Step One: Intention -- also known as the Law of Intention. There are many words that I use to describe this step, such as: intention 1 , will 1 , desire 1 , want 1 , need 1 and purpose 1 .
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n this Step, you are urged to recognize the potential within you. When you intend, you are reclaiming your purpose 1 that is inseparable from you. When you acknowledge your desire 1 , you integrate with your Being. When you ignore your desire, you push it away. When you push away your own Being, you push away life itself. I mentioned before that the main purpose of the Maya Matrix is to keep you disconnected from you . Our Soul has designed the Maya for that purpose and it is fulfilling that purpose. One of the main programs in the Maya Matrix is to make sure that your attention is always pointed outside of your Being. It makes sure your awareness is segregated and lost in the Maya rather than integrated in the world of Truth. The Maya is accomplishing this through our beliefs that are keeping us rejecting ourselves and afraid to trust ourselves. Our desires, wants and needs become shameful, unimportant, sometimes forbidden and even worthy of punishment. We hide our desires and make sure that no one knows of them. We even hide our desires from ourselves in fear of our own judgment. This Step is inviting us to awaken to our dreams and not fear them. This Step is urging us to stretch beyond our perceived limitations to fulfill our dreams.
Self-Judgment is a belief that runs very deep in the Maya Matrix. It is one of the core beliefs that restricts our freedom and limits our power of co-creation. It is so common that we can’t even feel it when we judge ourselves. We gain freedom when we avoid self-judgment. If you have the habit of judging others, it is because you are judging yourself. That is because everybody around us reflects a part of ourselves back to us. What we dislike about others always correlates with something we dislike or fear about ourselves.
Intentions are just intentions. We don’t make them up; we acknowledge them. There are no “good” intentions nor “bad” intentions. Some are in alignment with the Soul and some are still lost in the Maya, but there is never a need to judge or validate them. What is inside you, already is . When we judge our own intentions as bad, we diminish our connection with own Being: the source of guidance, knowledge, and the greatest qualities of life. Remember that The Intention Step is not an action step. Although Intention feels like an invitation to act on that intention, we only act in Step Six: Inspired Action . We must first verify our intentions through the application of all of the Seven Simple Steps .
When we intend, we dare to dream as high as we possibly can. Wish for anything, as long as this wish makes you feel good. Trust the innate process of the Seven Simple Steps . It will guide you toward your Higher Intentions.
Lower Intentions are those intentions that are lost in the Maya Matrix. They represent immature human potential. When we bring an intention to the light of awareness , we disentangle it from the Maya Matrix. Instead of interacting with our intentions, Maya wants us to react with them, while they remain in the dark corners of our minds. Maya does not want us to bring those intentions to the light of awareness because it cannot sustain itself in that light. Maya has no power by itself; it is an illusion that only grows in the dark. When we acknowledge and express our intentions as they are, without judging them, we are making an opening in the clouds of the Maya Matrix. This provides for more truth and guidance to come through. Thus, we start the process of evolving our intentions from Lower to Higher Intentions. This happens naturally through the application of the Seven Simple Steps .
When we practice the Seven Simple Steps , our intentions will evolve from Lower Intentions to Higher Intentions. We can expedite this process by asking ourselves: “What do I really want?”-- “Would this intention fulfill me?”-- “Can I imagine a better one?”-- “How can I amplify the feeling I get when I envision the manifestation of this intention?”
Higher Intentions are intentions that represent who we are and our greatest potential and fulfillment. The satisfaction from Lower Intentions is temporary. With Lower Intentions, we will always feel incomplete. You may feel success. But that success feeling is momentary and incomplete, while the feeling of incompleteness will remain a constant. Trying to fulfill Lower Intentions is like blowing up a balloon that has a hole in it. It never becomes complete. With Lower Intentions, the feeling of satisfaction is more like an idea in the head rather than an actual experience in reality.
Example: “Joe got angry at a man: he felt the desire 1 to engage in a physical or verbal fight with him.” In this example, there is nothing wrong or right with Joe’s intention. It is what it is. The intention has been generated automatically based on Joe’s beliefs that he has been activating throughout his life. There is no need to deny this desire nor turn away from it. Through prior experiences, Joe knows that using physical violence is Maya. It would never bring true satisfaction. He also knows that applying the Seven Simple Steps can bring real freedom. Joe chooses to apply the Seven Simple Steps rather than engage in the fight. He applies techniques that he has learned, to remove himself from the situation and to process his feelings.
