By Vaughn
Paul Manley, M.A.
Recently my fiancee, Eleykaa, and I visited a beautiful sanctuary
that our friend, Eve, owns called The Sacred Garden
on Maui. We were admiring her large Buddha statue that sat prominently
in her greenhouse where she sells plants to the public. I told
her that it had the most serene presence of any that I'd ever
seen anywhere in the world. She replied, "You're not going
to believe it, but it manifested within 15 minutes of thinking
the thought that I'd like to find a Buddha statue for the greenhouse."
She went on to share the details of her amazing purchase of
the statue, while driving with her sister on a rainy day. "It
just goes to show you," she said, "that you'd better
be careful with what you want, because you might just get it!"
Read Eve's own account of her story by clicking
here.
Eve was describing the power of intention, or what is called
agama karma in Sanskrit. 'Agama' means 'coming near,
or approaching.' When we set an intention we are coming near
to its manifestation. It's the thought stage that precedes the
physical stage of taking action, or what is called kriyamana
karma. Together agama karma and kriyamana karma comprise
our free will. We set an intention, and then we take action,
or we make a plan and then we work the plan. The results of
those thoughts and actions will modify our previous karma.
The power of intention is based on the principle of 'like attracts
like." Whatever we focus our mind on, we draw nearer to
us. The Buddha said,
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Our thoughts are more powerful than most of us realize. In 1997,
David Smith, a professor of sport and exercise psychology at
University of Chester, conducted a research study on exercise
that showed that the power of our thoughts is almost as good
as the real thing. Participants of the study who actually exercised
were able to achieve 30% increase in strength. However, the
participants who just imagined themselves exercising achieved
an amazing 16% increase. Virtual workouts can give us almost
the same effect because another study using EEG machines showed
that the brain doesn't distinguish between doing something and
just thinking about it. In other words, just thinking about
something was triggering the same physiological processes as
real exercise.
It's because our thoughts have a powerful effect in the physical
world, that I believe that it's best to not make negative, fatalistic
predictions. The fear that is instilled actually draws those
fearful situations towards us, and creates changes in our minds
and bodies. Since we're modifying our karma all the time, by
our thoughts and actions, why not modify it in a positive direction?
A good question is: If our thoughts have the power to manifest,
then why don't we manifest everything we put our minds on? It's
because wishful thinking, hopeful thinking, oh wouldn't it be
nice if...thinking is not setting an intention. Instead, it's
saying to ourselves and to the universe that something will
happen, believing it, and putting our entire will behind
it. I believe that we can only have this level of conviction
when our will is in harmony with God's will, or our karmic destiny.
Copyright 2007. Vaughn Paul
Manley. All Rights Reserved. |
