Ready. Aim. Fire.

Marksmanship in spirituality

Ready. Aim. Fire

Aim comes before Fire.

For me, aim is associated with marksmanship. At its most fundamental, accurate shooting can be summed up by the ability to pull the trigger while maintaining your aim. There is a lot more to it, but the proper aim, the correct alignment of your vision is essential. Pulling the trigger is mechanical, whereas maintaining your vision throughout is where hits or misses are made. To hit what you are aiming at is the goal. And while you can learn a lot from missing, only hits count. New shooters have to learn how to align the sights, and manipulate the firearm to accurately place the round near the bullseye. It doesn’t come naturally, and takes practice. And to do it quickly, or on demand in a variety of settings, with a variety of equipment takes even more practice.

Aim is also foundational in spiritual and artistic endeavors, as well as in other martial arts. Focus and sighting the target are a part of many basic martial arts techniques, as well as many religious and spiritual traditions.

But it starts with your aim. Your intention, your direction, your focus, your Kavanah.

In a word this is about Kavanah - a Hebrew word that I will return to many times. A word whose layered and varied meaning is the foundation of empowerment in your creative or marital discipline, or a deeper, better, more intimate, and more powerful spiritual art, or religious practice. Kavanah means intention, as well as direction, meaning, and focus. Jewish spiritual literature is filled with relflections on the need to have a significant emotional and spiritual investment in your religious practice, or it is mechanical, and therefor not human. Such practices lack Kavanah. It doesn’t pack a punch, and it is questionable whether it even counts if core practices are done without intention.

Kavanah grows through repeated practice and discipline, but it resides not in any particular practice or habit. Kavanah conveys an intensity and singular focus that derives from within each person. It precedes our actions, and we bring it with us.

Before we act, before we pull the trigger, or throw the kick, or play the solo, stitch, paint or draw, we must set a kavanah, an intention, or an aim towards which we direct our energy, and from which intensity will most efficiently flow.

Where do you want to go? What is your aim? Your intention and intensity? And what discipline will you follow to empower you to willingly infuse your art and spiritual expression with kavanah.