Is there any assurance that my spiritual practice will actually change me into someone better? Is there a mechanism in silence that assures the dissolution of my negative tendencies, and the growth of my positive ones? Or will a bank robber who meditates just become a calmer bank robber?
Surely the key is my intention. Intention is the link between the field of karma and the field of silence.
In Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, there is a subtle aspect of meditation called samyama. Samyama means that our mind forms an intention just before it dissolves into silent formless samadhi. It is like holding a seed, then dropping it into a dark furrow. Samyama is the link between moral practice and spiritual practice. This is why the eight limbs of Yoga include the Yamas and Niyamas, the do's and dont's of moral action: non-violence, non-stealing, truthfulness, sexual purity, devotion to study, etc. Having a spiritual practice disconnected from moral intent is as ignorant as having no spiritual practice at all.
Western religious traditions over-emphasize external moral action to the exclusion of inner silence; but Eastern teachings, at least as Americanized for New Agers, often overlook the moral precepts to embrace meditation alone.
A gentle but firm intention before meditation, whether formed as a prayer or an affirmation, gives trajectory to the formless silence of meditation. It is like pointing the arrow in the chosen direction, before letting it go. First point, then let go. Just as there is no value in pointing the arrow if one doesn't let it go, so there is no value in letting go without pointing the arrow.
The drawn bow of meditation is full of creative silence. But where do we point the arrow of our love?
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