Meaning, Definitions
Aspiration
Aspiration is that which we seek to become or see manifest in life.
Aspiration
Aspiration is the being wanting what the mind understands to be good. (Sri Karmayogi)
Aspiration
Aspiration comes about when something in our inner self wants what our mind perceives as being useful and good.
That Which You Wish to Become and Aspiration
You can get that which you wish to get = you can become that which you wish to become = you get, become to the degree of your aspiration. That aspiration comes from an awareness, a recognition of a possibility of some knowledge that you feel an urge or will to manifest.
Will
The intensity of our aspiration is our will.
Intention, Will, and Accomplishment
An intention is a choice we make -- i.e. a decision. The power and effectiveness of our decisions depend on the intensity of the Will with which we make them, and how we stick to them once we have made the choice. The greater the Will, the more the energy is released for accomplishment. (paraphrase of MSS)
Intention as Ultimate Faculty that Attracts Accomplishment
There is no greater human faculty for accomplishment than our intention. When we have a clear knowledge of what we want to accomplish, and our emotions fully endorse and support its achievement, then our intention takes shape. If we then make a determined, persevering effort to carry out our hearts desire, we generate an irresistible power that can quickly attract the infinite possibilities to our doorstep.
Real Intention that Attracts
Real intention takes shape when the thing we consciously desire is ongoing; i.e. it is sustained over time. When our aspiration/intention repeats in our thoughts, when it continually rises in our emotions, then our intention really becomes full. From that poise, we generate a surge of energy inside ourselves, which moves out, and creates a ripple in the fabric of the cosmos, attracting corresponding elements, which we experience as life response.
Really Wanting It
We need to truly want our vision for accomplishment, and its corresponding goals and objectives to come about.This is the will to see it come about. It is one thing to envision and think a possibility, it is another to really want it. By engaging our will in pursuit of our vision, goals, and objectives we will have in essence directed our personalenergies into a real force for accomplishment. This is in essence our general inner readiness. Our direction, consisting of our vision, goals, objectives and sustaining will, then is the starting point for great accomplishment.
Idea vs Intention
An idea is a thought, an intention is a choice -- a decision. It is what we intend; what we aspire for.
Intention
Intention is that which we wish to occur. It is made possible by our focus on a thing and a desire for it to come about. Together they form our intention.
Definition of Aspiration
Our conscious desire to make a thing happen is our aspiration or intention. Its intensity is measured by will.
Miscellaneous Thoughts On Aspiration
Aspiration is a conscious initiative that becomes an urge.
Aspiration is the organisation of emotions.
Aspiration is individual seeking.
Aspiration is the being wanting what the mind understands to be good.
Mental aspiration is verbal, is voiced. Vital aspiration is unvoiced energy. Physical aspiration is subconscious urge.
Aspiration raising itself to the maximum possible peak is the Zeal consuming one's being.
Once aspiration is released, it cannot wait, but it is released by Patience.
All aspirations are aspirations for the Divine. (Sri Karmayogi, extracted)
Aspiration vs. Intention
Aspiration and intention can be used interchangeably, although the latter tends to have a somewhat broader and deeper connotation.
Intention vs. Aspiration
Intention is used interchangeably with Aspiration, though the latter also has can have a deeper, even spiritual connotation.
Thoughts on Aspiration, Intention
Really wanting a thing is our aspiration and intention. It is the thing behind our will for something to come about.
Our aspiration is our intention.
Aspiration can be thought of as something as a little wider than intention. It is what we are seeking for in life. Intention is a bit more of the specific things that we want to occur, like a goal or objective. Still they can be thought of similarly.
That which we aspire for, intent tends to occur, especially if it is intensely focused on. Then it depends on the attitudes, good or bad we bring to bear.
Aspiration, Intention Accomplishes
Success is primarily determined by our aspiration in life, and the effort to make it come about.
Success through Intensity of Aspiration and Values
-The greatest success results come from the intensity of our personal aspiration and values, which are ultimate determining factors for accomplishment.
-When we intensely aspire to achieve a goal through our most cherished values, we attract maximum results in our chosen field, evoking the infinite from the finite.
We Become that Which We Believe We Can Become
We becomes that which we believe we can become. So says the Bhagavad-Gita of India.
We Can Become What We Aspire For
The Bhagavad-Gita says that one can become anything if only he can aspire for it. (MSS)
Aspiration and Accomplishment
What you deeply aspire for life tends to occur sooner or later.
Strength of One's Will Accomplishes
One may have ideas, ideals, launch actions, but what achieves is the STRENGTH of his will, especially the Will of his emotions. ... What achieves is the strength, organisation, knowledge of, and clarity of the structure of will. (MSS, somewhat modified)
Outer Effort, Inner Aspiration
Our outer effort must match our deepest inner aspiration for great results to occur. If what you do on the outside is fully endorsed by your deepest aspirations inside, you will succeed infinitely in life.
Intention that Attracts Instantaneous Luck
As soon as you focus on a matter that was not earlier garnering your interest and attention, life instantly responds with good news concerning that matter. It is the miracle of "life response" in action. In particular, it is the power of Intention to attract sudden good fortune.
For example, an individual decided to study a program he has been avoiding for weeks if not months, and within five minutes of taking up that effort, from out of nowhere he receives word of a big opportunity related to that specific matter. In the previous weeks, where he did not focus on that issue at all, life did not respond.
When we focus our intention on a matter, we send out a pulse of energy that moves out into the field of life and aligns with favorable circumstance that we then experience as an instance of sudden good fortune. In other words, by focusing our attention on a matter, we attract instantaneous miraculousness. The fact is that luck is not arbitrary, but is something we can attract to us instantly when we make use of the inner levers that bring it about. Intensely focusing our intention is one such lever that instantaneously attracts abundance.
Power of Intention
-Life responds to our intention. When we really want something to occur, life tends to move toward us, fulfilling our aspiration. If our intention is full -- i.e. if our energies are intensely directed toward the pursuit of a specific goal over a certain period of time -- then life not only moves towards us, but does so rapidly, fulfilling our intensions.
-When we have a clear knowledge of what we want to accomplish, and our emotions fully endorse and support its achievement, then our full intention takes shape. If we then make a determined, persevering effort to carry out our hearts desire, we generate an irresistible power that can quickly attract the infinite potentials of life.
-The ancient Indian texts known as the Upanishads declare, ''You are what your deepest desire is. As is your desire, so is your intention. As is your intention, so is your will. As is your will, so is your deed. As is your deed, so is your destiny."
-Human aspiration/intention can express at various levels -- from a mild mental interest in a subject to an intense desire to accomplish an important goal. At the highest levels, our intention can be directed to changing the very course of our lives. But whatever our level of intention -- from a passing fancy to a need to fulfill our heart's desire -- life can respond.
-When we intensely take an interest in a subject and also consciously seek tangible results, life move towards us with results that are in turn themselves utilitarian.
-Real intention, however, takes shape when the thing we consciously desire is ongoing; i.e. it is sustained over time. When our aspiration/intention repeats in our thoughts, when it continually rises in our emotions, then our intention really becomes full. From that poise, we generate a surge of energy inside ourselves, which moves out, and creates a ripple in the fabric of the cosmos, attracting corresponding elements, which we experience as life response.
-Though a sustained interest in a subject or matter that includes specific intended results are critical elements, the heart and soul of intention is to really want the object.
-When you really want something, life tends to move toward you with good fortune. On the other hand, if you are indifferent, half-heartedly hoping for something to occur, then there is unlikely to be any substantive results.
-Though our aspiration for something might be strong and deep, life might not give us what we want until we change a corresponding wanting element within. However, when we identify and reverse that wanting quality, life instantly brings us the very thing we longed for.
-When we move beyond the constraints of our own individual nature -- i.e. from ego to ego-lessness, from finite possibility to an unlimited view of what is possible, from a narrow view of time to a wider one, and from ignorance to knowledge -- we open ourselves to the universal plane where all intentions are instantly fulfilled.
Attracting What We Intend
If our mind and heart is focused on accomplishing something, we tend to attract it.
Life Responds to Decision, Emotion, Action
Life responds most powerfully and quickly when our mental decision is endorsed by our vital emotions and by our physical actions. E.g. if I decide to initiate a new undertaking, and then sustain a deep emotion for it to come about, while taking every necessary action, life will respond overwhelmingly, quickly bring me what I was after. It can even come instantaneously, at the beginning.
Manifesting Our Intention
The power of intention is a 3000-year-old knowledge first presented in the ancient Indian Vedas and Upanishads. (Now they call it 'The Secret.') When we focus our mind on a matter, we tend to evoke it into being, or attract related things or matters to us. You wanted a book at the lower under $25 price and received it.
Now you can apply it in other parts of your life. You could thus receive everything you dream of very short order, even instantaneously.
When we take it to a more serious level however, other forces, especially our attitudes get in the way that may block the power of intention. If we overcome a key wanting attitudes when in pursuit of a goal, it tends to manifests very fast.
It is a shift of these coincidences from unconscious manifestation to conscious evocation. In that way, we can evoke anything whenever we want to. I.e. we develop the power to become the Master of life.
Taking to Higher Consciousness that Spontaneously Fulfills One's Desire
Shifting your consciousness to a higher plane causes life to spontaneously fulfill your heart's desire.
Comment: (1) A heart's desire can be a small, short-term intent or goal; or a longer, deeper one. When a friend I know recently decided not to get upset because he could not get a rare book he was after, life suddenly presented him with a situation where he not only suddenly got that very same book, but many other rare ones by the same author. He was shocked by the development, though he knew something special had occurred. Raising his consciousness enabled life to respond and fulfill his somewhat limited heart's desire as it was at that point. And yet, the greater the reversal of consciousness in one's self to something higher, the more life tends to bring to your doorstep the very deepest of one's intentions, desires, hopes, and dreams. It's a knowledge that is there going back to the Upanishads. Deepak Chopra calls such coincidence/life response issuing from taking to a higher consciousness - such as shedding a negative attitude, giving up a fixed habit, etc. - the "spontaneous fulfillment of desire." It is one of the secrets inside The Secret.
(2) The intensity of the shift in consciousness is what makes all the difference in terms of the response. Whether an intense shift from a negative to a positive, or to the effort of consecration, or to the depth of silence in the face of difficulty, etc. etc.
Also if one takes to these spiritual methods, especially consecration, one's Receptivity to the working of the Force will determine if Life, the Divine, the Mother suddenly fulfills your heart's desire.
Finally, a heart's desire can be fulfilled by life in ways that are not what you would expect; but that is attuned to the "yearning" of your higher nature; or at least what it perceives as necessary for your personal growth.
The Power of Intention
Life responds to our intention. When we really want something to occur, life tends to move toward us, fulfilling our aspiration. If our intention is full -- i.e. if our energies are intensely directed toward the pursuit of a specific goal over time -- life not only moves towards us, but does so rapidly, fulfilling that deepest aspiration. When Albert Einstein began to focus all aspects of his being -- mental, vital, and physical -- toward the pursuit of his goal of finding work to overcome his destitute condition as a young man, the possibility of working at the Patent Office position began to move toward him. When his intention became full -- i.e. he crossed over a certain threshold of intensity demanded of life -- life responded and the job became his. From that new post, he was not only able to overcome his current predicament of poverty, but it would serve as the platform from which he would fulfill his potential, changing the course of science, and the history of the world.
We begin to see that there is no greater human faculty for accomplishment than our intention. When we have a clear knowledge of what we want to accomplish, and our emotions fully endorse and support its achievement, then our intention takes shape. Just taking to formatting what we aspire and really wanting it can attract powerful response from life. On the other hand, if go a step further and make a determined, persevering effort to carry out our hearts desire, we generate an irresistible power that will quickly attract that which we aspired to accomplish. If that particular desire is not fulfilled, then another one will come on its own.
In fact, if we look around us, we will see that life is always responding to our intentions. In Pride and Prejudice,Mrs. Bennett intensely desired to marry off her daughters to avoid the pending eviction of her family from their home, and within a year, that is precisely what occurred for three of them. When Erin Brockovich directed all of her energies to getting out of poverty, she quickly secured the job at the law office. That position not only lifted her out of misery, but became the springboard through which she would change the course of victims' rights history. Her ferocious intensity carried her through a challenging legal process that ended in an overwhelming $300 million settlement for her long-suffering clients, and considerable wealth and a long-standing career for herself.
When we focus on accomplishing something, then our intention takes shape. When our intention is full -- i.e. when we intensely want something to occur, and sustain that urge over time -- life tends to move towards us with abundant good fortune. There is no greater power for accomplishment and success in life!
