|
|
The power of intention
|
|
A Releasing Your Unlimited Creativity discussion topic | |
|
Copyright 2008 by K. Ferlic, All Rights Reserved | |
| RYUC Home Why free? Contact Links Programs/services Contributions | |
|
The power of intention Clear intention is the most powerful creative we have available to us. Intention is the underlying cause of creation/Creation. Although any desire, wish, or want, is an intention, there is also an underlying intention that gives rise to the desire. That is, "Why this desire as opposed to any other desire?" If we pull the string on our answer we will find there is one or more underlying intentions. It is this underlying intention, whether conscious or nonconscious, that is determining where we place the focus of our attention and awareness and not necessarily the object of the desire or wish. In this regard, many of our intentions are actually nonconscious. In any case, in placing our attention in a particular direction or on a particular object, we direct our energy in that direction and cause whatever it is on which we focus to grow in our life creating an experience as a result of that focus. Any time we state a clear intentionality or choose to do a particular thing in our life and take an action or step towards that intention, the universe responds and actually begins to bring into our life the circumstances that will allow that thought to manifest with in a way which can be supported by the environment in which we find ourselves. Any time that we state an intention but acted opposed to that intention, the universe responses accordingly and fragments our creative energy dissipating our creative power. Part of ourselves stays with that intention and another part of ourselves goes with our actions. It is vital that we each become as clear as possible in our understanding as to what it is we are really seeking and trying to create with our lives. We each need to make our nonconscious programming conscious to see what intentions we carry deep within our being because it is those that are directing our lives and creating the longing within our heart. The most powerful realization we have is to fully understand the meaning and implications to the statement that "our creative life energy goes where we focus our attention and awareness." As long as we hold a belief, any belief, that belief becomes a focus for our energy and we direct a part of our creative life energy, a part of ourselves, into that belief. If we live from an integrated wholeness and understanding within our being and our beliefs are mutually supportive and do not oppose each other, the creative power available to you is optimized. If however, our beliefs and/or our thinking oppose each other, our energy becomes divided and scattered. One of the essential concepts of creativity is that our actions follow our thoughts. In this regard, there is another concept that becomes extremely important to our creativity that is closely tied to intention. This second concept is that any action we take reinforces what we believe for it is what we choose to act upon. For example, we may strongly believe that all humans are equal. But, every time we act in a way that does not support that belief, we erode our belief and rob it of energy. We literally and figuratively fragment our energy and our psyche. We are diving our house undermining its foundation. Look at it this way. For each belief we hold we can direct energy into that belief. The amount of energy we can direct lies on a spectrum. At one end is zero energy meaning that we never choose to act on that belief and the belief remains in our psyche as pure potential. It is always there waiting for us to direct some energy into it. At the other end of the spectrum is where we put all of our available energy whenever life presents the opportunity to act on this belief. In this case, every time we are faced with acting on that belief or in the direction of that belief, we choose to act in favor of that belief no matter what impact it may have on your life. We need to understand that any action we make or take, either in what we would call real action or symbolic action (ritual, ceremony), is an action that reinforces to the psyche the desire on our part to manifest the thought behind that action or ritual. For example, the simple action of completing an application form for some endeavor is an action on our part and the statement of an intentionality for our life and can be seen as ritual that we are performing. The question is, "what is the intention behind completing the application?" Are we completing it because we truly want what the application is preparing us to do or are we completing it to satisfy somebody else’s desires and we have no real intention on following up on what the application will require. One the surface the action will be the same but where we are directing our energy depends on the intention and beliefs that underlay our actions. We are opening the door to our unlimited creativity when our actions are fully in line with, and what we believe consistent with, what our truth. If our actions and beliefs are consistent, our life will begin to change into the direction of our intention and we will be literally and figuratively consolidating our power and releasing our unlimited creativity. Each of us need to become impeccable in ensuring our actions follow our deepest intentions. This of course raises in us the need to understand how we act and how we choose, what we do, and why we choose as we do. We can only do this by going within and exploring ourselves and the intentions we hold. The external world and the events we experience in life only act as the occasions for us to go inside and understand why we respond to the experiences we have in the way we do. Each experience we have gives us the opportunity to understand and define ourselves or to deny ourselves and create the future in the mold of our past programming. In the realization that our actions need to follow our deepest intentions and our actions reinforce our intentions, another principle of creativity is that we need to be committed