Hey everybody,
This is Judy Cohen and it's a wake up call 522.
I hope everybody is safe,
Safe as possible and as resourced as possible right now.
Hope you're finding ways to stay informed that isn't overwhelming you.
And to take action in whatever way is possible.
So we're at the last step of the Noble Eightfold Path,
Which is the path of wisdom and compassion and liberation.
Wisdom and compassion being the two wings of mindfulness,
And which it feels like we need more than ever right now.
And liberation from suffering from the delusion of separateness and of not belonging to one another,
Which feels like we also need very much right now.
So this last step,
And it's often taught as the second step,
Is wise intention.
And wise intention is generally following the five precepts of mindfulness.
So don't cause harm,
Don't take what isn't freely offered,
Don't misuse sexuality,
Do communicate with kindness,
And do refrain from intoxication.
That makes it likely or really even possible to forget or to break one of the first four precepts,
One of the other precepts.
So I've talked about these,
The five precepts recently,
And the question that comes up for lawyers,
I think,
Which are,
I mean,
There's a bunch of questions like,
Can a lawyer actually do no harm and still do our job?
And can we never take anything not freely offered if we're planning on getting our cases settled or trying our cases and winning them?
Or can we not misuse or can we speak out against the misuse of sexuality in the broadest sense when it's a patriarchal profession and world?
Or how to communicate with opposing counsel with kindness when we're threatened.
For example,
A colleague recently shared with me that they were threatened,
Actually threatened physically by opposing counsel.
So we can take heart in the ancient instruction that even if anyone is tearing us limb from limb,
We should be kind.
And sometimes in the law,
It feels like someone is tearing us limb from limb.
But still,
You know,
On a more practical level,
Can we do that?
And then how to refrain from intoxication when so many gatherings are about having a drink or a gummy and it's such hard work that we're doing that sometimes a glass or something is all that makes sense at the end of the day.
So anyway,
I've talked about this recently,
And today I want to dig a little deeper.
And of course,
This is what mindfulness is always doing.
If we were to go back over the steps of the Eightfold Path,
All of this would be there.
But there's this framework that I really like,
And I want to lift up wise intention through that framework.
And it's something that I learned from a piece from Bhikkhu Bodhi for fairly quickly checking in to see if we're aligned with wise intention.
And so here's why,
I guess.
Because it's a way of checking in with whether we're aligned with wise intention and the other seven steps.
And the reason I would say that this is useful is because if we're relying on intention alone to keep us aligned with not causing harm,
Which is the gist of the five precepts,
And in some ways,
The gist of the path,
Not causing harm to others and also not causing harm to ourselves,
Then what about impact?
How many times have we heard or seen someone kind of hide behind intention,
Avoid looking at the consequences of their words and actions?
So I didn't mean to do that.
Sorry you're upset,
But it wasn't my intention to hurt you or to do that or for my words to have that kind of impact.
And then kind of let themselves off the hook and then leave the people who are impacted to contend with that impact and also with the fact that no one's really taking responsibility.
No one's there.
No one cares.
That wisdom isn't present and compassion also isn't present.
And how many times have I done that?
Has anyone here done that?
You know,
Tried to hide behind our intention.
So I thought I'd offer this formula from Bhikkhu Bodhi that I find useful and that starts with intention.
But then if I try to hide behind intention,
It reminds me to also check in on whether I'm not implementing that wise intention.
And then when I'm not,
When I'm misaligned,
You know,
You could say I'm misaligned.
It gives me tools to realign with wise intention.
Essentially the intention to cause no harm,
Right?
And then once that realignment happens,
Then there's always a choice,
Right?
And hopefully I realign and hopefully we all do that.
But that's the choice.
So the first part of the formula is to remember to set an intention.
And,
You know,
For me,
This is often easier than it sounds because so often I find myself entering into a moment or bashing into a moment without having set an intention.
And since my own personal neural pathways are most certainly not infallible,
This mind can then easily slide in another direction,
A direction other than not causing harm,
If I don't set an intention to not do that.
So when I remember to set that intention,
That's great.
And I try and do that with students,
With my partner,
With our kids.
It's to be loving and supportive.
Same intention,
You know,
Everywhere.
Probably the same for all of us.
