Intention Is the Foundation of Our Spiritual Life

Our intention is the foundation of our spiritual life. When we have an intention that we hold in our heart and live from every day, we are focused and we have the capacity and potential to succeed in our lives. Without an intention, we are ungrounded, unfocused, and consumed by the tensions and pressures that we encounter.

There are layers and levels of intention. Some of you might think, “Okay, now I need to have an intention and I’d better think one up.” That’s great, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you found it difficult to hold to after a while. In developing an intention, you don’t want to think one up, but rather to come into contact with and be aware of the bigger intention that your life has for itself–an intention that’s bigger than your mind and bigger than your ego and comes from a profoundly deep place with you. It may take you a while to get in touch with this place.

CC Photo courtesy of victoriapeckam on Flickr

The most important thing about intention is that it should come from a place within you that is true and enduring, so that the recognition of your intention will sustain you through all of the different seasons of your life. There will be some rich and full and vital and vibrant times in your life, and there will be some cold, hard, challenging times. Having an awareness of the intention that your life has for itself will allow you, in all the seasons of your life, to appreciate the unity and perfection of your life as it is unfolding.

If your intention comes from a deep place, you will be sustained by its truth and its power. You will develop a capacity for discrimination that allows you to navigate the short term challenges of  daily life in a way that is completely in harmony with the long term, larger challenges. You will be able to find in your days and your months and your years and in your seasons and cycles an integration that is continuously nourishing, even when it is frustrating.