The Importance of Intention

This post originally published January 22, 2016

Notes from Weekly Meditation and Discussion - 1/20/16
Good Afternoon smile emoticon 

I'd like to briefly recapitulate DBT's discussion last night, 
As always leave a comment if you'd like to add something important that I might have missed! 

Following our meditation, Jeff lead us in a discussion on intention. Ironically so, because he mentioned that this was not his intended topic. Hmm.... 

Specifically, we were geared to ask ourselves what our intentions are when we meditate, and what intention means to us. 

Meditation is a practice of letting go, it is a release. It is peaceful, and it feels nice. Regardless of the benefits, it is challenging. 

It is important to always remember your original intention of meditation. Why was it that we chose to come to our very first DBT meeting? Why was it we stepped through the doors of Buddha For You in the College Plaza Shopping Center? 

'Intention brings meaning to our actions, it brings meaning to life. Without an intention, where did these actions come from? Having an intention is creation, a creation of energy. Good intentions versus bad intention can be felt.' -Jeremiah 

Anything is justifiable by the one who believes. So the reality of it doesn't matter so much as the intention behind it. 

We all have individual intentions, they come and they go. 

Intention can create a present moment, in which I can ask myself, What Am I Doing? Why Am I Doing This? -Lisa 

Are intentions judgements? 
Sometimes we have a 'wanted' intention, versus our innate 'deep rooted' intentions. We want to believe we are good people throughout our actions, but deep down perhaps we know that our intentions are not good. Meditation helps us to recognize our intention, to recognize our 'faults'. 

Soon we can intend good intentions, intentionally..... ( grin emoticon ) 

Meditation brings presence, whereas for some, an intention is devoted to the future. We have intentions for long term goals, for our lives and the world (career, family, relationships, fulfillment in life), but we also have intentions for the short term, for smaller moments (eating, walking, talking, breathing). 

'There lies a factor between those two, the patterns we create, our behaviors. Intentions can develop.' -Topher 

On this night Choice and Intention seemed to go Hand in Hand. Is it so that Unhappiness and More Choices are correlated? Is the grass always greener on the other side? It is a challenge to be confident in your choice, to be confident in your intentions. 

So through meditation, we can begin to understand the motivation behind our choices, and, we can recognize that we are making choices within a construct that we were born into.... 

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Things to look forward to- 
peace within, 
Next Wednesday, 
Lunar New Year Celebration, 
and DBT Pledgeship!