Tuesday 2 June 2015

This week @ Sangha - the importance of intentions

Hi all. 

Earlier in the year I mentioned I'd be giving a series of talks throughout 2015 on the eightfold path. This path is Gotama's (the Buddha's) list of important elements in life we need to attend to in order to live the path.It's also the fourth of the Four Great Tasks. The eight folds are:

View
Intention
Action
Speech
Livelihood
Effort
Mindfulness
Mental Integration

I've already given a talk on View and in fact the chapter we covered with Winton last week on the Four Noble Truths (or Four Great Tasks) pretty much covers that one. The 'view' appropriate to the path is to truly see and understand that much of our angst and unpleasantness is caused by our unwillingness to embrace dukkha and let go of craving for things to be different. The view also covers concepts like the truth of impermanence, the fact that we are not a fixed, stable, independent identity, and the fact that life does in fact entail some unpleasantness - see it, accept it, expect it!

Part of this view is also the realisation that when craving does in fact cease, peace and joy and friendliness and energy among other rather bonza phenomena, are what's left.

So this week's talk is on the second fold of the path: intention. This one's a cracker as it runs through all of our behaviour in life. Every bit of it! I hope you'll come along and join in the discussion.

LL

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