The ancient Indian texts known as the Upanishads declare, ''You are what your deepest desire is. As is your desire, so is your intention. As is your intention, so is your will. As is your will, so is your deed. As is your deed, so is your destiny."
Life Response in 'The Verdict'
I saw the film The Verdict again. I saw something new. At one point his partner says that things looked bleak andhopeless regarding the current case -- and indeed -- they did. His partner also suggested that there would beother court cases in the future. However, Frank insisted that no, THIS was the case. THIS was the case, whichhe repeated over and over. The power of intention was so great that shortly thereafter he discovered the missing witness in the form of the former nurse that would win him the case. Also, the betrayal by the woman who was his lover was suddenly revealed. It was double good fortune for Frank; i.e. it was life responding to the release of powerful energies emanating from Frank's Will. His power of intention (and his decisions and actions that followed it) was so great that it overwhelmed and overtook every other obstacle. His whole existence, whichuntil that point had been a failure in his own mind, was now caught up in that staggering aspiration. He then attracted Truth to his side, with nearly everyone recognized, including the crooked judge.
Two New Acquaintances Meet When Thinking of One Another
When two people who have just met are thinking about one another and are separate in physical space, they tend to suddenly meet serendipitously in the same place.
Levels of Intention and Life Response
We can see at least four levels of gradation of Intention that evoke Life Response, i.e. sudden good fortune.
1. BRIEF FOCUS ON A MATTER -- A simple focus of a thought on a matter attracts more of it -- i.e. more info or objects related to it. The life response result originates from our passing fancy, something that captures our attention, or other intense, but fleeting thoughts and emotions.
2. BASIC INTENTION - An intention for something to come about. This is beyond a mere, passing fancy, interest, or brief focus on a matter. It is something, some GOAL we wish to achieve. Done with clarity, intensity, and emotion, it attracts commensurate life response results that accomplish the goal, and more.
3. CONSECRATED INTENTION --An intention for something to come about, for a goal to be achieved, as above, that is also Consecrated -- i.e. offered to the Divine Mother. It manifests wonderful results, depending on our level of receptivity. It often comes in the form of something wholly unexpected and has a very creative nature. After all, the Supramental Action is a "Causal" power, meaning that it creatively evokes new things out of nothing.
4. INTENTION FOR DIVINE -- This is an intension, specific life-oriented goal to serve the Divine, Divine Mother and her cause without any personal considerations. It produces extraordinary results, AND they keep vibrating with additional, stunning outcomes. A life of Surrender to the Divine allows for such results, and therefore such startling, multi-faceted, ongoing life response results. One in essence rides a Magic Carpet Ride of Instantaneous Miraculousness, leaving normal causality, space, time, and finite possibility behind.
Naturally, there are any number of gradations in between, as well as in other dimensions. The above is just a theoretical framework based on observations of the Intention-originated Life Response.
Being Passionate about Something
When you really want something, life tends to move toward you with good fortune. On the other hand, if you are indifferent, half-heartedly hoping for something to occur, then there is unlikely to be any substantive results.Therefore, if you manage to discover the intensity within to really want something, then life will tend to cooperate, ad bring your hearts desire in no time.
If we want something to occur, we need to be passionate it, whether it means being passionate about the position we are in, or being passionate about the want itself. For example, if an individual would like to secure a job in a new emerging field, but his passion and intensity about it is limited, it is unlikely to come to him. On the other hand, if he really wants that position, has a passion for this emerging field that is sustained over time, then what he longs for tends to come about.
There is a wonderful scene in the British broadcast version of Pride and Prejudice in which Eliza Bennet wanders off into the countryside, climbs a remote hilltop, and suddenly comes upon, of all people, Mr. Darcy. While this scene might strike some as the artifice of a director trying to manipulate the story for dramatic effect, from a deeper perspective we see that this is precisely how life works! Because both have such strong emotions towards one another, and want to be with one another, they move toward the same place at the same time, enabling a simultaneous life response. Their intense longing for one another is so strong that their energies move out into the field of life and find a common point in space/time where they come together. It is a perfect illustration of how life responds to an intense aspiration and longing for something -- i.e. really wanting it.
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The Power of Intention on the Eve of the IPhone
When we focus our minds on a thing, we are generally unaware that we have set in motion a process in which knowledge and circumstance related to that object will suddenly come back to us, entering our field of awareness from seemingly out of nowhere. These sudden, unexpected echoes or reverberations of what we originally perceived are truly a miracle to behold -- an experience of an instance of the phenomenon of ''life response."
Recently one evening, I woke in the middle of the night and thought about possible solutions to a technical problem I had been grappling with. Since my mind was now fully engaged, I thought about other matters as well. One subject that came up was the pending release of the Apple IPhone. The thought I had was that this was indeed a monumental undertaking -- where everything needed to go just right to insure its success in the marketplace. It occurred to me that this was especially true in three areas. First, the devise needed to function as advertised for the user. Second, the actual purchasing of the device through phone centers and other outlets, -- where accounts and multi-year contracts were established -- needed to go smoothly. And third, people needed to know how to use the product once they purchased it.
I felt confident that the first two areas would work out reasonably well, but I had questions about the third. Yes, I thought, it was an Apple product, which is generally easier to use than the technology of competitors, but this was still a powerful integrated device with many sophisticated features. Would people know how to use it right out of the box after purchasing it? Apple, as well as their competitors, have rarely included training with their products, but instead require the user to fend for themselves by purchasing a book on the subject, or go to a training class, or use on-line training of sorts if available. How then was Apple going to provide user help with its fledgling, yet sophisticated IPhone product?
The next morning I turned on my computer, and then went to Apple's site. Normally on the startup page, there is information about new products -- such as new models of computers released, an ad about an operating system upgrade, or a presentation about a new technology breakthrough -- such as the IPod, or even the IPhone. Well to my surprise on the start page for the entire site was an invitation to watch a 20-minute video on how to use the IPhone! There in front of me was a huge graphic imploring the audience to watch this video in preparation for purchasing the device so that users would be up and running from day one!
This was an astonishing development because just the night before I had thought of this very issue. In decades of watching Apple and their site, I had never once seen the subject of training presented so prominently -- whether in anticipation of a pending product or even after its release. Training was normally addressed on the back pages of their enormous site. In addition, I had not seen a single article in the technology-oriented press on the subject of learning to use the IPhone in the run up to its release. And yet there in front of me, the morning after I had thought about the matter, was an add imploring the world to watch a 20-minute video on their upcoming, new product! It was a startling experience, which appeared to be a direct response to my previous night's keen interest in the subject.
Wherever we put our focus on something, it tends to quickly come back to us in the form of related information, striking us as nothing less than miraculous. Hence its moniker of ''life response." E.g. one thinks about a subject, and ten minutes later, newscasters are discussing that very topic on TV -- when in fact that person has neveronce seen that subject discussed in 40 years of television viewing! What occurred is that life responded to one's focus and interest in a matter with related knowledge, information, and circumstance. Sometimes, the response comes as more information on the subject; other times it also brings practical benefit, such as it did in the IPhone episode. Let's explore this a little further, by considering three scenarios.
Scenario one: I think about a popular music group, and an hour later I suddenly encounter several people discussing the band on TV -- when in 20 years I had not seen a single mention of them until that very moment. In this case, life responded to my mental interest in the matter, which in turn attracted more information about that group. I.e. I had a passing mental thought, to which life responded with more data and information related to that subject.
However, if I not only show an interest in a subject, but have a deep desire to see something come about in terms of that item, then life responds with tangible, beneficial results as well. In the above IPhone incident, I not only thought about the idea of the user being educated on the device, but I aspired for there to be a way for it to happen. I.e. I had the desire and will for tangible benefit. As a result, the next morning life responded with a video that in fact brought them such tangible, beneficial results to that collective of individuals. In other words, not only did I have a mental interest in the matter, but my vital wants and desires were also engaged, which in turn attracted mirror-image utilitarian results from the vital field of life.
There is yet a third scenario involving our intention. It is when we derive personal benefit through response from life -- contributing to our own personal success. This type of response comes not from a mere interest in a matter, or even a yearning for something beneficial to come about for any and everyone, but to a decided, deep aspiration for personal gain. For example, I have a deep aspiration and yearning to be directly involved in educating people on the IPhone, and suddenly thereafter, I receive an unexpected call from my broker informing me that I have been offered a contract to train hundreds of high level executives around the world on this new device. That deep, abiding interest in personal gain attracts a powerful personal result, contributing directly to my success in life.
Thus, we can thus say that life responds along a ''continuum of intent" -- from a mere interest in a matter, to a general desire for benefit to come about, to an intense aspiration and yearning to directly gain and profit from a situation. Understanding these shadings can help us in our efforts to consciously evoke such powerful response from life, whenever we choose to do so. It not only gives us a great insight into an important secret of life, but puts at our disposal a vast power to quickly attract the infinite potentials of life!
How Life Responds to Focus, Interest, and Aspiration
Every day I have one or more ''life response" experiences -- i.e. startling instances of sudden good fortune. Sometimes the miraculous-like result comes because I had earlier opened to the spiritual Force, while other times it comes because I had earlier reversed a wanting attitude or habit. Just as often, it comes as a result of taking an interest in a matter or focusing on a thing, or having an intense desire and aspiration for something to come about. It is the last three -- interest, focus, and intention -- that I would like to concentrate on here.
One day recently while surfing the Internet, I learned about Google's new initiative Google.org that has been established for investing in worthy global and regional causes. One such cause is called 'RechargeIT,' in which Prius and other high-mileage automobiles are modified to collect the sun's energy through solar power modules mounted on its roof, enabling the car to extend its mileage capacity. This unusual technology enables the car to get 100 miles to the gallon, while becoming an energy giver to the electric grid, rather than a taker -- reversing the normal relationship between vehicle and society. As it turns out, solar energy is an area I have had a deep interest in for quite some time, beginning decades ago when I first researched the subject at Temple University for an article I was writing for a major youth-oriented magazine. To see a major innovative company like Google getting behind an innovative initiative like RechargeIT is in one sense the fulfillment of a long-time personal dream. I was therefore thrilled when I watched a Google UTube video on the subject.
Then something interesting happened. When I got up from that energizing experience, I looked outside my office window. Across the way, there is usually a series of cars parked in parallel formation in front of a number of businesses. However, this time I noticed that there was only one solitary car parked there. It was a shiny new red Toyota Prius!
Such miraculous-like experiences happen to me with considerable frequency -- perhaps 3- 10 times a day. And those are just the ones I notice. As I mentioned earlier, these startling life response results normally comes as a result of offering an activity to the Spirit, or shifting from a wanting attitude to a positive one. Yet other times they come as a result of focusing on a subject or taking an interest in a matter. The Prius incident I just described is a case in point. When I focused my interest on Google.org's initiative to retrofit Prius car's with solar collectors that feed rather than take from the energy grid, life conspired to present me another iteration of it in the form of a sole bright red Prius parked in an area normally packed with vehicles.
If that is an example of life response through mental focus and interest, then, then what about a life response that comes as a result of our aspiration and desire for something to come about? It turns out that a close friend of mine had one just the other day; mirroring similar experiences I have had many times along the way.
In this instance, it turns out that my friend was listening to a local radio show. In a particular daily segment, the host plays songs in alphabetical order. That is, the first day he plays songs that begin with A, the next day the B tunes, and so on. On that particular day, he was going through the G selections. In fact, when my friend tuned in, they were playing 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,' a song from the 1970s by singer-songwriter Elton John. As a result, she realized that she had missed the Beach Boys song 'Good Vibrations,' also from that era, which disappointed her. Later that day she settled down to watch a movie. About half way into the middle of it, she realized that they were playing 'Good Vibrations!' Out of the millions of songs in the world, it was this one that had come up! Then later on, she settled in to watch the finale of the 3rd season of the ultra-popular TV series 'Lost'. In the episode, a man sacrifices himself for the welfare of his compatriots on the island. To do that, he taps in a code into a power system. As it turned out the code was based on the notes of the song -- you guessed it -- 'Good Vibrations!'
When we focus on a thing, take an interest in a matter, or desire for something to come about, life tends to conspire with our thoughts and emotions by attracting iterations of it. Very often, what comes is pleasing to us and brings substantial benefit -- material or psychological. That benefit is proportional with our desire for something tangible to come about. The more intensely we want something, the more likely we receive back substantive and beneficial results. When it comes in the form of a life response, we are utterly dazzled.
