“What is intention?”
Perhaps the question arose because we were making a pilgrimage to a site that many consider sacred, and in such a journey one may ask oneself, ‘What do I hope to accomplish from this effort? What is my intention?’ And since the unseen world of the sacred is always mysterious, one might also wonder, ‘Is there a connection between intention and the consequences of my actions?’ In spiritual matters, we do not see the same straight-forward chain of cause and effect we might find in the outer world.
Intentions are not always fulfilled in the visible world. Hazrat Inayat Khan gives the example of a person who goes out with the intention of walking in the park, but meets an acquaintance on the way, and ends up stopping at the friend’s house for tea. “All manifestation is made by the two forces of accident and intention,” he says. Even with a clearly defined intention, the unexpected may intervene so that we do not accomplish what we aimed for. A well meant action can sometimes produce what appears to be disaster, and conversely, a selfish intention may – apparently – do no harm. It is only the person that Hazrat Inayat refers to as the ‘master-mind’ who can hold an intention so clearly and strongly that the force of accident will not divert it.
When it comes to spiritual matters, and assuming that we are not yet master-minds, our intention may be hard to define. One may make a pilgrimage or engage in some other spiritual discipline in the hopes of healing an illness or resolving some difficulty in life, for example, but if our intention is a general one, perhaps to be more spiritual (whatever that means), then we are, in effect, reaching blindly into the darkness, hoping to put our hand on we know not what.
But although imprecise, our intention will always be a reflection, however dim, of our ideal. We may label our ideal with different names, such as Truth or God or Peace or Happiness, but every intention we formulate will in some way be a picture of that ideal as we understand it. Therefore, in trying to fulfil an intention, we are bringing our ideal to life, and whatever energy we invest in making our ideal a reality will have its inevitable result.
If that consequence is not visible in this transient world of manifestation, then it will be seen one day in the inner life that becomes clear when the veil of the body drops away. Our repeated efforts and intentions form a sort of network in the consciousness, and unfulfilled desires and intentions are a hidden potential there. As Mahmoud Shabistari says,
“All the potentials from the house of this world
will suddenly manifest in the Next World.”
It is important, therefore, to ensure that our intention is formed in sincerity. It is very easy for the ego to hijack a good intention. We may wish to help someone, but we may also wish to be seen helping, or we may wish to pray earnestly but at the same timer we may hope to confirm to ourselves that we are devout, and in such cases we are trying to serve two masters, something that Jesus warned was impossible. What is more, if we have mixed motives, which is to say if we act without sincerity, the inevitable revelation that Shabistari speaks of will not be something to look forward to.
Intention, therefore, is of great importance on the spiritual path, but even more important is the sincerity of our intention.