Developing on from
in-vacuo's and
AVP's comments on the previous post.
They drew my attention to
niat ie
intention.
In Islam, the most basic teaching teaches you that everything starts with niat. Niat that everything you do and everything that you are is because of God. I'm not so good at following that part simply because. But I do agree with the practice of niat. I generally believe that I should live life doing good or at the very least to not harm others. Those are, I guess, my general intentions in life. But what if I push it further?
It made me recollect back on my primary-school-agama-classes-days plus all those extracurricular-tuition-imposed-agama-classes where I had to memorise many many doa (prayer) outlining my niat for all things imaginable. It was crazy. There is a doa for when you wake up, before you shower, when you put on clothes, before you eat, before you step out of the house, when you study, at housewarmings and many many more. I resented it! Memory is not exactly the best gift I possess and what more in a foreign language and in meanings that I hardly cherish. Example 1: Doa when you wake up translates to something along the line of 'Thank you God for reawakening me back from my temporary slumber. And to You shall I return.' Geezz, talk about gibberish for a primary school kid right?
But after a degree or so, and a slight tweaking to suit me, it could easily translate to 'I am grateful to be alive today. I may not be tmrw' translation: Carpe Diem my friends ;p
But in all seriousness, I guess what I've discovered and am trying to highlight is that you should continuously be aware of and determine your intentions, in whatever way relevant to you, before setting out on doing something. Intention before action! Imagine what it could mean if I woke up every morning being grateful to be alive and wanting to live the day to the fullest. There will be no Monday-blues or any days blue. I wont get bogged down by the calamities of life and learn to appreciate and be grateful for each day as it comes. I will get things, well the important thing anyway, done much quicker too.
And that is just with practicing 1 intention in the morning. Imagine if I expand further. Leaving the house and embracing the traffic in the morning with the determination to learn more, to achieve more; being grateful for the wonderful food that I intend to enjoy before I eat; a simple housewarming doa with the intention of building a home and not just a house (think of it as wedding vows but for the family); Theres 10,001 niat for 10,001 actions!
You'd think its crazy that so much focus goes into intention and that it'll shave time off action right? Not necessarily so. I think its just a way of re-wiring oneself, to living life and every moment of it with well intentions and to living life purposefully. It will take time to adjust but it is a technique that can be mastered. Haha how would I know. I'll let you know someday soon hopefully. I'm gonna think of 1 simple intention to master first ;) Baby steps :)
^8 Cee