to what we wish to create. We will need to tithe both our time and energy to our creation. Since, energy flows where we focus our attention and any action we take reinforces our intention, we will need to both give our thinking, that is, the focus of our attention, and our energy, that is our actions and our time, to what we wish to manifest. It is our conscious or nonconscious intention that is the focal point and determines where our energy goes, not necessarily the object, person or situation on which we focus but rather (this is the critical piece) the intention behind the focus. In this regard, to begin exploring our nonconscious intentions we only need to see who and what we pull to us in our life and the environment in which we find ourselves for they will tell us something about what our nonconscious intention is. If desire and the longing of our heart is the fuel of Creation and causes to recreate our world to satisfy that longing then intention is the nozzle that channels and directs the energy to actually propels us forward into Creation. Desire in itself, as in a rocket engine, does little unless there is an intention to fulfill that desire. The greater the desire, the greater the fuel we have but it is that aspect of going and getting that lies within desire that propels us forward. In this regard, desire is to exercise our masculine aspect of being. To surrender to that desire and the flow of energy giving rise to its fulfillment is the feminine aspect. Our intentionality seeds our thought or determines our thoughts for the energy we experience. The intentions we hold directs our energy into thoughts by what we believe and how we believe. Or we could say the opposite, what we believe and how we believe results in intentions which direct our energy into thoughts to manifest that intention. The end result is the same for our intention also causes us to hold the beliefs we do and to form our belief structure the way they do. Our intentions and our desires do a dance with each other and are like the masculine and feminine. The intention is the masculine to trust forward into Creation to create and the feminine is what supports our creation and our ability to create. Yet it is the feminine, that is reflected in what we believe and how we believe, that entices is to thrust and get what we believe we want. On this note, it must be realized one of the deeps intentions we have and one that is most fundamental to how we create our reality is that we desired to have a physical experience as a human being. Whether the intention was to have a physical experience or to do something else that required a physical experience doesn’t matter. The desire and intention to have a physical experience is a fundamental intention we carry or otherwise wise we would not be incarnated in physical form. If we really wish to get control over our life, we have to access and understand to the best of our ability why we chose to have a physical experience. We have a free will and we are not here by accident. We chose to be here at some level of our being. If we don’t attempt to answer the question "Why am I here?" and get and answer that satisfies the deepest levels of our being that we know it is true, whatever we try and create will risk being pulled apart by the fundamental intention we carry. A version of the principle what we focus on grows in our life is found in some of the esoteric literature and is stated something like, "That which we pay attention to expands and is attracted into our personal experience" or, they say the non-physical reality reverses physical reality and "like attracts like." However, these versions of the principle do not bring out the truth that is it the intention and not the object of focus that is the issue. For example, some will the power of intention is to draw into our life that on which we focus. They say, "do not focus on a fear for we pull into our life what we fear." However, that is a misapplication of this principle of how we are focusing. It is the intention behind our focus on fear that is the issue. If we focus on the fear to address the hazards and mitigate the potential harm, we focus on creating a space of well being. In this case, our focus on fear actually reduce the occasions of fear to arise for we come to know we can deal with the true hazard within the fear. If we avoid focusing on the fear because we are afraid, our focus is still on what we fear even if we don’t think about it or distract ourselves in some way so we don’t consciously think about what we fear. In this case, fear is what grows in our life, not necessarily what we are fearing. Meditating, contemplating and/or thinking on that which we wish to have go away denies the intention behind our actions that give rise to our wish as why we want whatever it is to go away. The issue is not to live in a world where we have no fear and adjust our life because of fear. The issue is to go into the fear and understand where it comes form and why to deal with it at its root. The power of intention arise from the essential principle of the universe that our creative life energy goes where your attention goes and that on which our focus our attention grows and expands based on the attention that we give it. The key to creating the future of our choice is our attention and where and how we place it. How, and why, we focus our attention the way you do is more important than the attention itself. How we focus our attention, depends on what we believe, how we believe, that is our belief structure, and how much time and energy we give to that focus, is what determines how much energy flows into the object of our focus. The belief structure is the controlling factor with which we will have to deal if your nonconscious attention is be turned on or off. Recall the creation principle at work. If the attention is on, the energy flows. If it is off, nothing happens. How much energy flows depends on how long and how strongly we hold our attention and how much energy we allow to flow into that attention. To control our energy, we need to begin to understand what controls