Bruce Frantzis on Intent

[spyrelx]

From his latest newsletter:

 

 

There are two levels of intent in everything you do in Taoism and Chinese chi work. The first one is ordinary intent. The second level of intent is the place from which intent arises originally. That is, the place where intent is born.

 

Any level of intent has a yin and yang component. If you want to

 

walk across the street, that's a yang action because you have to go and do something. If you want something to come toward you, that's a yin form of intent. But then there's this question of where the intent comes from to begin with. Where do all your thoughts come from? Where do all your emotions come from? Where is the birthing room of yin and yang?

 

Classic Chinese philosophy says that in the beginning there was the undifferentiated void called wu chi (wu ji). Wu chi held within itself all possibilities but was beyond needing to take form. However, in order for creation to come into existence, there needed to be a creative force. This force was called tai chi (taiji).

 

Tai chi gives birth to yin and yang. Tai chi is neutral, neither, both, or. It has no qualities of its own, but it allows any yin and yang to take form. It is a level of emptiness that produces manifestation. The interplay of yin and yang is called liang i by the ancient Chinese.

 

So, where does any thought, any emotion, any phenomena come from? If you have a psychic perception, where does it come from? If a thought comes into your mind, or an emotion comes into your body, where does it originate? The thought itself, the emotion itself, the psychic perception itself, or even the way karma occurs itself you could say always has a yin or a yang quality. It could be more yin and less yang or more yang and less yin, but one or both are always involved. You can break anything down from the most finite things that exist in quantum physics to the biggest things in the universe.

 

The subconscious--a place that has thought--is still yin and yang. The place in the subconscious from where it is born, that's the Heart-Mind. It is not the subconscious itself rather the place that gives birth to the subconscious.

 

On a human level, intent is normal intent but then the Heart-Mind is a phrase that is used both in Buddhism and Taoism. Taoism sometimes doesn't use the word Heart-Mind and sometimes uses the word spirit (shen). Buddhists always use Heart-Mind, Taoist sometimes use Heart-Mind and sometimes use spirit, but the fact is that they're interchangeable. I tend to use the term Heart-Mind because Buddhism is better known in the West, and I prefer to use common terms.

 

Next issue:

The Heart-Mind and the Subconscious (including inner dissolving).

[gendao]

Interesting, because doesn't TCM say that the heart is the source of intent?

 

As opposed to the "mind" which most of us associate with our heads...

 

I believe using your "heart" or "body awareness" instead of your "head" is the key to transcending one of the basic paradigms in meditation/qigong - whether to use intent or an empty mind.

 

Well, if you use your intent straight from your heart (or wherever in your body), instead of waiting until it gets to your mind first...then you will be using both intent and an empty mind. Wala - paradigm transcended and problem solved.

Edited May 12, 2007 by vortex

[freeform]

My limited experience is: the middle dan tien is where intention is birthed - the lower dan tien provides the power/the juice/the will and the upper dan tien provides the 'inspiration' and awareness... but this is only when you're really quiet in your mind...

 

I find this source of intent can be reached by that drill I posted a little while ago (on a manifestation thread I think) - it's an amazingly profound excersise, and it empties you so much that anything that arises becomes maginfied and feels slower and more pronounced - so I can just be aware and witness what happens without interference.

[gendao]

My limited experience is: the middle dan tien is where intention is birthed - the lower dan tien provides the power/the juice/the will and the upper dan tien provides the 'inspiration' and awareness... but this is only when you're really quiet in your mind...

 

I find this source of intent can be reached by that drill I posted a little while ago (on a manifestation thread I think) - it's an amazingly profound excersise, and it empties you so much that anything that arises becomes maginfied and feels slower and more pronounced - so I can just be aware and witness what happens without interference.

Cool, the middle dan tien would be pretty close to the heart chakra, so there seems to be some congruence here.

 

And what drill? Would you mind linking it here, please?