Indicators of Counter-Intentions

Some indicators that unconscious counter-intentions are at work to thwart or sabotage what you say you want:

1. Feelings of physical constriction, fear of failure (or success), fear of disapproval, anxiety, or the experience of negative self-talk. Any or all of these may occur when you think about acting on your intention, or while you are in the process of acting on it. Rather than being focused on the flow of creative thought and action arising from your intention, these indicators of counter-intentions act like static on a radio broadcast or like a virus in a computer program, shutting down or disrupting the flow.

2. Feelings of procrastination, avoidance, or sudden tiredness. Do you find yourself wanting to put off acting on your intention, getting sidetracked by some non-threatening time consuming distraction such as watching TV, surfing the internet, doing a crossword puzzle, reading a magazine or newspaper, calling a friend, having a drink, having sex, smoking a joint (add any other addiction here), browsing the refrigerator to eat when you are not even hungry, or experiencing a sudden overwhelming wave of tiredness that tells you that you must take a nap and go unconscious? And then, all of a sudden, you say to yourself, "Where did the day go?"

Anything that distracts you from what you said you intend to create is a probable candidate for being a counter-intention, guaranteed to neutralize or sabotage your stated intention.

While these various avoidance behaviors can be readily identified, the counter-intentions that are generating them usually remain hidden from our conscious mind. Unless these counter-intentions are illuminated by the light of awareness, they cannot be examined and dissolved, and continue to control and thwart all of "our best laid plans".

Hidden Counter-Intentions

These hidden counter-intentions are made up of inherited and reactive decisions, beliefs, and ideals about our self and the world that have never been examined, are assumed to be true, and then are buried away in the subconscious, safely out of the light of rigorous inquiry.

As mentioned in Part 1 of this article, many of these unexamined beliefs are in conflict with each other as well as with one's consciously expressed intentions. Conflicting parental advice such as "Be spontaneous" and "it's important to believe and do what you are told by authority"is an example. Beginning at birth, we are given conflicting suggestions by our parents, our schools, our culture, our religion, politicians, big business, and the media, all masquerading as "the truth." Depending on our culture and our upbringing, we are given different "truths" about what is "good" and "bad" and what is "right" and "wrong." For instance, depending on the religion you were raised in, coffee, wine and certain foods may be "good" or "bad" or "neutral." In some cases, they are merely drinks or food, in other cases they are blocks to getting into heaven.

Growing up, we are asked to take on these beliefs and ideals without questioning it, asked to believe what "the authorities" tell us. We may be told in one instance that "lying is bad," and "you should always tell the truth." In the next situation we are being given the advice that "it's alright to tell a 'white' lie," or "don't hurt people's feelings," or "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." We attempt to reconcile "love your neighbor," with "life is a survival game, get them before they get you." Even our youthful resistance to what we are asked to believe becomes a trap, getting us stuck in NOT believing what is suggested as a stimulus-response reaction, rather than being able to inquire deeply into the truth of the matter with no pre-judgments.

As we take on more and more of these conflicting suggestions, they become part of our unexamined programming, and we become more and more fragmented, following one set of internal instructions one moment, and the opposite set in the next, justifying all of it with perfect equanimity, oblivious to the inner conflict ruling our life. With our true Beingness asleep to itself, this guarantees the destruction of what is natural to us all --- a life of integration, wholeness, alignment and flow. In its place, the unconscious conditioning and programming gives us a life of fragmentation, continual inner conflict, constant striving, and stress.

Levels of Counter-Intention

Some of these unconscious beliefs and ideals are generated at the individual level (the particular history or persona that we call "me"), some we inherit from our families, and some we are indoctrinated in by our culture, religion, schools, organizations, and society. All of these levels are limitations on our true nature as an unlimited creative Being. To the extent that we hold these unexamined beliefs or ideals as the "truth" rather than as "a created view of the world," to that extent they unconsciously determine the limits of who and what we can be, do, and have.

Each of these levels has its own unique vibration or energy frequency. Those frequencies that we consider ourselves to be attract other beings and circumstances in the universe that vibrate to and reinforce those frequencies. Thus, more and more, we see and experience what we already believe to be so. A victim, for instance, is seldom disappointed in their belief that "it is never going to turn out." When we identify with the frequency of a particular level, that level becomes the ceiling beyond which we can never evolve or expand to our true unlimited Being. We literally can't think thoughts or feel feelings or perceive reality that is not consistent with what we consciously or unconsciously consider ourselves to be.

If you begin to observe the thoughts, emotions, and beliefs causing you stress and derailing your intention, you will realize very quickly that you are present to a cacophony of dissonant opinions, judgments, and inherited and survival-based intentions at war with one another. When we are identified or attached to various conflicting intentions that make up our past conditioning and programming, we find ourselves with an unruly mob of inner voices telling us in one moment to "stick up for our rights," and in the next moment, urging us to be a "pleaser" and do whatever it takes to get approval and attention.

