Words To Live By: Desire/Intention

(This is one of a part of a series of WORDS TO LIVE BY. This series grew out of a workbook I first made for my young daughters and discussed at the dinner table. These Words include values, good ideas, and Words to aspire to….and learn from….enjoy!)

I initially was going to write about ‘desire’ by itself. I’ve read and heard about how we really need to desire our goals and use that desire or passion to motivate us, etc. More recently I’ve read about intention and how that relates to our potential. Finally, I recently read something from Deepak Chopra that discusses Intention and Desire simulteanously and felt that it was best to use them together here.

In Deepak Chopra’s “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success”, he discusses the 5th law of Intention and Desire. Basically he discusses that there is a field of energy, information around us all the time and that intention and desire influence this field – and that the field is essentially pure consciousness and potentiality, as he puts it.

On a material level, Chopra says that we are made up of the same things as the universe, as the trees, as each other – hydrogen, carbon, etc. etc. We are the same as these things except that the difference is that we have our own energy, life, desire and intentions.  We are aware of our consciousness, our energy, our information, etc.

We experience all things through our physical body yet we are not simply just physical. We are able to consciously change the informational content that gives rise to our physical bodies. Chopra says, “You can consciously change the energy and infomational content of your own quantum mechanical body, and therefore influence the energy and informational content of your extended body – your environment, your world – and cause things to manifest in it.”

As we’ve heard from other great minds, Chopra reminds us “Whatever you put your attention on will grow stronger in your life…..Intention, on the other hand, triggers transformation of energy and information. Intention organizes its own fulfillment.”

OK, so we might have already known that, right? It is good to be reminded. So now what? If we are connected with everything else in the world, in the universe and our intention influences things in some way or another, now what?

Chopra says, “You can put the cosmic computer with its infinite organizing power to work for you. You can go…..and introduce an intention, and just by introducing the intention, you activate the field of infinite correlation.”

So in other words, desire, intention, whatever you want to call it, creates a foundation for ‘effortless, spontaneous, flow’.

“Intention is the real power behind desire.” Deepak Chopra

More importantly, and sometimes what is much harder, we need to practice detachment. In my mind at least, this seems like a contradiction.

Let me say it this way, similar to what Chopra says – we can desire something, we can put forth the intention for it – which is what most people do. But most people stay attached to “IT”. We need to be detached from “IT”.

Intention with detachment is what you need to seek. You intend for something to happen in the future but you need to let go and be in the present, be aware in the moment, and be centered on the now.

As Chopra says, “As long as your attention is in the present, then your intent for the future will manifest, because the future is created in the present.”

How do we do that?

Meditate. Center yourself, get silent, connect. Release your intentions and desires.

For instance, Chopra puts it this way, “If you want a successful career, go into the gap (meditate) with that intention, and the intention will already be there as a faint flicker in your awareness. Releasing your intentions and desires….will plant them in the fertile ground of pure potentiality….you do not want to dig up the seeds of your desires to see if they are growing, ….you simply want to release them.”

Releasing attachment was a hard thing to understand for me personally. Thinking about my intentions and desires as seeds, planting them as releasing attachment helped. No one digs up seeds to see how they grow. You plant them, maybe water them but you have faith that they are growing. You can do little things to help the growth sometimes but ultimately you need to let go.

I’ve heard various thoughts on self-referral and discussing your intentions and desires, but Chopra says to keep our intentions to ourselves, unless someone else shares the exact same desires that you have and are closely bonded with you.

Here are some action steps:

1. Make a list of your desires. Carry the list with you all the time. Look at it before meditating, before going to sleep, and when you wake up.
2. Release the list of desires and intentions. Surrender them to the Universe, Source, God, to creation. Let go and trust that the details are being handled.
3. Remind yourself to be in the moment, live in the present. Refuse to allow challenges and obstacles to slow you down, to discourage you, or to diminish the quality of your attention on the present moment. Enjoy the moment, accept it, be happy in the moment.

“Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.”

Mary Anne Radmacher

Dr. Wayne Dyer, Mike Dooley, and many others say the same things in different ways. Wayne Dyer suggests that we have a mantra of sorts to remind us of things and our intentions before bed. He states that our last thoughts before sleep can linger for up to four hours in our subconscious. Dyers suggests that we create a reminder to review what you intend to manifest for your life. Create what he calls, “I ams” – I am love, I am writing, I attract only those who are in alignment…..etc.

Our intention creates our reality. -Dr. Wayne Dyer

Dyer also points out that other philosophers and psychologists agree; “One of Dr. Maslow’s most significant attributes of living a self-actualized life is self-trust. When you trust yourself to decide your destiny, you don’t allow externals to discourage or influence you. You have faith, and faith is attained through complete trust and confidence in the power of the one universal mind, which you are inextricably a part of. It is the God-realized you that placed the thoughts and feelings that represent your destiny into your mind and body.”

The definition of intention has changed for me, at least since I was younger. Intention was generally viewed as a “pit-bull kind of determination” pushing us to succeed at all costs by never giving up. It was mostly about an attitude that combines hard work with a drive toward something. However, intention is viewed very differently by Dr. Chopra, Mike Dooley, Dr. Dyer and others. Intention is considered or viewed as a force in the universe that allows the act of creation to take place. Intention is not as something you do—but as an energy you’re a part of…..

Here’s a quick fun quote to depart with…

You are what you think … geez, that’s frightening. -Lily Tomlin

Tagged: acceptance, focus, goal setting, independence me, inspiration, inspire, manifest, motivation, self-help, success, wayne dyer, wellness, what is inspiration