience,

A fleeting and impermanent experience,

And have fun and enjoy all of those experiences.

But none of those things can complete you.

They will not give you the lasting peace that you are seeking.

The lasting peace that you are seeking is right here and now.

So holding our intentions very close to our hearts,

Very closely intertwined within our mindfulness practice,

Nurturing them to keep coming back and knowing the peace that is here.

It's not that you have to be on the spiritual path for 30 years,

40 years,

50 years to experience this.

It's just in any moment that you are willing to,

That you are able to give up the idea of a me happy over there,

Or me happy if I got this out of my way,

This unpleasant thing out of my way,

And to drop into what it is that's here right now.

Always,

And I say this a lot,

Coming into the body,

Breathing mindfully,

Grounding us back here with the body and the breath,

Using our hearing to hear the sounds,

Look around,

Feel,

Know where you are,

There's any smells,

Taste,

To experience.

This is the only way that we can really directly experience the world through our senses.

But we don't even really experience the world because we're just lost in the story,

Not even aware of how much it creates this contraction and tightening in our body,

Because we split ourselves into two every single time.

So we're not even aware.

I mean,

We're kind of aware,

We're reacting out of it,

Right?

But then coming back in and going,

Oh,

I'm breathing,

And if there's still some tension from what was going on,

Okay,

No problem.

If there's some hurt,

Like we talked about last week,

If someone is criticizing us,

Or someone doesn't like us,

Or we're feeling excluded in some way,

Don't pretend that doesn't matter.

Of course it matters.

Feel it,

Be with your hurt,

Give it your full attention in the present moment,

Not the stories of what this means,

Coming in and being with it,

Right?

Nurturing our hurt,

Healing our pain by feeling and being with what's here,

Because even in that,

There's still peace when we're not resisting our experience.

And there's wisdom,

Because we understand what is arising is changing.

I don't have to get too lost in this.

I don't have to make up some story about what this is going to mean for the future,

Because my God,

I've been so wrong my whole life.

We are terrible,

Terrible fortune tellers.

We would all lose our jobs if that's what we were.

And we give that all up,

Right?

We say,

No,

It's just,

It's here,

It's here.

You are better in the present moment.

You are more resilient in the present moment.

You are kinder.

You are more compassionate.

You are wiser in the present moment.

When thinking needs to take place,

Of course,

We still,

There's times to think,

Of course.

Again,

Still not getting too lost in the thoughts,

Though,

Knowing how easily we can get back into that old,

The thought habit energy of the separate self.

So,

Not saying that we're not ever thinking,

But thinking a lot less,

A lot less,

And so that the quality of our thoughts are much better,

And the quantity of our thoughts are much less,

And the quality of our experience is so much more enriched.

We're alive.

We're here.

We're experiencing the world.

We're experiencing the life that we are.

So,

Remember your intention.

We're planting the seed in the meditation.

Nurture the seed throughout the day in your mindfulness practice.

It is a wonderful guide to keep bringing you back,

Right,

To keep reminding you,

Come back here.

It's here.

It's now.

It's now.

It's not over there.

It was never over there.

It's always in this moment,

Right here,

Right now.

Reviews

Amazing view of current moment. That's we have at the end. This moment is our signal that we are alive and part of the creation of God!

This talk really explains the question “What is most important to you”.