The other day my friend was attending a three-day workshop where she was required to travel daily over 50 miles round trip in the pouring rain. I wanted to tell her that rather than make the commute back and forth in the downpour, and particularly at night, that she should try to stay overnight somewhere. Unfortunately, at the time, I was ill and could not communicate with her; plus, I did not have the phone where the affair was taking place. Well wouldn't you know it, shortly after I received a call from her informing me that someone had invited her to stay over at their home! I had not even conveyed my intent to my friend and yet she informed me that she was going to do the very thing I had hoped for. That is the power we have to attract the very things we yearn for without the need for any outer action. It is the inherent power we have to move life outside ourselves from within.
In the end, what will make these possibilities real to us is to have these sorts of experience ourselves. Once we begin having them, we will see that they are a real phenomenon of life, and therefore we will look out for them in the future. We will also begin to develop the subtle sense to know how to invoke them on demand.
For nearly a week recently, I wanted to inform a new client that the training session we had planned would require more than the normal 7 hours to complete in order to accommodate all of the items on the agenda. I felt that it needed to be longer, although I could probably make do with the current allotted time if I had to. I did not raise the issue with the client. Suddenly the next day, I received word from her that she felt that the hours need to be extended a bit, and didn't I agree with that idea! I nearly fell over as I saw that she had read my mind; or rather she had picked up my vibration of intention. She had responded to my aspiration, though I had never expressed it to her in any way. It also demonstrates the power that silence generates. That when we withhold a thought from expression, it causes others to speak it out. It is a magic-like power that I call ''Silent Will."
And so another 24 hour period had come to an end with a blizzard of life response events, too numerous to enumerate here. Once again, I was reminded of the power we generate from within by focusing and taking an interest in a matter, or aspiring intently for something to come about. It was further demonstration of the subtle power we have within to attract the infinite potential of life to the here and now.
Increasing Your Aspiration
Increase Your Aspiration in Life
Think about what you would like to accomplish in life, what opportunities are out there, what you would like to achieve, what you would like to learn, and so forth. When you find what you want, you will feel aspiration rise, which will stir the will, and energize your being.
Ways Our Intentions are Fulfilled
Any intention is fulfilled. The way in which it is fulfilled is not according to human understanding. It is fulfilled in the following ways:
1. Directly, immediately.
2. In the distant future.
3. In another's life.
4. In a different way determined by the structure in the thinker's personality.
5. Obliquely.
6. Reversely.
7. Reversely fulfilling the demands of transformation in consciousness or substance in one of the parts of the being.
All this can repeat in the subtle and causal planes.
Intention can be fulfilled in the opposite fashion-
-- Bingley's wishing to marry led to Darcy's marriage.
-- Elizabeth's desire for Wickham resulted in the elopement.
-- Mr. Bennet's isolation took him out of the house in search of Lydia.
-- Mrs. B's intense desire for marriage results in Lydia's eloping with Wickham.
-- Marx's communist manifesto is more fulfilled by capitalism than by communism.
-- The depositor's desire for increasing the deposits with interest multiplies the deposits by three or nine times.
-- London that ruled the world has a population from all of her colonies up to 75%. Rarely do you see an Englishman in London.
-- Unhygienic unsanitary habits of not bathing or brushing teeth increase longevity.
-- Making cleanliness next only to godliness inversely results in utter poverty and perennial hunger.
-- Desire for samadhi in meditation becomes laziness in life.
-- Making emotion an ideal compels people to do things they cannot complete.
-- Passionate emotionalism becomes perverted physical tyranny resulting in mass liquidation.
-- Intellectuality reaching its zenith gives birth to resourcefulness in torture.
-- Cleanliness and sense of honour unintentionally bring abundant prosperity. (MSS)
Factors at Play for Our Intention to Attract
Intense Intention to achieve a goal tends to attract it from life. And yet there are additional factors that come into play that can affect the outcome. Here are some thoughts along this line:
-Intention can express positively or negatively, and it is therefore in our best interest to have the positive in mind.
-Attitudes are importance for attraction our intent. It is best to overcome wanting ones, such as reluctance, laziness, ill-will, etc. which will create powerful force that will reinforce the energies that will attract the object of our intent.
-The Will of the Intention is the most important thing. The vital will to see the goal manifest once engaged releases powerful energies that move out and attract corresponding elements, including our heart's desire. Sustaining that urge and will insures the outcome, at least relative to other factors.
-In a negative atmosphere, our intentions can be blocked, even reversed, so it requires an extra level of inner force (intention, will, clarity of purpose, effort, etc.) to make it happen.
-The Spirit can be a great key for our intentions to manifest. Calling to the spiritual Force, divine Mother, etc. can reinforce the energy we release and thus more readily manifest the intention.
-Persevering action will enable the intentions to come about. Particularly the ability to remain steady, on-target, and not be deflated by roadblocks. Thus inner strength is another key to attracting powerful response from life of our intent.
-Clear goals, intense will, persevering action, right attitudes, right skills, inner strength, and using the power of Spirit will all help in the attraction/life response process.
-Sometimes the Intention alone will elicit a response, especially if an individual has now focused on what he wants, where had never focused on goals before, or where his goals were not clearly defined until now.
-Intention may not manifest until it is accompanied by a decision and/or action.
-Desire or want for a thing to come about is not quite the same as Intention, which has a clear goal, and a sustaining will for its accomplishment. That's why mere desire for something is often not enough to attract it.
-Many do not see their intention fulfilled because there are other karmic forces at play that need to be worked out at the current level, before the object of one's desire is fulfilled. Or that Intention does not fit in with a different road and destiny that they are meant for.
-Focusing or giving attention to something is not the same as Intention. It is a lesser formation. Focusing on something brings more of it, though what later came is not normally something one intended. It's just more of what we focused on.
-If there are competing intentions -- i.e. opposite goals from competing parties, -- that will certainly have a deleterious effect on one's intention, as the atmospheric energies are in conflict. Here is where the power of our attitude and utilization of the spiritual Force can help one prevail. Also if there is resistance from the other side, one can examine what we have done to attract that conflicting party or position, or better still what we can learn from the other side.
-From a spiritual point of view, intense desire, including the desire to manifest one's intention appears to be a contradiction. And yet from the spiritual poise, one surrenders to the divine and ITS intention.
-Even in the human domain, the Divine's own Cosmic Intention trumps all other intentions in its Force for accomplishment. That Divine Intention is occurring all the time, and manifests in ways that most mortal humans do not recognize. For us then one issue is whether our intentions aligned with the Cosmic Ones, which is nothing less than Grace itself.
-Then there is the Will of the unfolding of life. Life is moving in a certain direction, and one's intention may be in harmony or not with that unfolding. If it isn't, then the intention may not be realized.
-When we have the actual experience of life responding with sudden good fortune to our willful intention, then the principle of the power of Intention will begin to be understood and adopted. One's own experience is so much more powerful than another person's mere explanation and conception.
Overcoming Limiting Parts of Ourselves that Attracts Our Hearts Desire
A shift of consciousness along of the following will move us a step out of our limited individual selves, and into our universal selves. As a result, we move from locality to non-locality, where our normal notions of possibility, cause and effect, and space and time break down. At that point, there is a free play of our energies, which move out to the universal field and back, attracting not only good fortune, but good fortune that fulfills our deepest wishes and desires.
Life Response, Intention, and Energy
Life responds to the subtle, invisible energies we release. When we think about a thing, we release mentalenergies, and tend to attract mere mental information. When we take an interest in a thing, we also release vitalenergies, which tend to attract not just knowledge, but benefit from the vital plane of life. When we really want to produce results, then we produce even more vital energy which tends to attract vital elements from the plane of life that are beneficial to us -- such as sales, money, resources, affection, et al from that same plane of life. If we had developed a full blown plan to accomplish a thing -- including envisioning it, deeply desiring it, developed right strategies to carry it out, and did so with the highest attitudes and a persevering effort, then our intention for a thing is most fully organized, and life tends to quickly respond to our inner and effort in kind. At that point, our focus is not on a thought or an idea, but on a well-developed and organized aspiration to accomplish a thing. To such a powerful organized plan, life rushes towards us, bringing the infinite potentials of life to the here and now. It is the ultimate power of intention in life.
Physical, Vital, and Mental Will
Life has a process of forming the will and strengthening it. It puts him under a dominant person who orders him about, tyrannises over him, and metes out cruel treatment. Often such people are starved but are awarded double the load of work. To do double the work with an empty stomach, one needs a will stronger than others. It is physical will.
If you are the best worker in an organisation, the boss in the presence of others ridicules you as inefficient. The vital revolts. Not to revolt but to nod assent requires enormous strength of vital will. The most intelligent man is classified as the dullest of the lot. The mind is disgusted. Not to be disgusted or to continue the normal behaviour overcoming the mental disgust requires the Iron will of the Mind. This is the process of life to develop the will. The process is inescapable. (MSS)
Human Choice & Accomplishment
Human choice is a powerful determinant of results. That choice does not always lead where an individual expects it to, but it always exercises a powerful influence.
In Pride and Prejudice Lydia wanted a dashing husband and she got one. Jane and Bingley wanted like-minded mild mates and they found them. Charlotte wanted security for herself and higher accomplishment for Eliza and she accomplished both. Darcy wanted a woman who could support and sustain the lofty position of his family. Although Elizabeth does not bring a pure pedigree, she has the intelligence, clarity of mind, strength and character to revitalize the family. (MSS)
Aspiration in the World
Aspiration keeps us alive.
The Divine created the universe so that it could have something to aspire for -- Delight.
Romance is kept alive by the same principle negatively.
Aspiration inspires.
Inspiration releases all possible energy.
Energy employs us to direct and organize it before results are arrived at.
Sri Aurobindo says earth aspires through her tall trees.
Aspiration for communication creates speech.
Spatial aspiration leads to travel as well as transport.
Aspiration for intense employment of energy creates athletic games.
Emotions aspiring for light of self-awareness has created thought and science.
Aspiration for moksha created tapas, Samadhi, yoga.
Aspiration for food production in abundance created growing population.
Aspiration for world government created the United Nations Organisation.
Aspiration for equality created the French Revolution.
Today the same aspiration made a Black President.
Aspiration for upward movement creates urban migration.
Aspiration for employment created the movement of terrorism.
Aspiration to possess national assets to themselves created caste.
A similar aspiration for power created the divine right theory.
Aspiration of the woman for the property of the husband for her children made her chaste.
Aspiration of one who can grow vertically leads to horizontal growth. (Sri Karmayogi)
Harnessing Will-Power
In discussions about the deteriorating infrastructure of the world -- such as highways, bridges, waterways, etc. -- pundits suggest that there are two factors that bring about change: calamity, such as the collapse of an overpass, or the explosion of a gas pipe which compels people to finally act; and money, i.e. having the resources in the first place to solve the problem.
It is an unconscious society that waits for disaster to strike before acting. It is a poor one, or a strained one that concerns itself with having the resources -- i.e. the money -- to resolve the problem. Of course, these are both inadequate approaches to progress. What brings about the solutions to such problems is in fact our will to do so. Will, or intention, or aspiration to improve things, and the ability to collectively exercise it is the solution to any problem -- infrastructure or otherwise. Marshalling will -- from the individual up to the widest collective, including large companies and national governments -- is the key to solving such problems.
The influence and power of human will to move life, rather than focusing our supposed lack of resources, is largely missing in today's debates regarding improvement in society. Consider the experience of China. For a hundred years or more, she was destitute. Then in the 1970s and 80s she changed direction. It happened not only at the level of the government, but at the level of the community and the individual as well. The deep aspirations of that society that were blocked for hundreds of years were let loose, releasing a tidal wave of energy at all levels. Several decades later, China was evolving into an economic colossus -- perhaps the greatest material reversal in world history. There were few resources, hardly any money available to begin with -- and yet a vast will for change occurred, driving the society to infinite-like accomplishment. A Himalayan change was underway through the power of human will that in turn produced infinite-like resources in that society. All other factors were secondary.
The question for societies is how to release the will of the people at all levels, from the individual to the collective in order to solve its ills and to expand its capacities -- economic through cultural -- to the next highest level. We know that will comes from aspiration. If that is so, then how does one instill an aspiration for a thing to be accomplished. It is different in every case. In China, it began at the top, having a clear perception that the individual was being held back; that life could not go on the way it had. We could also say that the aspiration began amongst the people, who were fed up with the past, forcing the government to move in a new direction.
In every situation, the key will be the dynamic that releases the aspiration of various segments, and how to then link ever-widening segments to release a vast integral will that becomes a torrent of energy that moves the society forward. How governments and community leaders release that aspiration, and how individuals themselves develop their own aspiration, requires an examination of individual and collective motivation. We could call it the ''psychology of aspiration."
