Inner  Frontier
Fourth Way Spiritual Practice

 

Inner Work


For the week of: April 29, 2002


Intentional Walking

Will has an open, allowing side, an active side, and a harmonizing side. The open receives, the active affirms, and the harmonizing cooperates. In any given moment, our will is who we are.

For this week’s task we seek to understand and develop our will through intentional action. Wholeheartedness in action, fully intending an action allows our will to work in a new way. Undivided intention completely engages us in this singular moment, in responsibility for action, and marshals all our inner resources toward the endeavor, nothing withheld, seeking utter perfection of the act.

Intentionality can enter the whole range of actions, from the simple to the complex, from the instantaneous to those spanning decades, from the fully present reaching for the saltshaker at the dinner table to raising a child in a responsible, intelligent, and loving manner.

In this task we apply our intention to a routine and frequent action: walking. We walk with intention, the intention to move, to take this step, to be in our body, to be where we are, to walk toward our destination. While walking, we intend to be present, we will to be present. We walk as perfectly as possible, with economy of motion and energy, with the appropriate balance of relaxation and exertion, relaxing those muscles, thoughts, and emotions not needed for right walking. Intention does not imply tension. Intention means, and indeed creates, purpose. We walk not only with awareness but also with a purpose, as bearers and servants of a purpose that transcends walking.

To what extent am I engaged in what I am doing? For his week, fully engage in the walking you do.

 


     

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