our attention. A question we need to ask is "What is an intention and what is the difference between attention and intention since the are both so related as to how we focus our creative life energy?" Attention is the concentrated direction of mental powers or the close or earnest attending to something or someone. It is the power or faculty of mental concentration. It is also the practical consideration or care given to something or someone. What needs to be understood is that we will not, and cannot, give our attention to something unless we have an intention. Our intention is the underlying purpose for where we are placing our attention. Our intention may be only to see what it is that crossed our peripheral vision or caused the sound that we may have heard. But, nevertheless there is still an intention behind our attention. We may be only placing our attention on something out of curiosity, that eager desire for information about what ever it is that captured our attention, or it may be out of fear we may be harmed. An intention can be seen from several different perspectives, all of which ultimately achieve the same end - it directs and underlies our attention. An intent is normally seen as a purpose, aim, goal or design. More importantly for our purposes, intent is the act of intending and is actually a state of mind in which, or the purpose with which, one does an act. Here the action we refer to is how, why and where we place our attention. When we intend we aim, direct, make, design, mean, signify, destine or whatever similar word we would like to use, something, some action, or some situation to have a specific aim, purpose, use or plan. We can intend harm or good by our actions. As a state of mind to intent can be seen as a stare or directing our mind or efforts steadfastly, earnestly or attentively. We can intend harm or good by our thoughts. When we are intentional, we act from an intention or with an intent. Intentionality is the state of being intentional in one’s thinking, actions and efforts. When we focus our attention on something, we are being intentional. In focusing our attention we are acting from an intention or we are acting with an intent. Now what is not understood is that this intention or intent can be conscious, nonconscious or a combination of both. What needs to be understood is that our intention, or our intent, acts as an undercurrent that directs our attention. If we have a clear, conscious intention then we will have a clear focus in our lives and our attention will be directed accordingly. If however, our intention is nonconscious we will still have a focus that continually directs our attention but we will think we don’t have control for the intention is nonconscious. To get control over our life so that we can direct our creative life energy into what we desire we will need to surface and nonconscious intentions that may be affecting what is we are trying to manifest. If don’t our attention will continually be diverted from what we are intending. To uncover any nonconscious intentions that we may have, all we need to do is to look at what is pulling our attention in our life. Although our thoughts may jump from one issue to another as the day proceeds, we will find that our thought will be reasonable localize around a given set of topic. By becoming aware of our thoughts and what pulls our attention we will begin to see what beliefs are causes those thoughts to occur or that allow our attention to get pulled in the direction it does. What we will find is that underneath the first layer of nonconscious intention there is another and another. Much like how the layers of an onion and we will need to peel back each layer until we find the most fundamental intention that is driving our attention in life. In looking to see what directs our attention, we will come to learn if you look is that the intention behind our actions is synonymous with the truth of our being. What we will find are embedded and layers of intentions consisting of desires, wishes, wants, obligations, duties and the like that is giving direction to our life. Now when we start this process, it is not over in a day or a week. The entire process is very personal and can take months or even years depending on how many layers that exist and are controlling our life. However, we need not undergo the entire uncovering process to manifest a particular intention that we may have. We will only need to uncover those beliefs that are impacting the particular intention we wish to manifest Intention - the underlying cause of creation (Top) The only point that needs to be understood as to how intention is the underlying cause of creation is that any desire, wish or want is an intention and that intention will determine where we place our attention. In placing our attention in a particular direction or on a particular object we direct our energy in that direction and cause whatever it is we focus on to grow in our life. If what we focus on is original or significantly different than what already exists, we will be creating something new whether we realize it or not. We in fact have been creating all our life. We only were probably not aware of exactly how we were doing it. If we look very carefully at our life, the lives of others, and the way reality functions, we will come to see that these statements are an adequate characterization of what we see and can explain and integrate many phenomena that seem unrelated and/or totally separate. The difficult part for most individuals is to understand exactly how our intention that seemingly exists only in that nebulous world of thought, actually produces a physical experience or object when we are not necessarily acting on the intention. The best way to understand this point is to look at each intention and understand it can be held consciously or nonconsciously. The world in which we live is illusionary because it is based on the illusion of mind and that mind thinks it understand what is unfolding in the world that we experience and live in. At one level we seem to have absolute control. Yet at another level we