Every moment of your life is infinitely creative, and the universe is endlessly bountiful. Just put forth a clear enough request, and everything your heart truly desires must come to you. — Shakti Gawain
One of the most underrated superpowers most of us don’t even realize we have is the ability to manifest our desires into reality by setting intentions. An intention is a mental commitment to something that matters to us, a deliberate focus of our energy that presents opportunities to create a physical manifestation.
We are such powerful beings of divine light that we have manifested ourselves into human form, projecting our intent from the other side like a lightning bolt into this world. Incredible, right? Imagine how transformative life could be if we use that same focused energy in our daily lives.
Stating and Setting Your Intention
I state my intentions throughout my day, from the moment I awake. Sometimes I do it while I’m on the move, but most times, I try to find a quiet place and moment where I can pause and focus on what I want to bring to fruition. If I can, I light a candle. This helps set the mood and creates a symbolic manifestation of the intention in the physical world.
Before I go into a reading, I state my intention to be of service as a clear vessel of validation and peace for my client. For a one-person private reading, it might take me a minute or less. For a larger group, like an audience reading, I may spend ten minutes visualizing the people present in the room with their hearts wide open, capable of receiving Spirit. I create a feeling of healing within myself and surrender to Spirit so that I may become a vessel for others.
At the start of each week, I write what I want to create that week, an energetic platform from which to launch. I might focus on trust, healing, or peace. When I enter that intention-setting space, I’m making mental deposits to create energy and an atmosphere that will set events into motion.
The Difference between Prayer and Intention
Some might refer to an intention as a prayer. I see it as what is within my soul that I want to bring to the world, usually something that I have a significant passion for creating. While the two practices are similar, I see prayer as an active dialogue with our spiritual web, and intention-setting is the force behind that active dialogue that summons the energy to create the atmosphere of manifestation and attraction for what we seek.
While our spiritual web certainly assists us in how our intention manifests, the intention is the origin of the desire itself. I may not know how it will happen, but that is the beautiful mystery of intention-setting. Setting the intention is the “what.” The “how” will manifest as I continue to focus on what I want. By creating the atmosphere, the elements I need for my intention to manifest will eventually appear at the right time.
It’s important to visualize the outcome of our intention. By seeing our desire as if it has already happened, we create a mental space from which it will manifest. The excitement we feel from conjuring up our intention is the vibrational force necessary for it to manifest. It can be so powerful that whatever we choose to focus on can become our reality and attract more of the same. If we put forth the effort to set intentions for what we truly want, we can transform our lives.
In 2017, I did just that.
Doing Something More?
I’ve always enjoyed channeling for people, but in 2017 I felt the need to do something more with my gift. I had been teaching a one-day workshop on developing psychic and intuitive gifts for several years. I loved the experience of showing people how my gift worked and how we all have access to the other side in unique ways. I was moved to see other people experience their own aha moment when they made that personal connection with Spirit. I knew how transformative the workshop could be for people, so I wanted to expand upon it and offer a multiple-day workshop experience.
I set my intention to find a way to share my knowledge and experiences of connecting with Spirit in other ways. I spent each day in my meditation room, visualizing myself teaching a room of people about this subject matter. I envisioned the scene surrounded by a glow of white light, which helped set my pure intention into motion.
After a few months of practicing my daily intention-setting, I received an email from one of the country’s top spiritual wellness retreat centers. They wanted me to teach my workshop as a weekend course at their center. This led to other retreat centers contacting me, and before I knew it, I was asked to teach at multiple centers nationwide. The truly transformative part of what happened throughout these workshops was the healing and connection people made with each other and me. It allowed me to step into my own with my gift by sharing it in a whole new way.
Why It Works, and Why It Doesn't
For an intention to manifest, it must be free of ego and serve the highest good of all involved. Setting an intention for harm to be brought to someone you don’t like only attracts the harm back to you. Setting an intention for someone who doesn’t love you to fall in love with you will not work, as this is not in alignment with their intentions or their highest good. Spirit does not work that way. The intention must be pure. Some of the most rewarding parts of intentions are how they can affect the lives of those around us in meaningful ways.
At the start of 2019, I had set an intention to have a travel experience that was deeply meaningful and would allow me to feel more connected spiritually. I left the how and when open. So, when my partner, Patrick, asked me in December if I wanted to go to the island of Kaua‘i with his parents, I jumped at the opportunity. I had been to the Big Island before, but never to Kaua‘i. This was my sign.
In the years leading up to this, I had developed the practice of reciting Hindu chants. So, before the trip, I continually meditated and chanted, setting the intention for us all to have a meaningful, spiritually connected experience on the trip together. I asked that this be of the highest good for all, something unique and uplifting we would never forget.
We didn’t plan activities for this trip in advance, embracing the idea of letting go and letting the experience take us where we were meant to be. While there, I was taken in by the unique beauty of this island, abundant with waterfalls and blanketed in greenery from the mountains to the beaches. It’s a sleepier island, mostly locals, with a quieter nightlife and far fewer tourists than the other islands of Hawai‘i. So, I knew going into this it would be a different kind of vacation. And with less opportunity to lie on the beach soaking up the hot sun, I’d hoped to find a deeper, more meaningful experience from the island.
