Intention is an interesting beast. There are times when intention absolutely doesn’t matter; if you run over my dog with your truck it really doesn’t matter that you didn’t mean to, my dog is still dead. There are times when intention matters but it’s not enough without action; I have been intending to get back to this blog, to refocus, to start writing again, for months now, and but, no blog entries manifest, I’m three months behind on exercises for my writers’ group and my novels still remain unedited and singular.
Yet…
Without intention, without those first steps we’d never do anything. Action would not be possible without the intent to act, without the desire, so how do you cross that bridge from intention – “I meant to lose that 10 pounds/to write that novel/learn to program/go on that trip around the world.” – to action?
Inaction is certainly a function of inertia. For most of us, it’s infinitely easier to stay in whatever rut we’re in than it is to change. Indeed, most people, if you can extrapolate from the 10,000 people studied, move in an orbit of less than 6 miles in diameter. And is it any wonder? Change challenges our assumptions about the world. It pushes us to the edges of our comfort zones with our perceptions of the world, ourselves, and how those two things relate. At what point does inaction become a conscious choice to “not do?”
Wu wei, the concept of “not doing,” is a key principle in Taoism but it’s not really that simple. From the interpretation that wu wei literally means “not doing” and the only way to practice it is to withdraw into mediation to the idea that wu wei is more about right action at the right time with the recognition that you are part of a larger system, this “not doing” isn’t the same as inertia nor does it require intent. With wu wei intent is irrelevant because you are so in tune with the universe you know exactly what is needed when.
What I want, bad Taoist that I am, is to get to a place where this reflex to write not only fires at all but is sharp enough and trained enough that I only notice it when it doesn’t fire.
Welcome back…. Intention is a real biggie. For us Buddhists, intention is profoundly important, and in fact can be honed in itself. It is not considered only in relation to the action to which it leads, but as something that matters independently . I wrote a whole blog entry myself about it. My conclusion was that “There are limits on actions – only one person can be the best, offer the most, have the finest….for the rest of us it’s all second best, or thousandth. Our lives become an unending competition. But if our meaning is rooted in our intentions – then each of us can develop excellent intentions. Whoever comes to understand the real power in wishing and intention can become powerful, no matter what their material situation. …There is a wealth of methods of changing one’s own mind, and, in fact, in the process, changing all of reality.”
[the url: http://lawsview.typepad.com/beingbuddhist/2007/12/good-intentions.html ]