I hope you are successfully navigating the winter storms and cold weather. And for those of you who are on the West Coast or in milder climates, make sure you really enjoy the sunshine and warm weather for all of us!
For this calendar year, we are considering the twelve PTCI Spiritual Energy Principles.
In January, I introduced the first Principle, Doing follows Being. I hope you had some time to take this Principle into your Heart and Mind and reflect upon its meaning for you.
This month we will be working with the next two Spiritual Energy Principles:
- When we wholeheartedly commit ourselves to an intention, we begin to “see” and “feel” ourselves differently, allowing us to respond from a new place within ourselves.
- Energy follows attention.
Let’s start with considering what we mean by an “intention.” Intentions are a way of connecting with the reality of who we are – our Being – and channeling that understanding and experience into how we think, feel, and act. We can think of intentions as being a way of connecting to and working with our Ideals. We start by remembering that we all are part of a greater, unbroken whole. Cayce calls this Oneness, which is an all-encompassing love and compassion that surrounds us and guides us. Our personal spiritual Ideal is our unique calling to bring the qualities of Oneness into our daily lives. When we set an intention, we are activating within ourselves a commitment to imagine, embody, and manifest our best selves – through our thoughts, attitudes, emotions and actions – in service to Oneness and to each other.
According to one of our treasured spiritual teachers, Lama Govinda, our work here in the embodied world is not to spiritualize it, because the world is already spiritual. Indigenous people know this truth and honor Mother Earth in their cultures. Our purpose here in the embodied world is to materialize our spirits, to bring the energies of our intentions, our ideals, our higher selves into our everyday lives and to share that energy with others in service.
It begins with training our minds to “remember” our intentions. We do this by starting our day with a meditation on our intentions and pausing throughout the day to bring our hearts and minds back to our intentions. In this way, we take charge of our thoughts, attitudes and feelings and bring them into alignment with the highest and best of who we are.
By keeping our attention focused on our intentions and Ideals, we begin to imagine and feel ourselves, our relationship with each other, and our relationship with Mother Earth in more expanded and heart-centered ways. Then, our actions can be compassionate and skillful, benefiting others and relieving suffering.
This month, I invite all of you to consider making a commitment to your Ideals by setting an intention to remember one or more qualities of your Ideal and committing to activating that energy in your daily life. Part of your commitment then is to take time each day to remember your commitment and your Ideal and welcome it into your thoughts, attitudes, emotions, and daily activities.
Here are some important considerations when setting, remembering and applying your intention in your daily life:
- The strength and expanse of your intention will determine the response from your own heart and from the universe.The stronger your intention and your desire to understand and implement it, the stronger your inner commitment, the more powerful your inner response and the response from the universe.
- The response you receive may not be what you initially expect. Before dismissing a thought, attitude, emotion, or experience that comes your way because it seems to be too good to be true, or because it seems too challenging or even scary, ask yourself, “What might I learn about myself, my Ideal and my intention from this challenge or opportunity?” When we wholeheartedly set an intention and focus our attention on it, we open ourselves to see our goodness and pure heart; and we open ourselves to experience, transform, and heal our wounded hearts as well.
- This understanding and experience carries us to another place within – a place of fearlessness and commitment; a place of compassion, understanding love, and tolerance where we can see the best in ourselves, in others, and more clearly see a way forward through the chaos and confusion of our personal lives and the uncertainty that surrounds us.Wholehearted commitment to our intentions and Ideals is the path to spiritual warriorship — a phrase coined by a Tibetan meditation master, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.This is not an easy path, but it is the path I think to inner and outer transformation and healing.