seem to have no control whatsoever. However, much of our lack of control stems from the lack of awareness of our own nonconscious intentions and how we are acting out our own intentionality. It cannot be over emphasized that our nonconscious is as powerful, if not more powerful, in creating our experiences as is the conscious choices we make. Nonconsciously, the intention we have held grows like a see. As a seed that lies buried below ground and pulls from the ground all the nutrients and nourishment it needs to grow into the plant the it is. The only question as to whether or not the seed grows is whether the environmental conditions are adequate to support its growth. So too with the intentions we hold. If the environment is correct, long dormant intentions can quickly grow and manifest in our lives pulling from the unseen what is necessary to create the experience. Having (perhaps) forgotten the seed we planted, we then wonder how and why we are having the experience we are having. To use the nonconscious process, we need to set a clear intention and hold it in our psyche with unwavering faith. Then go off and do something else ever watchful and listening to the guidance our intuitive guidance provides us as to how to act and what we need to do to manifest our intention. A nonconscious intention opens our to psychic and mediumistic experiences for it pulls from the unseen world the resources and experience and whatever else we need to manifest the intention. We can learn to use this nonconscious process if we so choose. One simple examples is before going to sleep we can instruct ourselves to be receptive to physic dreams and messages and utilize this technique to get askers to questions. There is a related aspect to the intention that we hold nonconsciously and that is the greater the intention is directed towards benefitting all the more we are able to access the information that we need. The more that our intentions that are laced with ulterior motives for self-gain at the expense of others the less we can access information. The reason for this is an intention held that impacts all can ride on or align with the intentions of others there by gaining a tremendous number of added ways that our needs can be meet. In essence, in helping us, others are helping themselves. However an intention that benefits solely the individual makes us totally responsible for meeting our own needs. If we look carefully, most people are not interested in helping us to meet our needs. Rather, they will assist us if we can somehow meet theirs. You may argue this point violently, but it is suggested you look very carefully at the intention that lies behind your own actions and the actions of others. You will be surprised as to what you see. In understanding the power of intention, we can choose to create any experience we desire. If we desire to have a to have a gentle, efficient and quick transformation into our own creative power, we simple need to set the clear intention to create one and surrender to how you are lead. There is a fast way and a slow way for anything you wish to manifest, and of course and enormous spectrum of paths in between. But it is our own beliefs is what limits us in anything that we desire to accomplish. In manifesting any desire it does need to be noted that scattered intentions and conflicting intentions interfere with our ability to manifest. This is true about how we create individually and collectively. Scattering your intentions is simply about things not happening as fast as we desire on the physical plane so we allow your attention to become scattered and focused in many different directions. Although we may continue to hold the same intention, our energy is scattered among many different intentions. This is why we need to learn to have s single point focus and be able to make our lives a single point meditation for what we desire to create. Scattered intentions delay what we desire to manifest. However, conflicting intention destroy the ability to manifest. For example, if we desire to go from America to Australia but we intend never to fly or ride a boat, it will be rather difficult to walk or ride there . In this case we will never be able to go there until of course, 1) the oceans freeze, 2) the oceans evaporate or 3) teleports are developed. Collective manifestation works in a very similar way and become more difficult because of the greater potential for scattering and conflicting intentions. The more a group of individuals argue and squabble that confusion and chaos becomes an intention itself for the need to argue and squabble is based on a deeper intention that gets carried into any manifestation. That in turn only creates more bizarre and distorted creations. Yet the creations themselves only reflect the starting materials that lies within the individual themselves. The most simplest collective example is that we say we all desire peace and we all should allows others the freedom to just be who they are yet we live and accept war and rules that requires people to become the same rather than being free to live their uniqueness. We must begin to realize that deeper intentions we carry that are creating what we are actually experiencing if we really want to change what we experience. It must be remembered, a huge brainless bureaucracy is only result of the deep intentions collectively manifested by it participants. It is to their advantage and meets their individual intentions. Otherwise, they would change it. It could just as easily be a vibrant and dynamic organization if the individuals truly intended it to be so. Performance measures and intention (Top) So as not to loose ourselves in any intention we hold, we should consider our performance measures for our intention so that we can recognize success when we get there. It needs to be remembered and emphasized that any one intention will carry us past any individual goal and if we are not clear as to what success looks like. Our intention that directed us to that goal can carry us ad infinitum in a given search. For example, the intention to build a house is quite