What does it mean to “set an intention?” Is it about trying to attract all the things you want? Well, sort of. And not at all. The video above says more.
This video is an example of the dharma talks I send out twice a week to members of the Open Heart Project. Also included is a 10-minute meditation video. Please sign up!
Dear Susan,
I am so grateful for the open heart project. Thank you for sharing your experience with self-doubt, karma and intention. The teachings and meditations you make available have helped so much to deepen my understanding and be consistent with the meditation practice.
Love
Sharon
I am so glad the OHP has been helpful for you, as it has for me! Glad to practice together. Love, Susan
♡ ♡ ♡
(In person, that would translate into a big hug accompanied by a few tears of sheer joy.)
And for the record, I have zero doubt about what you’re doing. This is your path, Susan. I don’t know what the outcome will be over time, but I know that so far it’s been amazing for me. So you go on now. Go on and fly.
Tears and hug, accepted, accepted! Thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement.
I love our dialogue! With love, Susan
Susan, unrelated question: You’ve given some book suggestions, I have some others from teachers I respect as well. I’m trying to settle through all of them on a first book for my summer reading. Ruling your world? Turning the mind into an Ally? Cutting through Spiritual Materialism? Shambala? or something else? I’ve read quite a bit of Pema Chodron.
Well, you can’t go wrong with any of those. Hard to say which one to start with. I guess I’d say “Turning the Mind” because it is such a clear guide to meditation practice. When your practice is stable, any of the other books will make a lot more sense. Good luck and keep me posted! xo S
Susan… as soon as I woke up to check my email I felt myself connecting to this wider, beautiful karmic chain that you have set into motion. Yesterday my best friend and I had been talking a lot about setting intentions for ourselves, for our new single and uncharted lives, for my dissertation… I was contemplating all day yesterday (a) how much anxiety I was having over not being intentional for the past couple months and (b) I set a very genuine intention to tune into my intentions! So of course when I woke up to this OHP email… well it was just another one of those teachings you gave that came so much at the right moment that it allowed me to immediately connect with my sense of awe at the universe. THANK YOU.
Stephanie, it is great when paths criss-cross like this. It is amazing how much support there is all around. Love, S
Gratitude to your style Susan! You give such freshness to meditation practice and Buddhism in general! Your language of truth, sharing feelings, sharing your human difficulties is what we can relate to and what develops the truest form of intimacy! Through your demonstrations of authenticity, I am joyously affirmed and encouraged to be myself. I love you and I am grateful for all of your experiences that led you to this path.
Thanks, Carondelet! Much love to you, S
Hi Susan! The OHP has been such an important part of my life for over a year now, and you have been a constant source of inspiration through both trying and wonderful times. As with Stephanie above, your themes (for want of a better word) always seem to meet me where I’m at. Also, thanks for sharing your own experiences in life and with your practice – it really does create something to connect to. I’ve never thought to say anything before, and I’m sure there are hundreds (thousands) of people like me who quietly receive, contemplate, take note of, and apply your beautiful words every week. So in light of any sense of doubt you may be nursing at the moment, I would like to take the opportunity to say thank you, and tell you that my life has truly and profoundly been enhanced by your work/words/the OHP. Love Mandi.
Mandi, thank you, thank you. It is wonderful that our paths have intersected and it’s especially meaningful when we find that we are thinking about the same thing. Buddhists talk about “auspicious coincidence” and we are so lucky when we find ourselves in a situation where they occur.
Very, very appreciative of your supportive words and to know that we practice together. With love, Susan
Dear Susan, “[W]hoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.”– the Talmud. I can tell by reading the comments to your blogs how many lives you have touched with the OHP, which translates into many worlds in my tradition! And keep in mind, even Mother Theresa had serious “doubts” over many years, so, if you experience doubts from time to time about what you are doing, you are just being human and are in good company. Best, Michael
Michael, I take your encouraging words to heart. Thank you! It is good to be human beings together. Best, S
I really, really, really needed to hear this today! It’s sometimes hard to tell which comes first, but forgetting my own basic goodness and not trusting the intentions that I set and the actions that I take almost without fail leads me to forget others’ basic goodness and lose faith in their intentions. And that’s just a sad state of affairs all around! It is such a relief to know that the reset button is as close as the next breath though
Thank you, Susan! You are a gift!
Much love and light, Janet
Janet, so glad we’re practicing together! Love, Susan
I was trying to explain what setting intention means in yoga to a friend recently and my definition was far less eloquent! I used to think of my intention before class but now I come ‘empty minded’ and know that when I arrive on my mat, my intention will come. That way it comes from a deeper place, a place of ‘good’ like that you mentioned. Sometimes my intention surprises me and for this reason it’s a good guide for what I need give or receive deep down. Setting an intention is the most important part of my yoga – it’s what guides my practice and enables me to take what I learn on my mat into daily life.
That you are sharing your knowledge with others is a wonderful thing…