Ever since I first learned about the power of intention, I have been experimenting with it in my life, in terms of using intent to bring into my life that which I would like to have in my life. I must admit, the results have been, at times, frustratingly inconsistent. When it comes to manifesting small things that I would like to see happen in my life on a daily basis, I have been overwhelmingly successful. But, on the other hand, when it comes to manifest the “larger” things in life, I have often found those things taking a much longer time than I intend for them to take before they come into my life. It is only now, after many years of experimenting with intent that I have come to understand why this is.

Ordinarily, when people think about praying for or intending certain inconsequential things to come to them, they are detached from its manifesting. For example, if you are intending to manifest a small amount of cash in order to be able to see a show or go out on a date, then you are relatively detached about receiving that small amount of cash because you realize that being able to do these types of things (concerts, dates, etc.) aren’t really so relevant in terms of the more pressing concerns that we all face in life (bills, gainful employment, adequate transportation, maintaining your health, taking care of loved ones, and so on). Thus, when it comes to attempting to manifest these things, there tends to be a sense of attachment to these things manifesting, as we perceive them to be somehow more important than the smaller things of life like, for instance, concerts and dates. And, it is this very perception of difference of scale of different experiences that life has to offer to us that ends up being the impediment to us receiving those “larger” things in life. If only you would learn not to “sweat the big stuff” you would find those things flowing to you more easily and effortlessly.

What I am saying here is that the emotional attitude of attachment functions as a type of resistance or dam to your highest good flowing to you. If you understand that, as human beings, we function like magnets that magnetize things to us based on our predominant emotional attitude or vibrational frequency. Thus, all that I am really saying is that the emotion of attachment is a lower vibrational frequency, and therefore attracts to you lower vibrational experiences. Going back to the example from my own life of being able to manifest “small” things into my life easily, this is simply because the emotion of attachment is seldom present in my envisioning of these things coming into my life. Whereas, in attempting to manifest those larger things into my life, there is again, there sense of attachmen to the outcome because of the illusion of grandeur. That is, there is a great illusion within human beings, one that I have often succumbed to myself, that somethings are grand and others, small. In truth, all experiences are equal in the eyes of the Creator, and thus, will be granted onto us without discrimination, provided that we ourselves, learn to not discriminate between some things we have taught are small, and those things that we are taught are large.

The best way to illustrate this would be in that grand source of discrimination in our society, which is material wealth. This is not so much a sociological point that I am trying to make as much as a spiritual point. For example, we have taught to believe that there is a real difference between the awe of possessing a penny and the awe of possession one billion dollars, when, in fact, both of these extremes are but the contrast of experience available to us all on this plane of relative truth(i.e., the plane where we come to experience the absolute unity of all by experiencing the illusion of diversity of experience). In truth, all experiences are empty, with none of them being lasting or with substance. That is why the great Buddhist sages say that all is appearance-emptiness. In time, the entire range of experience will be known to you, and you witness as they all appear and then dissolve, only to appear and dissolve again, thus demonstrating all phenomena as empty of real substance.

So, when it comes to manifesting the “big” things in life, it is actually quite simple once you come to understand the empty nature of it, as well as the inherent emptiness of everything else. Once you come to understand that, you will literally come to order (your wish is my command) all the most grand experiences this Universe could ever offer with the ease, detachment, and sense of nonchalance which you would order a meal at a fast food restaurant. “I’ll have an order of a billion dollars, a gorgeous wife, a huge mansion, the most stylish car ever made, and all the other trappings of a king, please.” And the genie in a bottle that is the YOUniverse will certainly deliver this fast food to you in an instant. This is the true nature of the Universe. When we are told of the mythical tale of Aladdin and the genie in a bottle, we are being given a glimpse into the true nature of life. Life is such that all that we command (intend) will flow onto us in accordance with our belief. If we believe that some things take a long time to manifest, they will; if we believe that some things will manifest in a short amount of time, they will. Thus, the key to solving the problem of prolonged time in the manifestation of your desires is to let go of the delusion that some experiences are large and small. I say to you that all experience is inconsequential, appearing and dissolving in the blink of an eye, and thus you can call any of them (from a penny to a billion dollars) forth with out any effort whatsoever, and know that it will manifest because the Universe is indeed our genie in a bottle, granting onto us whatever it is we desire.

