(Intent Part - 2)
Intent and intention is often overlooked. One reason is because our focus is more on the result we may be looking for. rather than the unrecognized hidden intent. In my estimation it is this deeper reason that takes us in one direction or another. History supports this fact when studied closely.
For this reason I thought to dive deeper into the meaning of intent from different historical perspectives. We begin with my African Ancestral beginnings which are often misunderstood, then taught according to those misunderstandings and carried into educational institutions as fact. Mis-education often results in mis-behavior.
Below is a brief description of establishing a stable society where positive intent is favored over malintent. (please recognize that the elements are anthropomorphic labels, not necessarily gods)
KHEMET AND MA'AT (CIRCA 1292-1185 B.C)
"Kemet is the name the native African people of the country now known as Egypt called themselves in their surviving writings. Many scholars refer to the people as "kmt" or Kemet. The surviving artifacts of the Kemet viziers and scribes evidence that Kemet rule of law was “Maat,” contained at least in part in observing the 42 Laws of Maat."
"The Goddess Maat as the Cosmological Origin of Kemet Rule of Law"
"Heliopolis-era creation stories from the Kemet people report that in the beginning Atum emerged from the Isfet (chaos) of Nu (primordial waters). Atum created the god Shu (personification of air/cool dryness) and goddess Tefnut (personification of moisture) from Nu. Shu is depicted in the Kemet iconography as an ostrich feather."
"Under Kemet cosmology, Maat is designed to avert chaos (Isfet) and maintain truth (Maat). The symbol for truth, justice, balance, and order is the Goddess Maat. The iconography for Maat in the hieroglyphs depict the single ostrich feather (Shu), worn atop Goddess Maat’s head."
"During the reign of Pharaoh Menes, around 2925 B.C.E., after the unification of upper and lower Kemet, archaeological finds evidence administration of the 42 Laws of Maat among the Kemet people as deduced from Kemet coffin texts or funerary papyri dating from this period."
"The Duat, the Hall of Two Truths, and the Weighing the Ka (Heart)"
"The ancient Egyptians believed that the heart recorded all of the good and bad deeds of a person's life, and was needed for judgment in the afterlife. After a person died, the heart was weighed against the feather of Maat (goddess of truth and justice)."
So let us look at the 42 Laws of Maat which were the determining factor of a persons heart or the measure of their intent.
"I have not committed sin.
I have not committed robbery with violence.
I have not stolen.
I have not slain men or women.
I have not stolen food.
I have not swindled offerings.
I have not stolen from God/Goddess.
I have not told lies.
I have not carried away food.
I have not cursed.
I have not closed my ears to truth.
I have not committed adultery.
I have not made anyone cry.
I have not felt sorrow without reason.
I have not assaulted anyone.
I am not deceitful.
I have not stolen anyone’s land.
I have not been an eavesdropper.
I have not falsely accused anyone.
I have not been angry without reason.
I have not seduced anyone’s wife.
I have not polluted myself.
I have not terrorized anyone.
I have not disobeyed the Law.
I have not been exclusively angry.
I have not cursed God/Goddess.
I have not behaved with violence.
I have not caused disruption of peace.
I have not acted hastily or without though t.
I have not overstepped my boundaries of concern.
I have not exaggerated my words when speaking.
I have not worked evil.
I have not used evil thoughts, words or deeds.
I have not polluted the water.
I have not spoken angrily or arrogantly.
I have not cursed anyone in thought, word or deeds.
I have not placed myself on a pedestal.
I have not stolen what belongs to God/Goddess.
I have not stolen from or disrespected the deceased.
I have not taken food from a child.
I have not acted with insolence.
I have not destroyed property belonging to God/Goddess.''
"After the petitioner’s testimony containing the 42 affirmative declarations, the weighing of the ka for truth, and the reading of the scales, it is said that the doer of Maat is administered Maat. If the petitioner is deemed by the Goddess Maat to be in substantial compliance with the 42 Laws of Maat the petitioner passes from duat to the Field of Reeds (Arus) where Osiris sits as the final gatekeeper."
I praise the Ancestors who recognized and taught the importance of maintaining Ma'at, as the means for benefitting all relations while maintaining oneself righteously. Namaste!
SOURCE:
1. Forty two laws of MAAt and Black Historic Heroes
2. Funerary Customs: Weighing of the Heart | Carnegie Museum ...https://carnegiemnh.org ›
3. "Maat the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt," by Maulana Karenga (Sankore Publisher, 2006).
4. "The Book of the Dead," edited by E.A. Wallis BUDGE... (Actual title is.. The Coming Forth Before Day).. my note.