But just because I remember to do that,
To set an intention,
Doesn't mean that I'm going to be loving or supportive.
It's not like a,
For me anyway,
It's not like a magic moment that then invariably points me in the direction of the intention.
So step two of the formula is this recollection.
You know,
You could say sati,
It's a mindfulness recollection,
To recollect that everything I say and do matters.
You know,
That we don't get away with anything.
That every word and every action that we take matters and they have impact.
And once they're spoken or once they're taken,
They're out there having that impact.
Some of which I can't see,
But some of which I can.
And no matter how much I'd like to be able to,
I can't unring that bell or deny what I've said or done or claim not to remember what I said or did.
At least if I'm being honest.
So even though we've set the intention to not cause harm,
The invitation is to do that and remember that our words and actions matter and might have caused harm anyway.
Which takes us to the third step of the formula,
Which comes from an ancient teaching,
And which is to check in internally before I say or do anything.
And really be honest with myself and see if I'm about to say or do something loving or to cause harm.
Like,
You know,
Really let somebody have it,
For example.
Which probably doesn't qualify as doing no harm,
You know?
And so really to pay attention in the present moment with courage,
With grace,
And see,
Is my intention wholesome?
And then to do that and to really to check in and then check in with the actual words and the things I'm about to do.
And then to do that while I'm speaking or doing the thing,
Right?
To really pay attention closely with courage,
Right?
So I don't turn away.
To see if there's any negative impact happening.
And,
I mean,
We can see that in another person or we can feel it in our own bodies,
Right?
So to not turn away and to not pretend I don't see,
Which I'm also capable of,
Right?
To not pretend that setting an intention is enough,
Right?
And then to check in afterwards also.
How was that conversation for you?
How well do you feel we met our goals in a collaborative way?
Have I said or done anything that's created harm here?
You know,
Whatever is right for the context.
And then to do the same thing a while later too because sometimes it's not clear how my words have landed or how my choices have impacted somebody.
So that's the third step.
And then the final step is what if I do realize or get feedback that I have caused harm?
And,
You know,
I really put this in a big bucket of anything at all.
Anything at all.
And then,
You know,
The invitation is to make amends,
To apologize when I've failed to be loving or supportive and to repair that relationship or the moment.
So,
Okay,
So for me,
Why is intention is all of this?
Because what's intention without checking about impact?
So it's the intention to not cause harm and also to make sure that remains the case throughout the interaction.
And I find this to be a challenging process or practice,
But also really rewarding.
And I'm really grateful to Biku Bodhi for offering it and I hope it's useful for you.
And one thing Biku doesn't mention,
Which I will mention,
Is that when we fail to do this,
Which is inevitable,
Right,
That there's self-compassion.
And that's really an important part of this.
Okay,
So let's sit.
I'll just invite you to let the words go.
And just check in with the body as it's either sitting or lying down or whatever the posture is that you're in.
How are you feeling?
How is it going?
How is this moment for this body?
Letting it settle,
If settle is possible.
Or noticing if there's agitation or restlessness and just noting,
Oh,
Yeah,
This is a restless moment.
That's okay,
Too.
And then locating the breath in the body,
Just the body breathing,
The sensation of the body breathing.
And beginning to follow the breath as it flows in and out of the body.
And noticing how this choice to take just a few minutes to practice,
To pay attention in the present moment to the breath,
This is an act of compassion.
And arriving here,
This is setting a good intention.
We're already doing this.
That wisdom and compassion are,
They're not just available,
They're here.
They're right here.
And if you want to,
You can put your hand on your heart and you can say to yourself,
Yeah,
This is how it is right now.
Compassion is here,
Wisdom is here,
And it's a tough moment.
It's a tough moment in the world,
Maybe in your own life as well.
And here we are practicing together,
So it's just clear how much we care about ourselves and about one another.
Just reminding ourselves of that.
Wisdom to get here,
To be together,
To be in community with one another,
To put our hand on our heart,
Even if just in our imagination.
To know that this is a difficult moment,
Difficult moment maybe in our own lives and certainly in the world.
And to care,
To see how much care there is.
To be part of that too.
To be part of it,
To know that we're part of it.
To know that we're part of it.
Thanks everyone for being here,
It's so nice to see you.
It's really good to sit together at a time like this.
Be safe everyone,
Be safe.
