Intention Meditation

Once upon a time ... :)

... I read a story about a woman who went on a retreat for the umpteenth time (6th time maybe) and she really struggled with meditation on this retreat. (I don't remember exactly where I read this, so apologies to the author if it's not 100% accurate)

The story goes something along the lines of: "I tried to focus on my breath, noticing what was happening in my body in this moment, but I could barely concentrate on mindful breathing for 10 seconds before my mind would wander. Hoping to get out of my head, I tried walking meditations on the paths surrounding the retreat. This didn't make a dent.

I started to feel ashamed of my lack of discipline, but most of all I became frustrated because I felt I was wasting precious time. The retreat was only a few days long, a precious opportunity to deepen my spiritual practice, and here I am, caught up in wanting, and my mind off into the future.

After several days of this, I had a pivotal personal interview with my teacher. When I described how frustrating the retreat and meditation experience was for me, she asked: "And how are you relating to the presence of frustration?"

I was startled into understanding. For me, frustration had become the enemy, and I was losing the battle. Her question pointed me back to the essence of mindfulness practice: It doesn't matter what is happening. What matters is how we are relating to our experience.

My teacher advised me to stop fighting my experience and instead investigate the nature of my wanting mind.

If a mind state or emotion or mood becomes strong, feelings such as sadness or happiness, anger or desire, restlessness or excitement, interest or rapture, joy or calm - make a mental note of that mind state, feeling it, observing it, knowing that this, too, is part of the passing show. It arises, is there for some time, and will pass away. This is the nature of all things.

BUT.... having said this...

Personally, I also often find it helpful to practice intention meditation. Intention meditation is intentionally practicing mental states to combat negative emotions. It is not possible to hold two opposing mental states in your mind at any one time. For example, you cannot feel angry and joyful at the same time. You may flip between the two states really fast, making it seem as if they are happening simultaneously, but they will not both be there at the same time. For example you cannot be patient and angry, you cannot be fearful and peaceful, etc. As an antidote to fear, for example, you could meditate on joy.

The antidote to anger is love and patience.

The antidote to anxiety is joy and tranquillity.

The antidote to sorrow is peace and joy,

and the antidote to fear is joy and happiness.

Relevant article: How does it work? Patience as an Antidote to Anger​

There are various ways of practicing intention meditation, and soon I will be posting the script here (please visit again when the link is active)

Mx