Wise Intention is the fundamental basis of a beautiful mind/heart and consequently a beautiful life.  Every mind moment involves an intention.  Each decision and every action is born of intention.  Each movement, word and thought is preceded by a volitional impulse, frequently unnoticed.  Just as drops of water eventually fill a bucket, so the accumulation of our intentional choices shapes our life.

Intentions—noticed, unnoticed, gross or subtle—determine happiness or suffering.  Long after a deed is done, a word said, the trace momentum of its intention remains as the seed of the future.  If we nourish unwise intentions of greed, ill will, vengeance or harmfulness, their inherent suffering will inexorably sprout—presently, as we act on them, and in the future as reinforced habits, tensions and painful memories.

Mindfulness helps us to foresee the impact of intentions.  We see that even if we act in selfless service or generosity, based not on the intention of fundamental goodness but out of guilt or fear or to feel or appear righteous, such good actions with unwise intention will not have lasting benefit.  If we nourish wise intentions of good will, forgiveness, harmlessness and generosity, those qualities will persevere in us.  The inherent happiness and openness of those intentions is the basis of a beautiful mind and consequently a beautiful life. Connecting to the deepest intentions of a beautiful heart will bear deeper results than practice connected to more superficial concerns.

Is your deepest intention the Beautiful Heart-Mind creating the beautiful life?

With metta,
Gina Sharpe
Guiding Teacher