If energy to move forward comes from will, and will comes from aspiration, then aspiration is a product of individual and collective values. The values available to society are endless. It can take form as a deep belief in more security, greater prosperity, more freedom, more openness and tolerance, sincerity and honesty in government, a focus on the dispossessed, or on culture, or any of a thousand things. Out of these physical, vital, and mental values, spring forth our individual and collective aspirations.
And yet values in of themselves are just beliefs. They don't have power of effectuation, unless they are spearheaded through a plan of action. For that to happen, there needs to be a mechanism or process to bring it about. That process that enables values and aspirations to become living realities in society is the process of creation and accomplishment.
That process begins with a vision we have for something to come about -- whether it is an objective goal like increasing GDP by 2% or doubling our personal income; or a subjective one, like the values of honesty and integrity, or increasing the frankness of government. That in turn releases the will for its creation. This overall aspiration is then organized into practical strategies for their accomplishment, which is then carried out in a timely manner through a persevering effort, our highest skills, and the most positive of attitudes. The end result is that we release a titanic concentration of energy that tends to quickly attract the object of our individual and collective desire. By organizing our motives, values and aspirations this way, we can accomplish in 5 years what it would normally have taken 50 --- just as we see in China.
An individual, collective, or society that is conscious is one that perceives its values, makes them instrument for aspirations for change, and follows the process to quickly convert its energies into living realities. By perceiving and utilizing the process, we no longer have to wait for disasters to strike before taking action; nor do we need to wait for resources to be available before springing into action. A conscious society knows that its will, and the energy released, is the ultimate determinant of its success. All other factors are secondary.
The ancient Indian texts known as the Upanishads declare, ''You are what your deepest desire is. As is your desire, so is your intention. As is your intention, so is your will. As is your will, so is your deed. As is your deed, so is your destiny."
Additional (to be parsed)
Really Wanting It
Though a sustained interest in a subject or matter that includes specific intended results are critical elements, the heart and soul of intention is to really want the object. Because the young woman at the recruitment officereally wanted to computerize the examination procedure at her organization, life responded and afforded her an opportunity to do so. Because Erin Brockovich really wanted to win the case for the victims of water pollution -- sustaining that intensity, willfulness, and desire throughout -- life awarded her and her clients with a staggering settlement. Because Mrs. Bennet really wanted to marry off her daughters to prosperous men -- especially after their cousin Mr. Collins threatened to take over their estate at the outset of the story -- three of them were wedded in a matter of months.
On the other hand, if our interest in something is not matched by a deep desire and passion for it to come about, we are far less likely to attract good fortune. For example, if you are currently in a job that you are not really excited and passionate about, then it is unlikely that the decisions and actions you take will produce any significant results. In other words, life will simply not respond!
Success is for Those Who Dare and Act in An Aggressive (Seemingly Oppressive) Market
Work goes to China from USA in pursuit of low cost. Jobs are lost in the USA. The small US manufacturer goes out of business.
The nation faces this crisis. The national association of tool manufacturers is called NTMA, National Tool Manufacturing Association. They are of all sizes, from $2 million to $20 million. A few of the companies are worth between 70 and 100 million dollars.
In the view of the NTMA members, this crisis is a disaster and a misfortune. We see it as the greatest opportunity for the members. How can that be told to them?
Even if we manage to speak it out to them, of what use is this sterile philosophy? Can we make them see that this is an opportunity and inspire them to act on that basis? The facts are on our side. We addressed their conference five years ago and earlier seventeen years ago. Out of the 2000 members, we have interviewed 40 or 50 of them. Several of them who were doing 2 or 3 million five years ago are now at 7 or 10 million dollars. That is a fact. But there is another side to that fact.
Several others have closed shop. Many others are frightened of the prospect of closing. The interviews clearly show that the MARKET is aggressive, but expanding. Those who rise to the occasion of aggressiveness are caught by the wave of expansion and move from two million to ten or twenty.
Those who are timid, and cling to their old ways are wiped out by the aggressively changing market. Success is for those who dare and act. (MSS, edited)
Intention and Life Response
When we have an aspiration and intention for something to come about it often causes life to suddenly bring you the very object of your desire. It is life responding in a subtle fashion to your intention.
Accomplishment and the Sanction of One's EmotionsAn individual may think about ways to improve himself, though that is not enough to accomplish. He can even try to accomplish, but that might not bring in the desired results. When the mind decides to accomplish something it needs the sanction of the vital, the emotions. When there is a desire, an emotion to accomplish a thing it gains force and will of purpose. Thought to accomplish without the emotional desire and need will leave things as they are. For example, an individual might want to get more money in his life. However at an emotional level he feels secure in his current state. Perhaps he seeks freedom, more than material gain in the form of money. Money will not come to such an individual even if he thinks he needs more money. A deep-felt want, hunger, ambition for money will unleash from life positive responses that will bring him toward his goal. if he takes a physical action, i.e. he acts on this emotion he completes the process that will attract money to him in his life.
Hurricanes, Tsunamis, and the Power of Intention
Recently, it was announced that the hurricane season had ended for the southeast United States corridor. In the previous year, parts of the region were destroyed by nearly a dozen hurricanes, most notably the infamous Katrina that devastated coastal Mississippi and the city of New Orleans. However, this year hardly a single serious storm passed through the region, leaving it surprisingly damage free.
It can be reasonably argued that such results go in cycles -- e.g. intense weather in one year is followed by benign conditions the next. Or, several seasons of treacherous storms are followed by several of calm. E.g., here in California, we have seen small anomalies where for short spells the weather turns unusually cold, only to be followed by a short burst where the weather turns unusually warm.
Yet I would like to propose another reason for the near-complete disappearance of hurricanes during the past season in the southeast US. People were so fearful that the devastation of the previous year would repeat that they were extremely prepared for the coming hurricane season. Moreover, those acts of intense focus and preparation attracted positive response from the environment in the form of calm weather. By collectively focusing their intent and taking all measures for such an eventuality, life cooperated from all quarters, and Nature, or rather Mother Nature, suddenly became quiescent.
We can see this same phenomenon at work in our own lives. When we focus our attention on resolving a potential problem, the problem tends not to arise in the first place. Even if we have no direct control over that problem, and yet we make that inner and outer effort to do all we can, life will cooperate with us, and the problem will tend not to arise on its own. The mere focus and intention on that which we are concerned with has the effect of preventing its appearance. If, on the other hand, there is little concern, and therefore no intention to resolve a potential crisis, it tends to manifest one way or another -- often with disastrous consequences. When officials of India and other nations of the region were offered the opportunity to implement a tsunami warning system, they refused to take it up, arguing that it was unnecessary since such huge calamities are unlikely to occur in the future. Several years later, the greatest tsunami in modern recorded history hit that region, killing thousands in India and 250,000 overall across a wide swath of Southeast Asia.
When we focus on a potential problem -- or any issue or concern, for that mater -- we invoke the infinite power of intention. That mental focus and vital will releases powerful energies that move out into the field of life, and attract corresponding good fortune from the environment. If we watch closely, we will see that whenever we focus our mind on a thing, life moves on its own and draws positive circumstances to us related to the object of our concern. E.g. if I have been avoiding securing a steady stream of clients, but then make the conscious decision to reverse that position and make an initial, token effort to implement my plan, new clients will begin to contact me from various sides, even though I haven't even begun to contact them! That is the power of intention that resides within ourselves to move the outer life.
When we concentrate on a problem rather than avoid it, our intention is set loose. This generates a pulse of energy that moves out into the field of life, where it meets up with corresponding forces, powers, entities, individuals, circumstances that appear to move towards us, which we experience as a miraculous-like positive response from life. In the case above, it came as calm weather in the hurricane corridor to the focus and concern of officials and the general population.
The next time you focus your intention on something -- whether an object, a news story, something you want to achieve, etc. watch how in the following hours a direct positive response related to that item will suddenly come to your attention. E.g., a small interest in a subject you had earlier in the day will suddenly come back as a major news story later on. Or, your intention to pursue a new field of work will attract the sudden and most unexpected release of a software program that helps you make your plan come true. These are but examples among infinite possibilities.
To experience this phenomenon even once, you begin to question your old way of looking at things. If it occurs several times in succession, you start to develop an entirely new outlook on the way life works. If you then pursue that knowledge to its end, you can learn the hidden, subtle laws of life behind such phenomenon. Then you will be surely be set on a new course in life -- towards what I call "a New Way of Living."
Our True Desire is the Ultimate Determinant to Accomplish
The ultimate determinant in human accomplishment is our own true desires and wants. It is our choices that ultimately determines the outcome and real accomplishment in life.
Nixon, Reagan and the Power of Intention-Nixon wanted to end communism and was afforded the opportunity when Mao invited him to China. Life responded to his intent despite his other negative propensities, and the various scandals and dilemmas he found himself in.
-Reagan wanted an end to communism, and saw it come about when Gorbachav appeared from out of nowhere and ended the noxious system from within without violence. It was Reagan's intention fulfilled despite his negative propensities and limited, even harmful social viewpoints.
(Perhaps we can say that the collective energies, and the Force, fulfilled Its own purposes. And it was able to do so despite the limitations of the instrument; or perhaps because of and through it! E.g. Nixon was compelled to go to China because his legacy at that point had all but been destroyed. The Cold War ended because a power arose in Gorbachev to counter the direction that Reagan was taking the world into -- nuclear confrontation.)
Scale of Aspiration/Intention
One interesting aspect of human aspiration/intention is that it can express at various levels -- from a mild mental interest in a subject to an intense desire to accomplish an important goal. At the highest levels, our intention can be directed to changing the very course of our lives. But whatever our level of intention -- from a passing fancy to a need to fulfill our heart's desire -- life can respond; and often does so in remarkable, and even amusing ways.
Life Even Responds to a Passing Fancy
When we are really interested in a subject or an issue, a higher level of intention takes shape, which generates a pulse of energy that moves out across the subtle web of life, attracting corresponding elements back towards us. Even if the intention is only a passing fancy, -- as it was in this case -- life will still respond in short order if there is a level of intensity behind it. Thus, a mere thought, or, rather, a thought energized by our intensity, can suddenly attract a corresponding element from the field of life.
Interest with Goal in Mind Attracts
When we intensely take an interest in a subject and also consciously seek tangible results, life move towards us with results that are in turn themselves utilitarian.
Mind, Knowledge, and Will
Mind has knowledge and will. Will executes what knowledge knows.
Process or Accomplishment
Aspiration releases energy, Will directs energy to become force, Organisation changes force into usable power, and skills create results out of power. (MSS)
The Power of Wish, Aspiration to Be Achieved is Determined by the Truth of the Knowledge
The wish has a will in it. The power of that will depends upon the knowledge of it.
The power of that knowledge is determined by the truth of that knowledge. Wishes of strong will, clear knowledge and pure intention come true in time. Others do not. (MSS)
Opinions, Attitudes, Motives, and Spirit
-Opinions are negative, and are quite difficult to get rid of despite sincere efforts.
-Attitudes are more powerful than opinions, and have a significant positive or negative effect on one's ability to accomplish.
-Motives, which are of the whole being and include attitudes and opinions, are still more powerful in determining one's accomplishment. The highest motive is the spiritual motive. (Paraphrase of MSS)
Upholding the Deepest Spirit in the Plan Vastly Accomplishes
If you can carry forth your deepest aspirations, i.e. the deepest spirit that enabled the plan at each point along the way, rather than just the mere execution of the plan itself, you will vastly succeed. Check at each point if you feel the deepest aspirations behind the plan. Otherwise, abandon it, for it ill produce little. What you really wanted is what really accomplishes.
Satisfaction Kills AspirationSatisfaction kills aspiration. (MSS)
Aspiration vs. Ambition
Aspiration in a spiritual sense is the highest intention afforded to man. It is to seek the Divine. In a worldly sense it is to aspire for something wholesome and helpful. Ambition on the other hand has the wrong motive behind it, issuing from ego.
Rising Beyond Ambition
It is clear that accomplishment is highly desirable. It is equally clear that ambition is undesirable. The doubt that is a festering sore in us arises because one goes with the other. When we discourage ambition in us, we lose enthusiasm and our achievements are dwarfed.
Is there a way of doing the right thing and avoiding the wrong motive? Taking complete interest in the subject and losing oneself in it will wean us away from ambitious motives.
It will work for some time. After some time, ambition will rear its head. At such a juncture KNOWLEDGE helps immensely. One must think about this situation. Such a person will realise that 1. Ambition is ruinous, 2. Achievement is eminently possible without ambition. The knowledge that aspiration for a high goal that is not ambitious fulfils itself, is a great spur to progress. Thus ambition is overcome.
