Prepare Body & Mind with Posture & Motivation | Step 3

Steps 1-6 are called the Ordinary Preliminaries and have to do with our meditation practice.

Prepare your body for meditation with a dignified and comfortable posture.

Prepare your mind for meditation with one of three kinds of motivation depending on your predisposition and capacity.

1) “May I be well.” The modest motivation is to seek genuine wellness for oneself and is achieved by practicing virtue.

2) “May I be free.” The middling motivation is to seek liberation for oneself and is achieved by practicing strong renunciation to disrupt the unconscious cycles of stress and trauma.

3) ”May I awaken to benefit others.” The great motivation is to seek liberation in order to benefit others and is achieved by cultivating wisdom and compassion.

We will explore the later two motivations as we progress along the path.

Reflections (contemplate or journal on the following):

Karma is the science of mental or psychological cause and effect.

Intention-driven actions of body, speech, and mind in this moment later result as our own subjective experience in a future moment.

What others do to us is their karma, how we experience and react is ours.

Mind is powerful. We are, either unknowingly through impulse or consciously through intention, the architect of our own life. Therefore we have to be clear with our motivations as they are the forerunner of experience.

In our mental gym we are consciously cultivating good motivations that will translate to our actions in the world.

Observe what usually motivates your social media use and experiment with being more intentional.

Post your photos and reflections on instagram with #gradualpath so we can follow each other along the path.