different than the intention to build a home although they sound very much the same. To build a home we will have to meet a variety of goal most of which we will also need to build a home. To build the house, we need to have the goal of buying the land, picking the blueprint, building the house step by step, and of course, having the exterior landscaped suitable to our preferences. When these individual goals and milestones are reached, we have our house and we can sell it if we wish. The intent has been met. However, if we desired to build a home, we are now faced with many more additional tasks. In particular, a home is about relationships. Relationship both between us and the physical structure and environment and between us and anyone who live inside the house with us, visits our house or lives nearby. We now must work to create the relationships to have that home. Since we can’t control the relationship, it may take us an eternity to figure out how form of the relationship that will create that home we desire and seek. We may develop the relationship with our spouse but not our children. Or, we may develop the relationship with the neighbors but not our spouse. Or, we may develop the relationship with everyone and the house but not the land. Yet, we may develop all the relationship for our home but now we expand our concept of home to the overall community and begin to work to build that home that exists within the whole town even though we have home we desired. In looking at our performance to manifest, this is were we need to become mindful of our habits. We become so intent on developing relationships or building something that we make a habit of it. We try and make every relationship one of our home or continually remodel our house because we get into the habit of building then wonder way we never get done. So too with any intention we hold consciously or nonconsciously. Some intentions allow the energy to dissipate when specific objectives are achieve. Others continue to propel us forward long after the initial concern which gave rise for the intention is meet. Whether it is because of habit or lack of a clear success indicator, we nevertheless, continue in the preset course long after it has served our needs. Setting the intention to experience; security, God, happiness, wealth, making the world right, healing oneself or others, seeking understanding, and other such "goals" will all be illusive for these kinds of intentions can cause us to explore the infinity of creation. As such, obtaining what we think is the endpoint will always put us in the realization that there is more to it than we have found. We need to remember, we are an infinite being and Creation is infinite. Anything that we "achieve" or "obtain" is only one of an infinite number of ways we can obtain it and/or lose it. Until we explore the infinite of what it is we seek, we will always be challenge by the fact we don’t quite have what we seek. We will never really be satisfied in the attempt to ever seek anything. Until we come to the realization we already are and have all that is needed, we will always seemed to need something. But, because we are in a body, we will always have our physical needs. It is part of the play of Creation and the nature of the human physical experience But to always be in need is not part of our being and essence of who and what we are. The only intention that does not continually pull us into further exploration of the universe is to be happy with what is, as it is, fully accept the desires we have and all that we see and experience. It is realizing that any thing we think or desire changes what is but it also realizes that what is, is always changing. It is accepting that there is an intention for our life and for us being here and that intention was created with the full understanding that something would be created because of that intention. It means that who and what we are will have desires by our very natures and those desire are fully part of the natural processes. The only question is, "Do the desires arise from the mind and who we think we are and only serve the ego or do the desires arise from the heart and in alignment with the creative life energy that created and sustains our being?" There is no judgment on whether our intentions come from the mind or the heart for we were created with the full knowledge that we would have a free will to do with what we wish. It is part of and inherent to Creation. The only question then is, "Are we creating in true freedom and true freedom of choice and awareness or are we blindly following the will of others including blindly following the flow of our creative life energy?" We have to be permitted to not follow the flow of energy within our being so we can find out for ourselves which is more enjoyable and what we prefer. Some of us are here to literally and figuratively surrender to the flow of energy within our being. Some of are here to intentionally change that flow. Other are here with a combination of both. Only in exploring our own truth and doing our own experiments will we know what we are here to do and that exploration is a solo journey that no one can do for us. All another can do is hold the space for us in which we do our exploration. All that we need to really be aware of is that we can get lost in our intentions. Unless we become mindful and aware of what we are intending both consciously and nonconsciously we really can not become the creative being that we truly are. When ever we set an intention, we should become very clear in why we intend to do what you do. What is it that we are really trying to accomplish, satisfy or achieve. Also we should be as specific as we can be in what we are trying to achieve and experience in the simplest terms as possible so that we can recognize success when we find it or achieve it. Related topics The Password Protected Area provides access to all currently posted (click for current loading) Releasing Your Unlimited Creativity related discussion files and applications. |
|
|
RYUC Home Why free? Contact Links Programs/services Contributions | |