Another method often advocated is to compete with oneself - to strive to be better than before. This way one concentrates NOT on the material gain but on the QUALITY of performance.
To consecrate the goal to the Spirit is a spiritual method. Then our ego is replaced by the Spirit. Ambition in the lexicon of Spirit transforms itself into aspiration. (MSS, slightly reorganized)
Aspiration vs. Ambition
There is a difference between Aspiration and ambition. Both can directly involve a desire for high achievement in life. The former is based on the desire to improve one's self, based on some value that is meaningful, whereas the latter is focused only on gaining the results -- whether money, power, prestige, etc. -- devoid of any underlying idealism, belief, or urge for significant improvement. It is pure ego.
If you consecrate the goals and details of your aspirations at each stage along the way -- i.e. open to the Force -- you will fulfill your hearts desires in no time. If you simply follow blind ambition, it will be ruinous in the short or long term.
Examine your motives. Anything that aims to improve both your inner and outer condition simultaneously indicates Aspiration.
The highest aspiration is to do the work at each step for the Divine. However, surrender of works to Her in this way is not easy thing to do at the beginning. Consecrating the things we aspire to achieve at each major point is something anyone can do, so we should begin there. Over time, organized and overflowing consecration will open up the inner being, enabling us to move to a life of surrendered Works to Her.
Ambition vs. Aspiration that is Supported by the Force
Waiting patiently for things far out of one's reach is aspiration. It takes time for them to be fulfilled, but they will surely be accomplished. Aiming at things one does not deserve on any showing is sterile ambition and helps one to lose what he already has.
A friend suggested to an executive in an advertising company to acquire a two wheeler, giving up his cycle. The executive replied, "Many friends tell me the same thing, but I do not want a two wheeler, I am waiting for a four wheeler." In about two years, he lost his job.
Human refractoriness remains as perverse as it is capable of. In an atmosphere of freedom, the Force sails into action. The same atmosphere releases the naked ambitions of human nature in a greater measure. (MSS, extracted)
Unattached to One's Talents
Don't be attached to your talents. Aspire to go to the next higher level. (MSS)
Aspiration vs. Ambition/Wishful Thinking/Expectation
Consciousness is power. The time taken for accomplishment depends on the strength of our aspiration and the intensity with which we apply it. Sometimes we confuse aspiration with wishful thinking. Wishful thinking is a dream of achieving something without the intense will to achieve it. It is passive and satisfied, a pleasant thought. Aspiration is active and intense, a determined will.
Aspiration is also confused with expectation. Both express a will for accomplishment, one strong and the other weak. When we aspire, we send forth energy to bring a result. When we expect, we wait for something to come. Aspiration is active. Expectation is passive. In aspiration, we feel we can determine the results by the intensity of our will. In expectation, we depend on others or circumstances to accomplish the results for us. The more intense our aspiration, the faster and greater the results that come, whereas expectation can have the opposite result. Expectation has the power to postpone the results until we stop consciously looking for them to appear. (MSS)
Wanting Something with a Pure Heart, Best Intentions Attracts It in the Best Way
When you want something with a pure heart, the entire universe conspires for you to get it... It's when you want or ask for something with the best intentions for all and trust that the Divine energy will make it happen in the best way possible. (Salona Surjoo)
Aspiration, Desire, and Finding a Marriage Partner
Q: How do we differentiate between desire and aspiration? E.g. I want to have a good married life. What and how should I do, think, act for accomplishing that.
A: If you aspire for a married life, it should be for the sake of giving, not taking. Aspiration has this quality; it is wholesome; useful, helpful. Desire is a form of wanting, rooted in the vital and physical Ego.
To aspire for a life partner, conceive of the best sort of relationship you can have; i.e. at the highest level and purpose you can imagine what is practically possible. Once you know what you want and feel it with intensity, offer the matter to the Spiritual Force (for myself, the Divine Mother and supramental power), and then go about your life, not anticipating results, but patiently waiting for signs of its arrival.
Negative Intention that Backfires
The Power of Intention that is Great; that Backfires
One of the more powerful insights into the nature of human existence is the notion that what you really wanttends to be accomplished. If you have an intense desire to achieve something, and focus your energies on it, excluding all other matters, life ends to cooperate and bring the object of your desire. It may happen sooner or later, depending on the intensity of energy you bring to bear, the surrounding atmosphere, and other subtle influences of life.
When life suddenly brings you your heart's desire from seemingly out of nowhere, then you have experienced an instance of "life response," which appears to us as a miracle. E.g., a man aspires to rise to a higher position in his profession, and focuses all of his energies on its achievement. From out of nowhere, he suddenly receives a call and offer for employment from an officer of a company who had no idea that he was looking for a better-paying, more satisfying job! It has thus come as a miraculous-like response to the energies the seeker has released -- somehow aligning him with the intentions of corresponding individuals and circumstances.
On the other hand, there are also instances where you really want something to occur, but the opposite takes place! That usually happens because the thing wanted was not helpful, or the energies you released stemmed from a wanting aspiration, attitude, decision, or action.
There is a well-known example of this in Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. Near the end of the story, Eliza and Darcy are working out their romantic relationship. At one point Darcy's aunt, the very wealthy and powerful Lady Catherine gets word that her also-wealthy nephew Mr. Darcy might marry Eliza, who is from a lower class. With her entourage in tow, Lady Catherine rushes over to confront Eliza to determine if she intends to marry Darcy. Eliza, strong-willed and independent, refuses to be bullied into an answer, though she does not deny that she would marry him if she so chose. Unsatisfied with her answer, Lady Catherine rushes off in a huff. The next day, Darcy appears before Eliza, and they agree to marry. Darcy indicates to Eliza that he had come to see her because he had heard from his aunt Lady Catherine that she (Eliza) would not necessarily turn down his marriage proposal! As a result, now the two are engaged and marry -- the exact opposite of the intention of Lady Catherine. We could call this a "negative life response." Though her intention was great and focused, it worked in the opposite direction. There are several reasons, though one stands out: her anachronistic propensities were working opposite to the positive energies that were emerging in the story. She tried to force her intent through her willfulness and position of wealth and power, when in fact the story was how the middle class was emerging as a new power in rural England.
We see this same process of negative life response at work in world history. In the 18th and 19th century, Britain aspired to build an empire around the world. It succeeded for a while, until WWII, when it was nearly crushed, and then forced, out of necessity, to give up its empire. Now if one goes to London, there is hardly a Londoner in site, as 75% of its people are non-English, most from countries representing its former empire! It is in essence a negative life response (for the traditional Londoner) to centuries of English chauvinistic intention. The modern world is now in fact moving in an opposite direction.
When we wish for something whose motive originates in lower consciousness relative to the conditions around us, we are likely to receive outcomes the opposite of our intention -- i.e. life quickly responds to us with instances of ill-fortune. In one of Jane Austin's other novels, Emma, the author has constructed an entire novel built around this idea. Emma is an individual who is hopelessly meddlesome, trying to match other people up in romantic relationships -- utterly failing with each attempt. Life consistently responds in a negative fashion to Emma's lower vibration.
Fortunately, in the end, Emma sees the error of her ways, and comes to understand that it was the love she was avoiding for herself that she sought to bring about in others. To that change in attitude, life responded with overwhelming good fortune, when her life-long companion proposed marriage, which she gladly accepted. It was the happiest moment of her life.
Though we may have generated negative response from life due to our wanting inner and outer behaviors, we can overcome that quality, reverse it in full, and observe thereafter how the deepest object of our desire --whether a fantastic new job, or the partner of our dreams -- suddenly moves towards us. It is the miracle of life response.
Strength of One's Will Accomplishes
One may have ideas, ideals, launch actions, but what achieves is the STRENGTH of his will, especially the Will of his emotions. ... What achieves is the strength, organisation, knowledge of, and clarity of the structure of will. (MSS, somewhat modified)
Knowledge and Will Together
Knowledge and will together enable true accomplishment. One without the other is incomplete. Accomplishment requires the integration of both.
Creation, Accomplishment, Knowledge, Will, and Energy
-Accomplishment is determined by the knowledge we have and the will to accomplish it. Knowledge and will creates energy that when organized manifests as accomplishment.
-The universe came about because a Divine Knowledge together with a Divine Will released the plane of energy from which the forms of the cosmos took shape.
-Thus there is one fundamental process of creation in the universe.
Knowledge and Will Fused Enabling Ultimate Accomplishment
Accomplishment is determined by the Knowledge we have and the Will to accomplish it. E.g., in my life I see that I can rise from project manager to project leader (Knowledge), and I intensely want to make it happen (Will). When I make the effort for it to occur, life cooperates, quickly bringing the object of my desire.
On the other hand, if we have the knowledge of something without the will, or the will without the knowledge, accomplishment will be difficult if not impossible. E.g. I know how to rise from project manager to leader, but not the will to do it; or I have the will to rise to that level, but not the knowledge of how to do it. Until the two combine into a whole, real accomplishment will be a distant dream. If we have both together, and them make the persevering effort to bring it about, matched by high attitudes, then life will cooperate from all quarters. Karmayogi calls this a Complete Act, from which life response will invariably issue.
When we rise in consciousness, our knowledge of things and our will to accomplish it begin to fuse. I.e. our rational mind and our vital/emotional energies begin to operate in tandem. From that status, we are in harmony and life tends to cooperate with our efforts. I.e. life responds.
Sri Aurobindo calls this status "Truth Consciousness," aka "Supermind." It is the fusion of Knowledge and Will. I.e. there is a complete, many-sided integral knowledge of a thing that is matched by a compulsion for its manifestation, accomplishment. This dual power is in fact how the universe came to be from a Divine source, and is something we access in our own lives.
When we open to the spiritual Force, we connect with that Truth Consciousness as Truth Power. From there, we garner -- through insight, intuition, and supramental perception -- not only the knowledge of a thing in toto, but the power for it to become real. Life responds, as time and space are overcome, and the given finite moves to the infinite. It is a way of living (and creating) that awaits humanity's future.
Knowledge that is Matched by a Will to Accomplish It Produces Ultimate Results in Life
After there is a disaster, there is often a will, a will to accomplish that which will prevent the disaster in the future. Before that there is just a knowledge, i.e. a knowledge that such and such things should be done to prevent a disaster. The knowledge of what should be done and the will to do it are not there together, which invariably leads to public tragedy. This is Nature's slow and difficult Way of progress through unconsciousness, where either the knowledge or the will, or both, are missing.
We can see this absence of will in the face of knowledge in every facet of life, from global challenges to our own individual challenges as we confront the day. Any act becomes complete when the knowledge of what needs to be accomplished is matched by an energy, will, and desire to see it come about. Then it gets accomplished -- and then some. Sometimes, the inverse is the case, where there is will but knowledge is absent or incomplete. A salesperson running down the street madly to sell his goods, without first considering if he is on the right street, or which stores are the best to enter to is an exaggerated example. When there is unorganized desire, there may be limited success, but there is almost certainly ultimate guaranteed failure.
Knowledge and will together is then the formula for success, but it is rarely held as one. When it dos, life moves, success follows. There are many reasons for this failure, beginning with the notion that in the Creation of the universe knowledge and will of the Divine Source were separated, and it is only through evolution of human consciousness that we can bring it back together to enable ultimate creation on earth.
On a practical level when we know something, i.e. something that needs to be done, the will is too often absent. How to rectify this problem? Now when we obtain a knowledge, will is not inbuilt into it, but imagine where every time you learn something, there is an equal power of effectivity, a will to accomplish it. This is not the ordinary human way, but it is our evolutionary destiny to operate this way. Currently, we obtain knowledge through thought, even rational thought. Tomorrow it will be through descents of intuitions of objects of knowledge into the mind from the universal plane that comes without the hard churning of thought. Just a step about this issupramental knowledge where intuitive knowledge is accompanied by an enormous power of will to accomplish it.
Opening to the spiritual Force puts us in touch with the exact right knowledge we are looking for as well as the energy, intention, and will to accomplish it. We then have the exact method and power to solve all problems in life virtually instantaneously. Knowledge and Will are then fused, and there is simultaneous conception and action. Opening to the Force thus enables an ultimate Efficiency in life, where we are able to accomplish the most in the shortest period of time with the least effort. To operate this way is our evolutionary destiny. When we move to the depths within and open to the Force, knowledge and the will to accomplish it come to us together. In that way we create vast benefit for society and ourselves in virtually no time. This is our evolutionary destiny. Some are beginning to practice it now with staggering results.
