The Buddhist Association of the Goulburn Valley will conduct one Meditation Session on Saturday, 19 October 2019 at the Senior Citizens Centre, Welsford Street, at 10:00 am.
Setting Your Intention:
In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, we recognise compassion as both the highest spiritual ideal and the highest expression of our humanity. The Tibetan word for compassion, nyingje, which literally means the “king of heart,” captures the priority we accord compassion.
When it comes to cultivating compassion, we begin with a practice called setting your intention. This is a contemplative exercise adapted from traditional Tibetan meditation, a kind of checking-in where we connect with our deeper aspirations so that they may inform our intentions and motivations.
In everyday English, we often use the two words intention and motivation interchangeably, as if they mean the same thing. But there’s an important difference: deliberateness.
Our motivation to do something is the reason or reasons behind that behaviour, the source of our desire and the drive to do it. We may be more or less aware of our motivations.
Intention, on the other hand, is always deliberate, an articulation of a conscious goal. We set and reaffirm our best intentions to keep us inclining in the directions we truly mean to go. But, we need motivations to keep us going over the long haul. If our intention is to run a marathon, there will be times when we’ll ask ourselves, quite reasonably, “Why am I doing this?” We need good, inspired answers to get us over such humps. Conscious or unconscious, motivation is the “why,” and the spark, behind intention.
You could do this intention-setting exercise at home, first thing in the morning if that is convenient. You could also do it on a bus or a subway on your commute. If you work in an office, you could do it sitting at your desk before you get into the day. You only need two to five uninterrupted minutes. Our intention sets the “tone” of whatever we are about to do. Like music, intention can influence our mood, thoughts, and feelings—setting an intention in the morning we set the tone for the day.
Event Details
The Buddhist Association of the Goulburn Valley will conduct one Meditation Session on Saturday 19 October 2019 at the Senior Citizens Centre, Welsford Street, at 10:00 am. The Buddhist Association of the Goulburn Valley kindly invites you to attend this meditation session conducted in English by Venerable Phra Ronrawee Thero. Venerable Phra Ronrawee Thero is the chief Buddhist Monk of the Dhammakaya Temple of Melbourne and the director of the Dhammakaya Society of Victoria Inc.
Program: Meditation led by Venerable Phra Ronrawee Thero
Date: Saturday 19 October 2019
Location: Senior Citizens Centre, 132 Welsford St, Shepparton (adjacent Monash Park)
Time: 10-11am
Cost: Free
More Information: contact Sam Atukorala, 5831 2395
