การกำหนดคือการคำนึงถึงหรือหมายไว้ในสิ่งใด สิ่งนั้นก็จะปรากฏขึ้นในใจเรา จะกำหนดเป็นรูปหรือเป็นนามก็ได้ เพราะรูปกับนามเป็นของคู่กันเสมอ ยิ่งกำหนดซ้ำ ๆ สิ่งนั้นก็จะยิ่งปรากฏชัดขึ้นSetting an intention means holding something in mind or marking it deliberately; that thing then appears within us. We can set the intention on either form or name, since the two always travel as a pair. The more we set the intention repeatedly, the more clearly that thing appears.
A student asked the teacher to elaborate on what he meant, during a guided meditation, by "setting the intention on light" — what does that signal or feeling actually consist of?
The teacher explained that "setting an intention" (กำหนด) means holding something in mind, marking it, recalling it. Whatever we hold in mind will appear; if we don't hold it in mind, we simply pass it by and it doesn't appear. The more often we hold it in mind, set the intention, mark it, and specify it precisely, the more clearly that thing appears.
To set the intention on light, one can focus on the light of the moon or sun, or simply on the "name" of light itself, since form and name are always paired. Setting the intention on "light" causes light to appear — that is the name, the label; the form is the actual sphere that radiates and produces real light. Setting the intention on either form or name will cause it to appear; setting the intention on just the name is enough for that thing to appear and show its own qualities. And setting the intention repeatedly makes it grow brighter still.
The teacher gave an example from the scriptures: there is a passage in which a bodhisattva speaks of his own meditation practice. He said that when he had never set his intention on light, light was hard to make appear; but once he set his intention on light, it wasn't long before light appeared. This is exactly what "setting an intention" means, and it can be done in two ways — through name or through form, since form and name are always a paired set. For instance, with light, one can set the intention on the name "light" itself, or on an image of light as it actually appears — such as sunlight streaming through a gap in the wooden floorboards of a house, or the light of the moon, sun, stars, or a lamp. Setting the intention through form or through name both work; either way, that thing — both its form and its name — will appear within the mind.
The teacher explained further that everything around us is composed of both form and name. Take a table: it has legs, a flat surface, four legs to hold things up — that is its form. Anyone who sees it calls it a table; a child sees it and calls it a table; foreigners call it "table" — every language can name it. Seeing the form, we can utter the name; and once the name is spoken, everyone immediately pictures its characteristic shape. Look around — is there anything at all that isn't composed of both form and name? Curtains, canvas, cement, tile flooring, roofing — everything has its own name. Form and name always travel together.