Being Open to Signs
During our stay in the quaint town of Kapa‘a, Patrick and I went on a morning walk along the beach boardwalk and stumbled upon a local diner, a unique place that served things like lavender-infused iced coffee. While Kapa‘a is one of the more populated areas of Kaua‘i, it still has a small-town feel and is not your typical Hawaiian tourist trap, which I loved. You can meet locals and see a side of Hawai‘i you don’t always get on the Big Island. And there are roosters everywhere! Like urban pigeons, they dominate their landscape.
While at breakfast that morning, our waitress — who was very open and full of positive energy — asked if we’d been to Kaua‘i’s Hindu Monastery. “I didn’t even know you had a monastery,” I replied. She said, “It’s the best-kept secret on the island. It was a life-changing experience for me. You need to go.” When we checked into it, we were able to reserve a time. It books up quickly, so we were fortunate to get a spot. We’d been struggling to schedule activities, so this felt like a sign that we were supposed to go.
We drove to the top of a mountain, which had breathtaking ocean views, and entered this beautiful natural setting, which included statues of Hindu gods, ornate gardens, and a rudraksha forest, which are towering trees with enormous roots. It was like stepping into an ancient world, like nothing I’d ever seen. After exploring the monastery grounds, we came upon the monastery itself, surrounded by fountains and elaborate gardens. This mountaintop sanctuary has some of the best views of waterfalls the island has to offer.
Intention Manifested
Inside the monastery, a Hindu ceremony was underway in the Kadavul Temple. Exploring the grounds, we were drawn toward the sounds of chanting inside the temple. A crowd of visitors was outside removing their shoes and crossing the threshold. Inspired to do the same, we followed them, open for whatever awaited us.
I was utterly taken aback by the ornate beauty inside with bursts of color in the decor, the delightful aroma of frankincense in the air, the glimmering statues of Hindu gods lining the walls, and the overall uplifting energy of the cultural rituals being performed. People laid offerings of flowers at the front of the room near what looked to be an altar. At different points, they kneeled, prayed, and chanted along with the monk seated near the offerings. The joy one felt in the room was infectious. Everywhere we turned, people looked happy just to be there.
Everyone in our group, including Patrick’s parents, participated in the part of the ceremony that involved writing down our intentions and the things we wanted to release from our lives. We didn’t know any of this would be happening when we arrived, but we quickly joined in these rituals because it felt so right. No judgment. No fear. Just pure presence in this magical experience, which no one expected but which couldn’t have been more spot-on with what I’d hoped we would find.
I was already living my intentions with these practices, which is why it showed up for me as validation that I was on the right path for my spiritual wellness. It also gave my in-laws a firsthand look at what I practice every day, and it helped them appreciate the power of intention. Before we arrived in Kaua‘i, I didn’t know how my intention would come to fruition or how quickly, but I trusted that it would, and it did.
Intention: A Genie in a Bottle?
What’s the takeaway with intention-setting? That it is not a genie in a bottle. It’s not the old “I’ll grant you three wishes” adage from storybooks. It takes dedication, faith, and an openness to a connection with a higher power.
On a fundamental level, just merely giving your focus to something reinforces it, pulling it further into your orbit. But by repeatedly focusing on what you want to accomplish, you create a deliberate energetic attraction for that personal change. This is the magic of intention-setting.
With this practice, you set into motion the attractive force between you and your desire. Things unfold that align with your intention, inspiring you to put your desire into action. The signposts along the way become undeniable. That’s where the magic lies behind all this. You feel it on an intuitive level, and when you have all that working together, anything is possible.
Reprinted with permission. ©2023 by Bill Philipps.
Adapted from the book: Soul Searching
Published by: New World Library.
Article Source: Soul Searching
Soul Searching: Tune In to Spirit and Awaken Your Inner Wisdom
by Bill Philipps
Reclaiming our destiny and moving forward requires finding our higher self — the innocent, virtuous, vulnerable child within us. Our spirit self is always in contact with that child, who wants us to be more imaginative, intuitive, honest, and open to receiving love, no matter what indoctrinations and toxic environments we have experienced. In Soul Searching, psychic medium Bill Philipps shows how to reconnect to that spiritual nature we had as children and why those gifts we entered this life with are important.
Using beautifully written stories and practical suggestions, Bill helps us access and build upon our innate skills of intuition, trust, forgiveness, and gratitude.
About the Author
Bill Philipps is a psychic medium and the author of Expect the Unexpected, Signs from the Other Side, and most recently Soul Searching: Tune In to Spirit and Awaken Your Inner Wisdom. His life’s mission is to help people deal with the grief of losing loved ones by bringing through validations, evidential information, and beautiful messages from Spirit, which heal and bring a sense of peace.
Visit him online at http://www.billphilipps.com/
