Practice- Awareness of Intentions
by meditative - November 5th, 2010.Filed under: Insight Meditation Exercises.
Here is an informal practice that you can do anytime during your day. Within awareness, the focus of attention is “intentions”. Take a moment, and as best you can, see if you can simply reflect on how your intentions move your actions in a certain way… and how a shift in intention (i.e. purposeful attitude) can change the direction of your action. Look deeply into how your disposition and mood may be shaped by the intention you bring into a given situation. Make mental notes using words that best describe the kinds of signals (i.e. communications) you send out both verbally and non-verbally- positive and negative- that clearly reflect your intentions.
On an interpersonal level, how do your intentions resonate with others in both positively and negatively charged situations? Can you sense the “emotional contagion” of another and/or others with intended actions? Can you “see” and sense how your intentions give rise to your own actions and those of others?
Our brains work to link us socially with neural circuitry connecting the resonance of our being through a “felt sense” of another… and so on… and so on. As a whole, we mirror the “collective resonance” of our species. The intention of one can affect and alter the actions of many. A whole society can collectively resonate the intentions projected and expressed by its group. If you look deeply, you can see how intentions are shaping the Way of our world. What do you truly see? Make this an honest reflection, and you will be amazed at what you see in yourself and in others… and the power of intention to be deeply purposeful and healing.