The next step on the path is Right Intention. Maybe it is the generation in which I grew up, but nearly every time I hear the word intention I think of the old saw--the road to hell is paved with good intentions. My second thought is: the road to everywhere is paved with intentions: good, bad, misguided and sometimes lack of. The point is to govern what you intend and be more conscious about what truly motivates you.
According to Buddhist theory, right intention refers to an ethical mindset that informs action. Right intention is divided into three strands: intention of renunciation; intention of good will and intention of harmlessness.
Intention of renunciation refers to refusing to succumb to desire's pull. Intention of good will refers to resisting feelings of anger, jealousy or other negative emotions. Intention of goodwill refers to abstaining from hurtful or cruel behavior.
Sounds really good doesn't it? These principles could be summed up as "resolve not to be a jerk." Most people would say they operate under some similar rubric, like the Golden Rule or even the Reiki Gokkai. But I think many folks are just winging it, not really having any philosophy of how they operate in the world.
I know I owe a few folks out there apologies for a bit of bad behavior of my own when I was first starting out in this business. I was coming from a viewpoint of lack: there weren't enough readers out there for everyone to be read; only folks published by traditional publishers had any value; there are so many writers out there that if you make any demands, publishers will just skip over you to the next author; if I helped other people, they would get ahead and I wouldn't; blah, blah, blah. It was the kind of thinking drummed into me by the publishing industry and particularly fellow authors. I can't blame anyone for that since it was the prevailing wisdom at the time.
However, I realize now that this was the pull of desire, the Buddhists were talking about. It really isn't necessary to denigrate others to find value in yourself. Most of the people who I know (or know of) who are happy in this business share with others in bigger ways than I do. When you live in a mindset of lack or fear you become greedy, hording whatever crumbs of success or happiness or goodness that come your way. Hoarding, as anyone who has watched one of those shows, is a disease of anxiety and a means of controlling one's environment--regardless of what is hoarded. If you are unwilling or incapable of sharing your time, money, expertise with other writers without either feeling guilty or put upon, ask yourself why. What would it take for you to feel comfortable enough in your writer's skin to be able to share more freely with others.
Let's face it, we all have negative feelings--we compare ourselves to more successful writers and wonder why our work isn't flourishing as much. We read someone else's masterpiece and think our work sucks. Someone who started writing after we did surpasses us in no time and all our hard work seems for nothing. It's hard not to want to pull out the Voodoo dolls and stab away. However, that never really gets us anywhere. Indulging negative feelings is really a double edged sword--it puts negativity out in the world toward the person you are hating on and it also makes you feel miserable. But it really accomplishes nothing. Holding the intention to resist these feelings, to put them aside when they crop up goes a long way toward keeping peace in your life. Then your satisfaction with what you do or what you have accomplished isn't governed by what other folks are doing.
As I was telling a group I was speaking to yesterday--we are all works in progress. Our work on ourselves is never done. Even when we die we go on to do more work on the other plane. So if you slip up, in whatever way, resolve to do better next time. What's important is the intent--the mindset to act out out of love, kindness, and compassion--even if we don't always succeed. Like Scarlet O'Hara, we, too, have another day.
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