The way in which to apply this knowledge to your life is to write out a list of things you would like to have in your life is simply to write out everything you want in your life, in the form of “ it is my intention to…” (e.g. it is my intention to be a millionaire within one year of today) and state that intention to the Universe one time, and one time only. Sometimes, when people intend to experience certain things, they state that intent over and over again to the Universe, as if having experienced the things they intend to experience happen yet, they act as if the Universe did not hear them the first time. When, in fact, you only need to state your desire to the Universe one time, as unlike us, it is pure consciousness, ever alert, ever attentive, and thus, could never miss even a single thought we have impressed upon it. The Universe that we live in is fully aware and can act on the intention we impress upon it, the very moment we impress it upon it. Much like a lot of soil, we only need plant the seed in the soil one time (and not continue to dig up that seed and check on its progress or attempt to supplant that seed with some other seed) and the Universe will do the rest, nurturing and nourishing the seed into its fruition.

So, write out the list of intentions that you have for your entire life, read those intentions out loud to the Universe one time, and then let go, and let the nourishing soil of Spirit do the rest. Surely, that which you ask for will be bestowed upon you as it is spiritual law that dictates, “ask and ye shall receive.” And, of course, it is the dictates of that grand genie in a bottle that we call the Universe that your wish is its command.

The Universe is like a computer in that we human beings program the code of the software into the cosmic computer by informing it precisely, in seemingly complex, but overly simple instructions. In other words, the software of the Universe, which will execute the instructions (your wish is my command) we “program” into it, provided we know the rule of “programming language” that the Universe responds to, including the specific set of “task” initiating strings of code.

Put another way, the Universe, much like a computer, can be thought of as an interface that produces results in accordance with the instructions it has been given by you, the programmer (creator). If you make a programming error, the results will come back with an error report (i.e. the results you get will seem erroneous to you). But, when you properly understand the rules and syntax of this language, what I will call MPL (manifestation programming language), you will be able to create the results you want.

Here are the rules of MPL that will allow you to yield the results you want in your life.

1) Every instruction begins with your intention. Thus, the best way to instruct the cosmic computer to execute any task for you is by beginning your request with the words, “it is my intention to/that…”
2) You must provide as the rest of your instruction the very specific details of what, when, where, and why in each request
3) You can not instruct the cosmic computer in any way about the ‘how’ and ‘who’ of a request. These are “syntax errors.” The cosmic computer has built in instructions that are beyond our comprehension that can’t be overridden when it comes to ‘how’ and ‘who.’
4) Giving the same instructions to the cosmic computer twice has the affect of canceling out the request all together. You must only intend for something to happen once if it is to happen.

The Universe is a perfect computer that is not possible of making mistakes. Thus, the output generated in your life has only generated what you perceive to be errors because of your violation of this very strict set of “syntax” rules. If you fully understand the language of MPL, you will never again create things in your life that you do not want. In fact, you will find just the opposite, that truly you are the creator (programmer) of your own life , and the only reason you have ever experienced any kind of dissatisfaction in your life is because you didn’t know these rules. Now you do. Apply them to your life and behold at the awesome speed and precision with which the Universe produces the desired outcome in your life, on every level of your life.

“When you can win with humility, and lose with dignity, then, and only then, can you call yourself a man.”

Kevin Kinchen

You will know that you have reached that elusive milestone called manhood simply by observing yourself through life’s’ vicissitudes. Everyone, no matter who we are in life, must experience life as an ebb and flow of success and failure. None of us can experience a life of complete victory, nor total defeat. We all experience both in life.

The difference between a boy and a man, then, lies in relationship to this fundamental truth of life. Quite simply, a boy does not realize that failure is the path to success, whereas a man realizes that this is such. In other words, the only difference between a man and a boy is that a man can see through the illusion of failure, realizing that there is, in fact, no such thing as failure. A man realizes that, on the contrary, failure is but feedback teaching us the way to our success, and that even such success is transient.

