The Power of Intention
It isn't what you think, or is it?
While writing the post on the power of prayer for the religion section, I was reminded of Lynne McTaggart’s book, The Intention Experiment. In fact, I decided to read the book and participate in her experiments. Can you alter matter with your intention? Of course you can. Try closing one eye. Did you succeed? I knew you could do it!
Central to McTaggart’s thinking, and in common with many thinkers, is that thoughts are things. Thoughts have power. Maybe. How do we define thoughts?
According to Vocabulary.com, “Thought is the process of using your mind to consider something. It can also be the product of that process: an idea or just the thing you're thinking about.” Okay. Let’s explore that a little deeper.
For this exercise, assume your brain is a biocomputer. You are a spirit/soul – the programmer/operator of your brain. Thought (as a process) is you subconsciously using your brain. Thoughts (as what you are thinking about) is what you are conscious of your brain doing.
Now here is the exercise. I recommend you actually complete the exercise for 30 seconds before reading further. Sit up comfortably. Set a timer for 30 seconds. Place a hand in front of your face. Put your hands in your lap. Close your eyes and visualize your hand in front of your face exactly as you saw it. Continue until the timer alarms.
This is one of my favorite exercises. I found (as do most people) that my mind would wander as I attempted to visualize my hand in front of my face. I could stop my mind and bring it back to thinking about my hand in front of my face. Somehow, I can change my brain and change my thought (in this case the vision of my hand or whatever my mind wandered off to). I have done the exercise in rooms of up to 30 people. Nobody raised a hand in front of their face during the exercise. Even while visualizing the hand in front of the face, the hand remains in the lap. Why?
I chalk it up to intention. Power is not in the thought. Thinking about your hand in front of your face does not move your hand. Yet, when you started the experiment, you moved your hand in front of your face easily, without visualization. What is the difference? Your intention.
When you visualize your hand in front of your face, you intend to create a vision in your mind by changing your brain. You are not intending to move your hand. Your mind wanders due to your lack of control over your brain. I found that with practice I became much better at focusing my mind.
What I believe we learn from the exercise is that the power is not in our thinking. Our power is in our will, our intention. We are spirits exerting control on matter. While watching our minds wander, we also realize that we can allow the brain to function without control. While out of control, it has no power.
What are you getting in your world? Is it what you are intending? Are you controlling matter? Or is matter controlling you?
I hope you now agree that the random thoughts or discussions going through your mind has no power. The power comes from the subconscious part of you using that process to think.