In Buddhist psychology and the Eightfold Path, wise intention is not a goal. Intention is a here and now resolve you make in this moment. Goals are in the future. If my goal is to be a kind person, that’s open-ended, but being kind here and now is an intention. One of the challenges with goals is making them so big that we’re building in our own defeat. The Dharma teaches us that patience and resolve are needed to balance one another. Start with intention, and engage in the process moment to moment. As we hold goals as practice rather than result, we start to have a relationship with our experience that is more balanced.
Phillip Moffitt
Residential Retreat Teacher
Phillip Moffitt is a Buddhist meditation teacher and writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He served as Co-Guiding Teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center from 2010-2018. Phillip is an honorary co-founder and the creator of the practice method that is the focus of the nonprofit organization Dharma Ground, which offers online Insight retreats and classes integrating Nine Bodies Insight teachings and the dharma. Phillip is also the founder and president of Life Balance Institute, a nonprofit organization devoted to training leaders and professionals in how to skillfully make major transitions in their lives. He is the author of three books: Awakening through the Nine Bodies, Emotional Chaos to Clarity, and Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering.
Phillip Moffitt's Upcoming Programs
Short Program | Online
Saturday, June 28 | 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Naturally Arising Clarity: A Practice Method for Developing Samadhi and Insight
During this daylong, we will explore two practices that create the conditions for a naturally arising concentrated mind. The first practice—“the three renunciations"—establishes a discerning mind that is free of reactivity and self-judgment. The second practice, the “arriving sequence,” establishes a mind state that is available for practice and aligned with the Dharma. The result of these practices is a naturally arising responsive mind that can free us from the over-efforting that so often plagues our practice.
Phillip Moffitt
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Phillip Moffitt through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.