Knowledge + Will + the Force that Enables Ultimate Accomplishment in Life
The Indian sage and seer Sri Aurobindo described the process by which the universe emerged from a Divine Source. That process -- from Vision to energy to manifestation -- is essentially the same process by which we create in life.
Accomplishment then -- whether the creation of this universe of forms from a Divine Source, or the creation of a successful work or project in our lives -- is determined by the Knowledge we have and the Will to accomplish it. E.g. I see that I can rise from project manager to project leader, and I intensely want to do so. Together the Knowledge and Will can be further organized into the details that will produce the results I am after. This involves the two sub-processes of self-limitation and self-absorption. E.g. I examine several strategies that will help me move up, such as acquiring new skills, and making a greater effort, I then focus on one or two, come up with a specific plan to make it come about, and then execute through a determined persevering efforts, which then brings me the results I am after. The more we follow this process, the more we accomplish. In fact, if we follow the process perfectly, the results can come about instantaneously from seemingly our of nowhere. I call that a "life response."
While the Absolute (also known as Brahman in the East) evolved a universe of forms through the perfect integration of Knowledge and Will -- i.e. It knew what it indented to create, and had the infinite power to do so -- we do not ordinarily have that unity of intention to accomplish. We might have the knowledge of something we want to occur, but without the will to see it through; or the will for something to come about, but without the knowledge of how to make it happen. In either case, accomplishment will be futile or quite limited without both parts. In fact, in the Spiritual dimension of life-- i.e. the supramental truth consciousness above mind -- they are fused. In our lives they are either absent or partially integrated . However if we learn to follow the process of creation in our own lives, we will begin to fuse Knowledge and Will that is the key to accomplishment in life. If we also use the power of the Force -- where knowledge and will/power of effectivity are already fused, we can attract the infinite potential of life to us in literally no time.
Knowledge and Will that is Reunited Enabling Ultimate Accomplishment
Knowledge and Will are at first fused and one in the involution [of creation process ], indicating their Divine aspect. In the created universe, including our own lives, knowledge and will are divided, separate, which is the cause of duality in the universe and our inherent divided and Ignorant nature. As we discover our higher nature, the Knowledge of things, and the Will to see to the application of that Knowledge move towards reuniting, enabling an integral, dynamic, flawless, creative, infinite existence, reflecting the same in the manifest universe as the unmanifest Divine.)
Which Wishes Come True
Wishes of strong will, clear knowledge and pure intention come true in time. Others do not. (MSS)
Mind, Knowledge, and Will
Mind has knowledge and will. Will executes what knowledge knows.
Energy of Knowledge and Will
Human energy is generated and released by knowledge and willed effort.
Supramental Consciousness Where Knowledge and Will are Fused
-Supermind is both a Knowledge, and a Power, i.e. a Will of application. It has the Knowledge of the Real Ideas and the intent of the Absolute to render a universe, and it has the Power/Will to carry it out.
-In the supramental consciousness, which we can move to by opening to the Force and moving within, knowledge and will are fused, enabling ultimate effectivity to render knowledge instantaneously and perfectly into real results in life. It is an evolutionary leap beyond our current functioning in which they are divided, following the slow and painful path of Nature.
Through Higher Consciousness We Reunite Knowledge and Will
In the process of Creation from a Divine Source, Consciousness-Force became Knowledge and Will (on the way to creating energy out of which forms arose in the universe). They were/are united there. In creation they are divided. We human bring the two back together through our higher consciousness. Fusing hem together, enables knowledge to instantaneously turn into usable results. Life does not work that way now since they are essentially divided.
The Truth of Knowledge
The power of that knowledge is determined by the truth of that knowledge.
The Power of Wish, Aspiration to Be Achieved is Determined by the Truth of the Knowledge
The wish has a will in it. The power of that will depends upon the knowledge of it.
Thoughts on Knowledge and Will
Knowledge and Will Divided
When Knowledge or Will are missing, there is division. When they are both present, there is Oneness. Life always responds to movements of Oneness, as their complementary Energy moves out into the field of life and aligns with positive conditions.
Sri Aurobindo says that all problems in life are of Harmony. How then to create the harmony (i.e. overcome the division) so that Knowledge and Will are always there? Let's consider how to overcome the limitations of each:
Knowledge (overcoming lack of-)
Lack of Knowledge is Ignorance. Ignorance is due to lack of understanding all of the parts, and an attachment to the limited part we know. E.g. we think poverty is due to laziness alone. We miss all of the other reasons; such as knowledge of creation process, missing values, society's indifference and oppression, bigotry, etc. This limitation is true for any thing or matter; any object of our perception.
Man begins to move to Knowledge when he aspires to know himself and grow (the way of Soul according to Sri Aurobindo). Otherwise, it comes through the compulsion of Nature; which is a slow, painful, and difficult process; occasionally fast and super painful. (E.g. the man realizes he has been a failure because he never took up an opportunity to learn a particular new skill, and thus changes; or a fast example, man creates a tragedy for his family, which opens him up to truths others were imploring him about before.)
When he gives up limiting attitudes and habits, and opens his mind, Knowledge begins to enter. It is a small movement to the true Truth. Through integral yoga, his mind opens vastly and he can move to INTEGRAL knowledge of any matter.
For the bulk of humanity, we need to simply be rational. I.e. use their minds, and listen to other points of view outside one's own. As H points out, even these basics are a struggle for certain elements of society. There are gradations from non-listening to rationality throughout the world. Humanity is working its way through these limitations.
Supramental perception is true rationality, as it seeks and knows all of the truths of the matter, and can therefore make great choices that vastly move things forward. Space-time and finiteness are overcome. We are merely at its frontier.
Will (overcoming lack of-)
Man lacks Will because his heart and mind is not concentrated on a goal. He is scattered and diffused. Man also lacks Will because he does not perceive the value of a thing; either because of his own attitudes and his lack of understanding. His Will is centered in his desires, passions, and petty needs. His energies are directed in those areas, leaving little energy to achieve a formulated goal.
Nature, and Knowledge and Will
When an individual does not progress of his own volition, Nature forces him to do so. If Knowledge or Will is missing, life's circumstance will break him down, compelling him to adopt either in greater degree. Nature always overcomes division through Force that is painful. It thus builds up and then gradually fuses Knowledge and Will through difficulty, and suffering; through a slow, extended arc over time. Sometimes, however, it is fast (and very painful), the attitudes change, and a new knowledge and understanding comes about and the will to make it real follows. A great example is Mr. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, who realizes that he needs to rear his daughters properly after scandal nearly destroys his family. I.e. through pain one is compelled to formulate a new goal, whether psychological or material, and there is an acute urgency for one to make it come about.
Knowledge and Will in Creation
For the Infinite Consciousness, there was/is a compulsion to realize real Ideas in creation. Supermind, its deputy, takes the Conscious Force (Chit) and turns it into Knowledge and Will, in the process of creating Its own Real Ideas and turning them into forms of itself in creation. With the Knowledge of all things of the Supreme, including its Real Ideas, and the Will to make it come about, Supermind creates the forms of the Force it the universe.
We create in a similar manner by having the vision of what we want (knowledge) and execute it by releasing our will and energy to make it happen.
When we open to the divine Mother, Knowledge and Will are both there expressing in the response. They are fused in the unfolding of the life response outcome. I.e. both are given to us simultaneously, as demonstrated in the courtroom episode.
This is beyond our own personal attempts to formulate a goal based on our knowledge and our willful action to see it come about. It is rather surrendering to Her Goal, which reveal through the Knowledge and Will that occurs in the unfolding of the event. We become instruments of Her intent in the world, which is identical with Supermind creating forces and forms in creation.
By opening to the divine Mother we become Supermind's instrument. We create the very specific Real Ideas It wishes to achieve through us. Real ideas are such things as Truth, Power, Love, Oneness, Creativity, etc. which for us express as HUMAN VALUES, such as greater tolerance, self-givingness, higher organization, strength, and so forth.
Instantaneous knowledge and will are given at each point to fulfill Her Intent through these values.
To make this process conscious will enables is to experience a continuous flow of supramental outcomes, where Knowledge and Will are there, as life cooperates in our favor as life unfolds miraculously. By making it conscious, I mean it is always in our Mind to function this way; not just on occasion; or for it to happen unconsciously, which we realize only after the fact.
This is how we begin to live a supramental life. We realize that at any moment we can surrender to Mother and her Force, and that she will give us the full Knowledge and Will of a thing, which we need only follow in stillness to perfection.
Interest vs. Intention
Interest vs. Intention
Interest is a mental focus on a thing. Intention/aspiration contains more of the will for something to come about.
Intention vs. Interest, Focusing on Thing
Taking an interest or focusing on a thing may be considered a light form of intention, but are not true intention. However, they too attract: not what a thing that was intended, but more information, et al about that matter.
Passing Fancy vs. Serious Interest
There is the interest of a passing fancy vs. the interest in something substantially.
How Life Responds to Focus, Interest, and Intention/Aspiration
Every day I have one or more ''life response" experiences -- i.e. startling instances of sudden good fortune. Sometimes the miraculous-like result comes because I had earlier opened to the spiritual Force, while other times it comes because I had earlier reversed a wanting attitude or habit. Just as often, it comes as a result of taking an interest in a matter or focusing on a thing, or having an intense desire and aspiration for something to come about. It is the last three -- interest, focus, and intention -- that I would like to concentrate on here.
One day recently while surfing the Internet, I learned about Google's new initiative Google.org that has been established for investing in worthy global and regional causes. One such cause is called 'RechargeIT,' in which Prius and other high-mileage automobiles are modified to collect the sun's energy through solar power modules mounted on its roof, enabling the car to extend its mileage capacity. This unusual technology enables the car to get 100 miles to the gallon, while becoming an energy giver to the electric grid, rather than a taker -- reversing the normal relationship between vehicle and society. As it turns out, solar energy is an area I have had a deep interest in for quite some time, beginning decades ago when I first researched the subject at Temple University for an article I was writing for a major youth-oriented magazine. To see a major innovative company like Google getting behind an innovative initiative like RechargeIT is in one sense the fulfillment of a long-time personal dream. I was therefore thrilled when I watched a Google UTube video on the subject.
Then something interesting happened. When I got up from that energizing experience, I looked outside my office window. Across the way, there is usually a series of cars parked in parallel formation in front of a number of businesses. However, this time I noticed that there was only one solitary car parked there. It was a shiny new red Toyota Prius!
Such miraculous-like experiences happen to me with considerable frequency -- perhaps 3- 10 times a day. And those are just the ones I notice. As I mentioned earlier, these startling life response results normally comes as a result of offering an activity to the Spirit, or shifting from a wanting attitude to a positive one. Yet other times they come as a result of focusing on a subject or taking an interest in a matter. The Prius incident I just described is a case in point. When I focused my interest on Google.org's initiative to retrofit Prius car's with solar collectors that feed rather than take from the energy grid, life conspired to present me another iteration of it in the form of a sole bright red Prius parked in an area normally packed with vehicles.
If that is an example of life response through mental focus and interest, then, then what about a life response that comes as a result of our aspiration and desire for something to come about? It turns out that a close friend of mine had one just the other day; mirroring similar experiences I have had many times along the way.
In this instance, it turns out that my friend was listening to a local radio show. In a particular daily segment, the host plays songs in alphabetical order. That is, the first day he plays songs that begin with A, the next day the B tunes, and so on. On that particular day, he was going through the G selections. In fact, when my friend tuned in, they were playing 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,' a song from the 1970s by singer-songwriter Elton John. As a result, she realized that she had missed the Beach Boys song 'Good Vibrations,' also from that era, which disappointed her. Later that day she settled down to watch a movie. About half way into the middle of it, she realized that they were playing 'Good Vibrations!' Out of the millions of songs in the world, it was this one that had come up! Then later on, she settled in to watch the finale of the 3rd season of the ultra-popular TV series 'Lost'. In the episode, a man sacrifices himself for the welfare of his compatriots on the island. To do that, he taps in a code into a power system. As it turned out the code was based on the notes of the song -- you guessed it -- 'Good Vibrations!'
When we focus on a thing, take an interest in a matter, or desire for something to come about, life tends to conspire with our thoughts and emotions by attracting iterations of it. Very often, what comes is pleasing to us and brings substantial benefit -- material or psychological. That benefit is proportional with our desire for something tangible to come about. The more intensely we want something, the more likely we receive back substantive and beneficial results. When it comes in the form of a life response, we are utterly dazzled.