Now let us stop for a moment and acknowledge the real courage and power in Joe’s choice. This is where I use the word Intentional . Joe is an Intentional Being because of three main criteria:
Let’s take this example one step further. After Joe applied the Seven Simple Steps he realized that his anger had nothing to do with the man. His anger stemmed from a series of life events that happened in his past. Those life events led him to believe that he was inadequate. This belief made him work hard to prove that he was adequate, rather than to actually be adequate. Do you see Maya clearly in this example? Do you see the difference between trying to be something, instead of being that something? Step Seven: Realization , is where Joe realizes 7 his power and completeness. There is no need to prove anything once he knows this truth.
Applying the Seven Simple Steps will eventually lead Joe to realize his self-confidence. This realization clears core beliefs and allows his true power to shine through all aspects of his life. Imagine the freedom that Joe would have when he stops trying to be what he already is? Imagine how that new mindset will affect his work life, his love life, his parental life and the way he carries himself in the world. Imagine the peace, freedom and the new doors that will open that he didn’t have access to while being lost in the Maya. In Joe’s example, do you notice the relationship between Co-Creation and Self-Realization?
The real purpose of life is to live as realized Beings. As our intentions evolve from Lower to Higher Intentions, we become more aware of purpose. At times, we feel that what we seek is a circumstance, person, object or destination. But as we evolve we know that real success is derived from realizing and expressing our authentic selves. There is nothing wrong or right in pursuing things and feeling achievement from manifesting these things. Your validation is always in the feeling, not in the achievement itself, nor in the approval of others. When you verify your intentions as true, there is growth awaiting you in that process. They become bridges toward Self-Realization.
Even if you are seeking a specific circumstance, person, object or destination, know that that purpose is dynamic. It has its own momentum. There are unlimited possibilities to manifest your purpose, because purpose is a moment-by-moment experience, not an outcome. Also, it is simple. If all you want is to be happy, then that is your life’s purpose right now. If all you want is to read this sentence, then allow this to be your life’s purpose right now. You can be living your purpose as you are reading this book. Just follow the promise of that subtle feeling, that small desire, and let it unfold. In this moment, you know what you want and that is what matters.
There is no greater achievement than a moment-by-moment experience of the greatest qualities of life . These qualities do not depend on anything outside of your Being or outside of this present moment. According to the Maya Matrix image, we came into this world with a set of unique intentions. They are our purpose, and our purpose is one with our Soul. Clearing the way to manifest and express that purpose feels like home. It feels like returning to your Being, because getting closer to purpose is getting closer to your True Self. Your purpose is real and it is important to be recognized, expressed and pursued. But as it is important to you, it is also important to life itself. Your purpose and life’s purpose are one. When you align with your purpose, synchronicities begin to happen for you, which is a result of integrating purpose, Soul and life as one.
Those are the qualities that we really seek beyond all illusion. Imagine a love that is all-inclusive: a sense of euphoria that is complete; an ever-expanding abundance and a sense of being that defies life. There are more qualities than we have words to describe. For many years, Intentional Beings have been setting the foundation for more qualities to become available. I have noticed global scale indications of those transformations. When more people choose these qualities, we will create a different world from the one we know. The only way to experience the broadness of those qualities is through connection with our Being, as we will learn in Step Two: Awareness of Being . We will learn more about the Greatest Qualities of Life in Step Seven: Realization .
Intention is not an action. It is an acknowledgement of a need without judging that need. It is simply an intention that needs to be expressed and acknowledged. Expressing intention on the level of Step One is to speak it to yourself, write it, announce it, tell it to a friend or to someone in a safe environment. Life celebrates with us when we align with purpose. It has been waiting for us to speak our word.
You will learn more about Authentic Expression in Step Three. Physical action is the act of aligning with Higher Intentions which comes in Step Six. The Seven Simple Steps suggests keeping distance between intention and action.
Being attached to a specific outcome is Maya and it is not a part of this Step. Maya always wants us to project our awareness anywhere except the here and now because Maya dies in the here and now. When we become attached to something that is not in the here and now, we lose the present moment, thus, we lose our connection with life. One of the ways to avoid being attached to a specific outcome is to turn our attention toward three elements of the present moment: (1) the quality of experiences we seek rather than the physical outcome, (2) the feeling of gratitude for the progress we have already made, and (3) the enthusiasm we feel. Note that all of these elements are experienced in the present moment and not in the future.
“Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”
– Tony Robbins.
The application of the Seven Simple Steps helps evolve our intentions naturally. With practice, the Lower Intentions will not be as fulfilling as they used to be. Carefully phrasing the intent or the question can streamline this process. Make the question as expressive as possible, as uplifting as possible and as authentic as possible. Also, make your questions expansive and open to unlimited possibilities. In Joe’s example, he found out that his quest was not to win the argument, but to relieve himself from his self-sabotaging behavior.