To put it another way, a man is one that has learned to be detached in the experience of failure and success, accepting both as transient and impermanent as clouds passing through the sky. That is, the realization of manhood is to be found in the realization of life’s impermanent nature, and thus, accepts gain and loss as the same, not more attached to one over the other.

In indigenous societies- ancient human societies where human beings lived with nature (as opposed to living separated from nature) – the wise elders of the community who had come to such a realization would systematically lead all the boys of the community to this realization through a rigorous rite of passage. Though we do not have a formal rite of passage in this society, there are, nonetheless still life trials that we are called to endure that can have the same function as these ancient rites, in that they can lead us to the realization of this truth, for the purposes of allowing us to move skillfully through life.

The reason why it is this singular realization that is the essence of manhood is because the reason why any being incarnates into physical form as a male is for Spirit to explore this aspect of itself. And the aspect of Spirit that Spirit is trying to know within itself experientially is stillness. You see, there are two aspects of Spirit ultimately, stillness and dynamism. These sides, which we can understand as the masculine and feminine aspects of Spirit are the essence of creation in that it is ultimately a dance of stillness and dynamism. Thus, the masculine side of spirit, the side that you have incarnated to experience is stillness.

And, given that it is stillness that is the essence of masculinity (literally the masculine side of Spirit), it is in stillness that the acceptance of the ephemeral nature of success and failure, victory and defeat, loss and gain, is complete. Thus, it is in the stillness of mind, which accepts the ebb and flow illusion of success and failure, that a boy becomes a man- which is really a master.

Unfortunately, none can give this realization to another. In time, in response to the many trials that life will present to you, you will come to accept loss and gain, failure and success as one. And then, and only then, you will know that at last you have become a man.

One simple way to quickly raise your own vibration to a place of “feel good” so that you can assure you are attracting the most positive experiences to yourself is to surround yourself with people that are themselves skilled in keeping themselves in a place of “feel good.” There is a saying in the bible that applies here: “he that hangs with fools shall be destroyed. He that hangs with wise men shall be made wise.” All that statement is suggesting is that you be careful of the company that you keep.

In the context of manifesting with the law of attraction, it is important that we carefully choose the company that we keep because the way in which the people we surround ourselves with can have the effect of either raising or lowering our vibration based on their predominate way of vibration – basically chronically happy or miserable. It is indeed true that misery loves company, and, it is equally true that bliss loves company. So, make sure to always surround yourself with positive, happy people.

Perhaps you would find it useful to take a few moments to evaluate the company you regularly keep, and decided which of these people fit into your desire to always feel good so that you are always attracting good. From there, you can actually take the time to write out a list of people that you know that are generally positive, happy people, and make a commitment to try to spend as much time with these people as possible to insure that their happiness rubs off on you.

Over the course of my own life, I have made close friends as diverse as chronically depressed alcoholics to chronically happy and successful business men and women. In retrospect, it is clear to me that my chronically depressed friends have always had the effect of dragging me into their dark emotional space, thus beginning a vicious cycle of depression and negative attractions. As for my successful and happy friends, they have had the exact opposite effect. So, I know first-hand how this works.

I highly recommend to you that you take a few moments out of your busy day and write out a list of the most successful and happy acquaintances you have, including any contact information you may have on them, and consult that list anytime you need to see a friendly face that will help uplift your emotional state. Now, if you yourself are a chronically depressed person you may be worried about having the reverse effect on your contented friends. That is, you may be worried that you will drag them down into your dark place. If this is the case, you may need to make an effort to surround yourself with an entire group of friendly faces to ensure that their positivity overrides the negativity you currently find yourself in. But, I assure you, this is a really simple and effective way to give yourself a quick boost of positivity when you are in need. If I may, you can always depend on a friendly face to take you to an uplifted place.

Unfortunately, in this society, many of the most conscious and compassionate people have a great aversion to earning large amounts of money. Part of the reason for this, I believe, is because they realize that it would be unfair to the world’s poor for them to have so much, in a world where there are so many that have so little. What these people do not understand is that it is possible (and perhaps even more compassionate) to allow oneself to earn a great amount of wealth, while retaining only a small portion of it.