The other day my friend was attending a three-day workshop where she was required to travel daily over 50 miles round trip in the pouring rain. I wanted to tell her that rather than make the commute back and forth in the downpour, and particularly at night, that she should try to stay overnight somewhere. Unfortunately, at the time, I was ill and could not communicate with her; plus, I did not have the phone where the affair was taking place. Well wouldn't you know it, shortly after I received a call from her informing me that someone had invited her to stay over at their home! I had not even conveyed my intent to my friend and yet she informed me that she was going to do the very thing I had hoped for. That is the power we have to attract the very things we yearn for without the need for any outer action. It is the inherent power we have to move life outside ourselves from within.
In the end, what will make these possibilities real to us is to have these sorts of experience ourselves. Once we begin having them, we will see that they are a real phenomenon of life, and therefore we will look out for them in the future. We will also begin to develop the subtle sense to know how to invoke them on demand.
For nearly a week recently, I wanted to inform a new client that the training session we had planned would require more than the normal 7 hours to complete in order to accommodate all of the items on the agenda. I felt that it needed to be longer, although I could probably make do with the current allotted time if I had to. I did not raise the issue with the client. Suddenly the next day, I received word from her that she felt that the hours need to be extended a bit, and didn't I agree with that idea! I nearly fell over as I saw that she had read my mind; or rather she had picked up my vibration of intention. She had responded to my aspiration, though I had never expressed it to her in any way. It also demonstrates the power that silence generates. That when we withhold a thought from expression, it causes others to speak it out. It is a magic-like power that I call ''Silent Will."
And so another 24 hour period had come to an end with a blizzard of life response events, too numerous to enumerate here. Once again, I was reminded of the power we generate from within by focusing and taking an interest in a matter, or aspiring intently for something to come about. It was further demonstration of the subtle power we have within to attract the infinite potential of life to the here and now.
Exploring Details of Problem Attracts
Interest in exploring the details of a problem can instantaneously attract a positive response from life that solves it.
Interest Attracts
Interest Attracts
Taking an interest in a thing attracts more of it from life.
Focusing on Something Attracts More of It
It is a fundamental principle of life that when you focus your attention on a matter, life brings more of it to you. It is something I have experienced hundreds of times over the course of my life.
E.g., today I came up with an idea for a technological multimedia solution. I then received in the mail a brochure for just such a solution, though I have never thought of this issue before and never receive technological literature in the mail.
Concentrating your thoughts on an issue, such as a new technology will cause it to quickly manifest in various forms around you. You will see it in your own life at least several times a day if you only recall that what you are receiving now is a manifestation of something you focused your attention in earlier; even things that you have never thought of before and never corresponded with anyone about.
It is the fundamental miracle of life.
What We Put our Focus On, Quickly Manifests in Other Areas
We know that when you intensely focus on a subject, it suddenly crops up in other areas of your life. It is a wonder that comes to us miraculous-like. It must happen to me a dozen times a week; sometimes a day. At least, that is how often I notice it.
For example, this morning I was reading the entertainment section of my local newspaper. In the movie section, I noticed a review that was about a serious, even disturbing subject. I then wondered to myself, "Does every film or play that comes out have to be so intense. Is life really like this? Can't it be absorbing without being so passionate?" Then I thought of perhaps my favorite novel, Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, and realized how forcefuland intense that story was; in particular, how the main character, Jean Valjean. went through enormous difficulties in the course of his life. Realizing this, I turned the page of the entertainment section of my newspaper, and saw a big picture of an actor. It was Liam Nielsen, the star of the recent film version of Les Miserable, and the actor who played Jean Valjean!
Whatever we put our focus on, soon, if not immediately manifests in other ways. It is an extraordinary phenomenon that at once appears like a miracle, and also forces us to grapple with the deepest mysteries of life.
Interest Attracts
An interest in a thing tends to attract iterations of it, i.e. life response, often taking forms that are of interest to us but not necessarily of any personal benefit. That comes from intention and will. (Thus mental interests attracts mental, rather than vital results.)
Interest Attracts
Showing a greater level of interest on subject attracts a positive response from life in that area. E.g. one man who was diverted with other things, rekindled an interest in dealing with his clients, when suddenly a client that he was having trouble getting in contact with, and whom he was going to try to contact again, called on his ownmuch to the first person's surprise.
Focus and Life Response
Wherever you put your focus, you generate life response power.
Flight of Fancy
Intention is such an important topic because nearly everything that happens in our lives is a product of it. Moreover, our aspiration and intent expresses across a wide spectrum of human activity: from a mild interest in a subject to an intense desire for something to come about. And yet what makes intention so compelling is that life will respond to it no matter what level it is expressed. Whether we show a passing interest in a matter, or passionately aspire for something to come about, a life response result of some form is bound to follow. For example, here is a little incident that shows how life can respond to a mere flight of fancy.
One day I was walking along a rapidly changing district of San Francisco's waterfront. The area had once been the site of the city's once bustling seaport, but had now fallen into disrepair after it moved across the bay to the booming Port of Oakland. In recent years, however, city officials had decided to convert the abandoned area into a new office and residential complex. The ambitious effort to develop the 'Mission Bay' project bore its first fruit when the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) -- an institution known for breakthroughs in biotechnology and other medical research -- moved a large part of its campus there. Now, after decades of planning, and with a series of gleaming office and residential towers dotting the landscape, this large urban development was finally taking shape.
On this particular day, I was taking my usual long walk along the bay. Then as I passed the complex, I noticed in the distance that one of the new buildings stood empty. I knew this was the case because months earlier I had read about it in the local press. Now, as I looked out at the impressive new structure gleaming in the distance, I could not fathom why it had not attracted a single tenant. After all, it was not only a handsome building, with a lovely pale-green glass exterior, but it was also located in a choice location. Moreover, as my eyes swept along the wide expanse of Mission Bay, I noticed that virtually every other building built was fully occupied.
Then for some reason, I went off on what one might call a flight of fancy. I imagined that if I owned a large company, I would be very eager to transfer my staff to this strategically located building. That way, the workforce would not only work at an attractive campus with pleasing views of the bay, but they would also be located a short distance from the bustling downtown area, with all of its amenities. In other words, by moving here, my company would enjoy the best of both worlds -- i.e. separation from the busy downtown area, yet with easy access to it.
When this peculiar, but energizing vision finally passed, I turned away from the complex and continued my jaunt around the waterfront. Hours later, when I drove back to my office located 20 miles to the east, I sat down at my computer to check the latest news on the web. Within one minute, I noticed a story that a famous company headquartered in San Francisco -- The Gap -- had just decided to move a number of staff members out of its central downtown headquarters and into an unoccupied new building on the edge of town. Out of curiosity, I wondered which building it was. On further inquiry, I discovered that it was, in fact, the very one I had earlier daydreamed about! Apparently, the Gap -- who were actually the owners of the building -- had tried and failed to sublease it to tenants in the past, and now had decided to occupy it themselves. I had to shake my head and laugh at this dramatic little response from life.
As we see, when we take an interest in a subject or issue, a level of intention takes shape, which generates a pulse of energy that aligns with and attracts corresponding elements back to our person. Even if our intention is merely a passing fancy -- as it was in this case -- life will still respond with more information, knowledge, or potentiality related to that original matter.
When In Rome ....
I had just finished my lunch. It was a delicious and filling salad that I had carefully prepared. I was slouching in my work chair, though that was not the best position to be in to digest my food. And so I sat up somewhat to continue my work.
I then thought about how the ancient Romans liked to eat while reclining on their sides. I believe they thought that it improve digestion. In my mind, I then questioned that assumption, since slouching after eating did not agree with me; albeit it is a different position, and I engaged in it after my lunch.
I then opened my web browser to the New York Times site, and there on the first page, with a big picture of just-breaking news, was a headline "Rome On Alert for Tiber Breaking Its Banks." I had a big laugh because it was so precisely synchronous with my thought about the Romans. I even saw how my somewhat combative, negative assertion about the Roman eating position correlated with the onset of this negative flooding event in present day Rome. I also noted the correlation between the thought of indigestion potential when slouching and the overflow of water throughout the city!
In simple terms, it was my interest in a closely related subject that attracted the news response that linked ancient and modern Rome. In this case, the interest was tinged with a bit of my own negative energy, which elicited a negative response for the collective seven thousand miles away.
Life Manifests More of Where You Put Your Focus, Intention On
Today I was reading the big new biography on Steve Jobs at a busy, large bookstore. I was intently reading the section on the IPod music player and the ITunes music store app. It was all about bringing the love of music in its infinite variety electronically. At one point I paused and looked up. At that very instant, a young woman passed in front of me with a wired earpiece connected to her device, and she was listening to the broadcast music. It was a perfect synchronicity to what I had just been reading, and I smiled. This sort of thing happens to me a half dozen times a day or more. As you become more conscious, you see that wherever you intensely focus your attention, life brings more of it. Each time it happens, it is a wonder (and a joy) to behold. If you pay close attention to the flow of life, you will notice this dynamic constantly occurring. As a result, you will perceive a whole new dimension to your existence.
A Startling Experience Up On the Roof
For a month now I have been thinking about writing a book on the Character of Life, which would be a superset of what I have written on the phenomenon of Life Response. I probably wouldn't get to it for a year or more, but I have been going through various arguments and principles in my mind when I have the chance.
Well the other day I pulled into a parking garage in downtown Walnut Creek a shopping mecca in the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area. As I parked there on the roof with its delightful 360 degree view of the surrounding hills and mountains, I heard an old tape of Alan Watts being broadcast by KPFA, the progressive Berkeley radio station.
I was happy to hear his voice again and always enjoyed his presentation when in my 20s and 30s. While expecting something on subjects such Zen Buddhism, non-dualism, and similar, he instead began by going into a profound discussion on the nature of the Reality (Brahman), our essential Ignorance born of creation, the law of contradiction, how we know only the part rather than the whole, and so forth; a precise echo of Sri Aurobindo's universal principles that I had been grappling with in anticipation of developing my new book.
I sat there astonished as he masterfully gave me a summary of what had very recently been on my mind. It was almost as if he were saying, "Roy I know you have been thinking about these issues recently, so let me succinctly sum them up for you in 20 minutes!"
I sat there dumbstruck; moved with great emotion and gratitude of a very special gift that had come to me.
There is one other part to the story. Today I drove back to the same garage, remembering what had transpired the work before. Again, I turned on the radio, and there was Alan Watts once more! This time in a commercial for the same set of tapes the earlier speech was drawn from, while commenting that we are each looking out on creation through the Divine's eyes through our own small aperture, or words to that effect. In essence, the response had repeated in that very same place; and now with a single point of wisdom that went beyond all others. Moreover, the principle of repeating acts demonstrated here was a key principle of Character of Life that had been on my mind of late.
Today I realized that it is one thing to attract response by focusing and giving attention to an idea or an undertaking like the writing of a book. It is another to attract when those ideas are Divine in nature. The results are then miraculous in the most wonderful sense.
Intensity Attracts More of It
If you feel intensely about anything, more of it will show soon after. It can come positively or negatively depending on the nature of one's feeling.
Intense Interest in Work Attracts Positive Life Response
Finally we have seen that one attracts infinitely greater amounts of money when one takes a great interest in one's work, rather than do it as a work of necessity or obligation. The greater the interest, the greater the propensity to attract much greater financial result from life. This is exceedingly important in attracting money through one's work.
LIFE RESPONSE EXAMPLES
-An instructor put great interest in a class he was performing in a database program. The class was full of intense exchange of knowledge and information. It was vibrant. Right after he finished the class he heard from a client who he hadn't heard from a few years who asked him to revive a database program that he had written for them previously, not had been used, but which he had been paid well for. The revival offered the possibility for a lot more money. Also, interestingly, the work involved working with the very same program he had been training in that day.
-One man who was diverted with other things, rekindled an interest in dealing with his clients, when suddenly a client that he was having trouble getting in contact with, and whom he was going to try to contact again, called on his own much to the first person's surprise.
Taking an Interest in a Subject that Attracts
Life is full of mystery and wonder, most of which we ordinarily miss. If however we find a way to perceive these extraordinary aspects of existence, then not only will we begin to look at life from an entirely new perspective, but an infinite-like power will be put at our disposal. Let me explain with a recent experience of mine.
The other day I was sitting in a restaurant reading a newspaper. At the diner, they play music of yesteryear to sooth or energize the guests. Half reminiscing on several songs as they went by, I suddenly recognized one artist whom I admired in my youth. However, when this tune played, a certain amount of indignation rose up inside me. That was because instead of being the featured artist, demonstrating his enormous talent, he was singing the weak part of a duet with another singer in a rather insipid pop song. I then thought, "Oh if people only knew what a great singer he was, instead of the tripe he was partaking in here." Then I recalled an album of his that I had heard in my adolescence that had utterly melted my heart.
