Our Mind Can Choose Our Intentions, Upon Which Everything Rests

By John Allcock

Join John for Buddhist Meditation Practice & Teachings Fridays from 6-7pm at Yoga Mammoth

Everything rests on the tip of intention.

All we experience is preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind.

 Speak or act with a corrupted mind and suffering follows as the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox.

Speak or act with a peaceful mind and happiness follows like a shadow that never leaves.

‍                        ‍The Buddha 

So, you might say that my last blog entry talked about one of the first principles the Buddha taught--- the mind impacts greatly the quality of your life experience when unwanted events happen, as it greatly influences how you respond to the event.

The quotes above elucidates a corollary to that principle; your mind determines your intent and resulting attitude and actions, which in turn impact greatly the path you take in life, and influences greatly the extent to which you suffer.

Of course, the Buddha's principles embodied in these quotes are not intended to be accepted as true just because the Buddha said them. They are the Buddha's hypotheses about how things work out in life--he taught to try them and see if they hold water.

The Buddha taught that cultivating certain wise intentions would reduce our suffering and that with practice we can choose those intentions in each moment.

He recognized that human beings operate on multiple levels of intention. We can get up in the morning and prepare our to do list for the day--grocery store, gym, what work things to accomplish.

Now it is important to wisely select those intentions. For example, choosing to steal or cheat as our daily goal would likely lead to suffering of yourself and others.

But we also can have some base, or foundational intentions operating--kind of like the operating system of a computer which runs the machine so it can in turn run the application programs.

You might call these intentions foundational, or pervasive or base intentions--choices that underlie all that you do.

One foundational intention the Buddha's promoted to be a relief from suffering is to intend to do no harm to yourself or others. It can also be expressed as having kindness as your base intention.

I have found both by my own actions and the observation of the actions of others that having kindness as a pervasive attitude greatly impacts moment to moment happiness of ourselves or others.

For example, when I go to the grocery store there is a particular clerk at self-checkout (which I usually use and actually has been the source of much learning) who is always exuding kindness and warmth--smiling and happy all the time and always helpful when I or others can't figure out how to buy a cucumber that has no bar code on it. This person’s pleasant disposition spreads to the people with whom she encounters, and I am sure contributes to hers.

Now there is another clerk whose attitude is not so pleasant, but who is rather short and annoyed (understandably so perhaps as they get the same kind of request for how to purchase the bar code less cucumber, or some similar request, umpteen times a day.) But you can immediately notice the different attitude of the second clerk and see how their impatient demeanor impacts those with whom she interacts.

Both clerks have the same external conditions--the difference is in the base intention. One has kindness as her operating principle--the second has a desire for things to happen the way she wants them to be, and if the world does not cooperate with her wants, she will be stressed. 

Now this is not the biggest deal on the planet, but I often wonder if our political leaders had the kind of base intention or motivation of the first clerk, how our world might be different.

Now we don't really think about this--we usually operate spending a lot of time on our surface intentions--our to do list-- and very little time on our underlying operating system.

The Buddha suggested that we reverse the order of importance if we are interested in leading a life of less suffering and stress.

I do not believe the Buddha used the exact terms “foundational” or “base,” and there were certainly no computer operating systems in his time. Still, those modern ideas help describe his original teachings. One of the first principles of his famous Eightfold Path is wise—or right—intention. He taught that having a core intention of non-harming and kindness in all we do helps free us from the everyday stress and suffering built into human life.

If you are interested in the Buddha’s other teachings on freedom from stress and suffering, join us at Yoga Mammoth.