It is my belief that if more kind-hearted people would allow themselves to earn a vast amount of money, the condition in which the world is in could only change for the better. As it stands, a great many of the world’s wealthiest people are cruel and greedy, and therefore, only know how to use the immense power that material wealth affords you to do further acts of cruel injustice in this world. It is, therefore, a sad fact that the kindest and most compassionate people in the world are not wiling to join the worlds wealthy simply because they have the misguided belief that power (in this case material wealth) corrupts.

Money, which is power in this world, is in no way corrupting. The true effect that money has on a person is that of a brutally honest mirror that reflects back to you that which you really are. So if, for example, you are a person that is unconsciously prone to sex and drug addictions, you would not know this about yourself because you don’t have the means to explore such addictions in the state of poverty. But, once you acquire a significant amount of wealth, all of a sudden, you have almost unlimited access to the entire spectrum of vices (and virtues) that this world has to offer. It would be then that you would discover the degree to which you are corrupt, as well as the degree to which you are virtuous. The point is that it is not the money-power that corrupts you, but rather, it was the money that gave you the free reigns to, for the first time in your life, fully express your most corrupt desires.

Given this, it is understandable why many people avoid allowing themselves access to such power- they may be afraid what they will do with it. However, contrary to the many people that would shun such power out of fear of what parts of themselves will be exposed (e.g. sex addict, drug addict, etc.), I believe a better approach would be to hold back from acquiring such wealth until you have done a rather complete psychological inventory on yourself. That is, before declaring to the Universe that you are ready for material prosperity, take an honest look at your own shadow (dark aspects of the unconscious we like to pretend aren’t in us) and assess how powerful certain destructive urges are within you. If you find in this self-assessment that certain dark urges are overwhelmingly powerful within you, you may need to work through these prior to calling forth vast sums of money into your experience, lest you use this money-power in self-destructive ways.

Here are a few questions worth asking yourself to determine if you are ready to have a great amount of money-power in your life:

1) Do you have an insatiable sexual appetite?
2) Have you ever been sexually abused? If yes, are you still dealing with the after-effects of that experience?
3) Do you spend a disproportionate amount of the money you currently have on drugs and/or alcohol?
4) Do you often entertain perverse sexual fantasies?
5) Do you often entertain fantasies of inflicting cruel punishment on others?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, it is worthwhile to try to resolve these issues through some type of counseling or therapy prior to calling forth money-power into your life. As we’ve illustrated, amassing a fortune now would only have the effect of allowing you to act out these destructive and self-destructive desires and habits to a greater extent than you can now.

With that said, let’s go back to the initial point of earning, as opposed to saving money. If you are a lightworker and have the means to work through deep-seeded psychological issues that would be exposed as corrupt upon the introduction of money-power, you should open yourself to receiving as much money-power as possible.

As I outlined in a previous article, Money: The Root of All Good, there is much good that can be done in the world with money, if only the most conscious people would acquire wealth and channel that wealth towards worthwhile and necessary causes like cancer research, AIDS research, ending world hunger, domestic violence, sexual assault, and so on. Furthermore, it must be understood that though you may choose to earn a great amount of wealth, it is not necessary for you to retain that wealth. Rather, if you are really concerned about the state of this world we live in, you would tithe the majority of the money you earn (once you start earning in the millions) towards causes that would uplift the condition of the world.

In conclusion, now that you truly understood the type of power that money really is, you must be cautious in amassing it, as it may lead to the exposure of your latent corrupt desires and habits. But, if you can work through these issues prior to ever acquiring a great amount of money-power, you must make a point of acquiring, and channeling towards the most noble causes as much money as you possible can. In recent news, we have been made aware of the philanthropic works of two of the world’s wealthiest people: Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates. They understand very well the proper use of this power, and are doing a great deal of good in this world. If you truly do care about the state of this world, I suggest you follow their lead. Acquire as much wealth as you possibly can, and use that wealth to make this world we live in a better place for all of us.