The song then faded out, and another one from that era played through the speakers. At that point, however, my interest in the music waned, and I returned to my newspaper. I then turned over the page, and there, lo and behold, was a large and magnificent photograph of the very artist I was just thinking about!
In the photo, he had a bright penetrating look, with piercing eyes and bright smile; as if he were looking into my very soul and saying, "See that is how life works!" Moreover, the picture of the famous artist was surrounded by text indicating that he would soon be appearing at a posh casino and resort about 100 miles from here. I was stunned, although not surprised, as these types of experiences have become commonplace for me.
The principle involved here is quite simple: if you take considerable interest in a subject, life has a way of suddenly presenting you with more information about that matter. In this case, I received unexpected additional news about that very person I was focused on, even though I hadn't thought of him in years, if not decades. Here's another example:
Just yesterday, I was shopping with a friend of mine, and we were being checked out by a Romanian woman whom I found fascinating. A few hours later, I checked my email, and noticed that I received but one paltry message for the entire day. It was from a member of a spiritual group, who had deeply admired our Growth Online and Sri Aurobindo web sites. Well, it turned out that the person who was from, where else, Romania! I am not sure I have ever received an email or made any other acquaintance of a Romanian in my entire life.
It was another example of how a keen interest in a subject quickly attracts more information, actions, and events about that matter. It is no coincidence, but rather an indicator of the hidden ways that life works.
When our mind is focused on something, the energies created tend to vibrate like a beacon and attract corresponding information, events, and experiences from the field of life. I.e. our focused interest aligns with the movement of related information that then quickly appears within our field of awareness. I call this phenomenon a "life response." It is a subject I am currently in the process of writing an entire book about.
One final point: While having a passing interest in a subject attracts related items from the field of life, thereby providing a modicum of utility, a truly formed intention can quickly attract results of enormous benefit -- such as a large sums of money, or a big contract, or something we had deeply hoped for coming our way.
If we can understand and harness this powerful principle, then we will not only gain a great power over life, but we will perceive existence in an entirely new way: one that I call a New Way of Living.
Buddha's Way Out of the Darkness
Perhaps the greatest conception of Reality ever devised by Man began in India thousands of years ago. While religion took root in the Middle East, it was in India that a course was blazed to know the true nature of the infinite Reality/Spirit and the process by which the universe emerged from a divine Source.
In the earliest years, the Indians of the ancient Vedic period worshipped natural forces as a means of communing with the one Infinite consciousness. In essence, they perceived the ultimate Reality through the instrument of material forces and Gods. Sophisticated thinking and refined emotions had not yet developed in them, and so their relationship with Spirit was predominantly physical. Many years passed, and Mind began to develop in Man, allowing for a profounder conception of the Reality beyond this world. This is the era of the spiritual explorations of the Indian mystics known as the Rishis. Through their higher mental power, they were able to conceive of and commune with an ultimate Being and Consciousness, losing themselves in the pleasure of their transcendent experiences. They collectively communed with and realized an Ultimate Existence as no group had done before.
And yet despite these vast spiritual successes, humanity was not yet satisfied with these ultimate experiences, for it still had still not grappled with the greatest of all human dilemmas: the cause of strife and suffering in the world. And so around 2600 years ago, Buddha's great mission began when he set out to discover and resolve the reason for pain and death in life. Which brings me to a startling experience I had the other day.
On New Years, I went for a little drive to relax and air myself out a bit. For some reason, I ended up on the 30-mile long busy thoroughfare known as the 'El Camino Real,' which traverses two dozen towns on the San Francisco area peninsula. It is a street of commerce and business that seems to go on forever.
At one point, as I ''floated" down the endless wide boulevard in my car, I developed a rather existential feeling inside me. I thought about the difficulties, stresses, and failures of life, as well as the reality and finality of physical death. I then thought about how important Buddha was in addressing these issues. Then one by one, I thought through the essence of His teachings. I recalled that after being raised in a sheltered existence as a prince, he discovered that there was suffering and death outside his palace. He then came to understand the impermanence of things; that not only was life itself impermanent because of the reality of death, but all apparently good things that come to us are easily taken away -- whether our mate, wealth, material objects, our children, family, and friends. He then realized that it was our attachment to these transitory phenomena that was the cause of our suffering. Our attachment to that which is temporary and ephemeral was the root of all pain and strife in life.
Continuing these intense thoughts and feelings, I then recalled that Buddha devised a way out of this dilemma. That if we could still our thoughts, feelings, and passions, we would avoid attachment, and release ourselves from the pain of impermanence. In fact, we would move to its opposite; to an endless, intense pleasure and bliss that is beyond anything this world has to offer. Gautama Buddha called this state ''Nirvana," and realized it full in his being.
As each of these thoughts arose in my mind, I felt them with great intensity. They reached a crescendo when I realized that Buddha had worked out a way to loosen the knot of the world. Then finally, after five minutes, the experience stopped. As a result, I once more became conscious of things around me, as I continued to float down the long and winding commercial boulevard. When I then focused my gaze ahead, I immediately noticed a banner hanging down from a light pole that I was just passing under. When I strained to look a little closer, I saw that it was advertisement for an upcoming art event, and in the center of it was a large picture of the head of a great golden Buddha with beatific smile. I was thunderstruck. I then beamed in amazement that this object had appeared above me at the very instant I commenced my intense inner experience.
The response pierced my being, and I cried out in wonder. The intensity of my thoughts and feelings on this subject had attracted an emanation of one individual who dared to address humanity's most compelling issue. There above me was the visage of the man who discovered a Stillness and Being within, forging a new path out of the Darkness.
Incident at McDonald's
At the MacDonald's restaurant near my home, they tend to play American music from the 1960s and 70s in the background. As you enjoy your meal, you are reminded of times gone by. One day I was quietly having my dinner reading the inserted entertainment section for the upcoming weekend. At one point, I listened to a song that struck me as slightly insipid, though tuneful. I noticed that the background harmony was being sung by famed American balladeer Johnny Mathis.
I then flashed back to my early youth when I had heard an extraordinarily well produced album of songs sung by Mr. Mathis. I remember the songs having a deep emotional impact on me at the time. Now as I heard this tune recorded somewhat later, I felt slightly incensed that he could have fallen into to merely singing background vocal of a second rate song. How sad it was that people could not hear the extraordinary tunes he had sung on that album. One of the songs was entitled "Wonderful, Wonderful."
After expressing a bit of indignation, I returned to my newspaper. I then proceeded to turn the page of the entertainment section, and there lo and behold right in front of me was a full-page picture of Mr. Mathis! He was staring back at me with a bright smile and piercing eyes, as if to say, yes, indeed life is magical, and here is another instance for you to savor.
After getting over the shock, bemusement, and wonder, I realized that I had simply experienced a "life response." Life had suddenly presented me with an instance of good fortune as a result of some change of consciousness within myself. In this case, it was taking a decided interest in a thing; i.e. this newer song vs. his old great tunes. When you do so, life tends to suddenly bring you results related to the subject from literally out of nowhere. You are experiencing an instance of life response. What happens is that through the intensity, you become connected with objects and individuals outside yourself that are in alignment with your interests and intensions. Hence, the sudden appearance of the full-page advertisement for Mr. Mathis' coming appearance at a major California resort.
I am currently writing a book on this subject of Life Response. There I have identified a plethora of instances of this miraculous-like phenomenon of life. I also indicate its various causes -- such as a decided change in attitude, efforts at higher levels of cleanliness and orderliness, and, of course, as in this case, a decided interest in a thing, or even more powerfully an aspiration and decision to achieve, acquire, or connect with something. There are a number of other ways to produce that effect, including various movements of the Spirit.
To have the experience even once can change one's entire perspective on life forever. One sits there dazed, and after awhile can only call out in wonder and amazement, or sing out as Mr. Mathis once did, "It's wonderful, wonderful; oh so wonderful my love!"
Profound Thoughts on the Subject of Interest
Thoughts on (Serious) Interest in a Matter
Our life is routine which beyond a point becomes dull and boring. Interest cures dullness. Interest for us is what we are interested in. In other words, it is energy expressing a known skill. Psychologically it is selfish. When we take interest in others or work for its own sake, the interest is endless, as it is unselfish.
That which instinctively overcomes the usual bother in work or effort by the energy of the moment is interest.
Interest is not only ability to enjoy but also ability to understand.
Interest is full engagement of the energies or engagement of full energies. Interest is engagement.
To withdraw the interest from something is the best way to fulfil that interest.
Our vital or mental interest gives an untiring energy but it is our own energy. The capacity to disregard such interest in work lets in the Force which is not related to tiredness even negatively.
Desire is difficult to give up; but interest is impossible to forget. Unless aspiration takes its place, interest cannot be given up.
Interest is stronger than desire.
Intense interest is intense destructive interference with Grace. It can be the opposite also. (MSS)
Untitled
If the inner is not behind the outer action, because it wants something else, the outer action will not achieve.
Overcoming the Division Between Our Outer Actions and Our Inner True Wants
Has it ever occurred to you that the ultimate determining factor in our success is what we really want out of life in the first place? If on the outside we say that we want one thing and make that effort to achieve it, while on the inside we want something else, there will be an imbalance of inner will and outer effort; and the outer result will likely fall short despite our considerable efforts. In the end, the outer efforts need the full sanction and endorsement of the inner psychological and emotional will. That way energy will build enabling great outer results in life.
One's True Desire Determines Results, Attracts Positive Life Response
Life responds to what one really wants inside in life. If one doesn't fully want what one is doing, the outer will not respond. However, a reversal of this will enable life to suddenly and abundantly respond.
LIFE RESPONSE EXAMPLES
-An individual never really had the burning desire to be prosperous in life; he valued his freedom more. He decided to really want more money, and immediately contracts of a kind he never experience before suddenly arrived.
-An owner never really wanted to be in charge of the company; he was happy just to be involved in sales; and so life continually reflected this.
Really Wanting It
We need to truly want our vision for accomplishment, and its corresponding goals and objectives to come about.This is the will to see it come about. It is one thing to envision and think a possibility, it is another to really want it. By engaging our will in pursuit of our vision, goals, and objectives we will have in essence directed our personalenergies into a real force for accomplishment. This is in essence our general inner readiness. Our direction, consisting of our vision, goals, objectives and sustaining will, then is the starting point for great accomplishment.
On Becoming Employed or Getting a Promotion
If you are currently unemployed, having an overflowing interest in working - not just wanting a job that gives a salary - gets anyone employment. I.e. life will respond on its own, often from seemingly from out of nowhere, to this urge. This rule has no exceptions.
The same is true of those who seek promotions. In spite of the atmosphere of politics, intrigues, and corruption in some offices, he who has acquired the knowledge of the higher post and is a willing worker, will readily get promoted. Those who are denied promotions are those who crave for the higher post with higher remuneration but are averse to work.
Invocation of Spirit readily gets one a job or longed for promotion because it energises his faculties. (MSS, slightly modified)
Levels of Effective Work from Decision to Determination to Commitment
Work becomes more effective when the consent to it becomes a decision. Our knowing all about a work is knowledge. Our will, the executor in us, knowing all about a work is decision. Decision is the knowledge of the will. Passion that develops about a decision converts a decision into determination.
A determination matures into a commitment when the whole being endorses it. (MSS)
ARTICLE on How What One Really Wants in Life is Ultimately Determining View
Creating Your Own Reality and the Spirit
You determine your own reality. "You become what you want to become you become" is a fundamental spiritual principle of life. It is the freedom that the Divine gives us.
Then what then do you want to become? If you know that, you can develop a plan of action, and present it tothe Divine. If you make the effort and consecrate each act in the plan, the Spirit will guide you at every step. You will quickly encounter great success, even "instantaneous miraculousness", where life suddenly and abundantly comes to your doorstep. It is the ultimate Efficiency of life, enabling the greatest results with the least effort in the shortest period of time.
It begins with your choice of what you want to become. All other factors are not important because YOU determine your reality-- despite any obstacles that might have previously come your way, despite external influences, despite any internal doubts, fears, etc., and despite lack of family endowments.
You will need however to follow a process to become that which you wish to become. It is to turn your vision into a living reality.
Aspiration for Continuous Progres
Progress that is not continuous is no progress. When you stop progressing, you start dying. Constant aspiration for continuous growth is the path of human life changing into Divine Life. (MSS)
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