Experiencing the plethora of conflicting counter-intentions battling it out for supremacy within the conditioned human being, it becomes clear that the power to create and manifest an aligned intention in the world is very rare. In contrast to the ongoing effort and struggle given by a fragmented inner world, when we are aligned with our true creative nature, our emotions, thoughts, behaviors, imagination, and physical actions are in harmony and balance, and we function like a clear laser beam that can cut through steel as if through butter.

The Seduction of a Fear Driven Life

What makes these conflicting suggestions so seductive? How come we don't even notice their inconsistency and conflict?

Asleep to our infinite I AM nature, we lose our awareness as the creator of our lives. We see ourselves not as the author of the world we inhabit, but as merely a small character in a larger, more powerful world. We become fearful, desperate for any savior outside ourselves, anyone or anything that will promise us that we will be safe and non-disturbed, not realizing that the I AM within us, that we already always are, is the savior we are looking for. We begin to relate to life not as a creative expression of Being, but as a never-ending quest for CERTAINTY and CONTROL. In this condition of walking sleep, people look for the illusion of a safe harbor that will protect them in this world (or at least guarantee safety in the next one). They stop inquiring. They stop noticing inconsistencies and conflicts in what they are told about reality and how to function in it. They stop questioning. They stop Being.

It is not an accident that the history of artistic, scientific, and spiritual breakthroughs ---in fact, creative breakthroughs of all kinds--- have almost always been accomplished by those who were at first denounced and attacked by the status quo as radicals, quacks, insane, fools or heretics. The status quo is the accepted reality of "the way it is"and reacts violently when the "truth" of its cherished beliefs and assumptions are perceived to be threatened.

Every human being who created a new possibility for humanity had to question the energy frequency --the reality--- in which they were embedded, and then dis-identify from that perceived reality. Even for those who have created a new possibility, there is a subtle and insidious trap. If, after creating a new possibility, one identifies oneself with the creation rather than with one's true unlimited nature, then eventually, no matter how "radical" it seemed at first, the new creation will soon operate from the same "this is the truth" illusion as the old reality, and will become --- with all of its accompanying beliefs, judgments, and conclusions --- a new status quo concerned with its own survival as "the truth". Over and over again, throughout history, the former victim of oppression becomes the new inquisitor. When we identify ourselves as any particular frequency, we have created a limit on the unlimited Being that we are.

The Illusion of Identity Versus Creating a Role as a Vehicle of Being

In our present day tsunami of "Identity Politics" this trap of identifying with one's creation is particularly easy to observe. The more agreement or disagreement a particular identity has in the world, the more it becomes a part of the culture, and the more "real" it seems to be. The world is filled with those who can't wait to identify themselves and others in a particular and limiting way. "I am ....white, black, brown, red, yellow, Afro-American, Native American, Latino, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Shinto, Jain, orthodox, conservative, reform, young, old, straight, gay, bisexual, transgender, Republican, Democrat, Independent, neo-conservative, libertarian, single, married, widowed, rich, poor, American, European, Middle Eastern, African, Asian, an alcoholic, a drug addict, an incest survivor, a holocaust survivor, a victim of child abuse, a child of divorced parents, etc.

However, when we identify with the energy frequencies of each of these classifications as who we are, then that frequency must be continuously validated in order to survive. This limits our future expression in the world, reinforcing our illusion of separateness from all those who do not meet those "qualifications," and blinding us to our always present Oneness with all Beings. Identities become the boundaries beyond which we have no permission to express. They become invisible walls that we use to explain our life, justify our victimhood, and destroy our ability to live from our true creative nature beyond all limitations. Whatever frequencies we identify ourselves to be are the limits of our expression in the world.

When we hold these classifications as Roles rather than Identities ---a myriad of ways of expressing the history of our Being in the world --- they can be useful points of reference, vehicles for expressing our infinite Being in the world, and an inspiration to others on our life journey. Some roles we took on consciously, and some we inherited. Some roles are authentic expressions of ourselves, while some roles are limitations that others attempt to assign to us. Some roles may be a perfect fit for now, while others need to be discarded. We can examine all the roles, and see what beliefs, assumptions, and limitations we may have taken on. Which roles are consistent with our created intention? How we relate to these roles is up to us.

Shift from identifying with the role to having it, and you regain your authorship over your expressions in life. No role can ever determine who you are or your inner state of Being NOW or in the next moment.

In the Core Wisdom 3-Day Course, your direct experience of your true unlimited nature is a critical factor in generating the burning desire to dissolve the unexamined beliefs, ideals and assumptions that have taken over the controls of your life while you were imprisoned in a dream of identity. To awaken to the knowledge that you can dis-identify from those limitations, and be free to BE and create from your true nature is a gift of Spirit's Grace.

At a certain moment, outside of time and space, you realize that ALL the roles we play are expressions of Being. And in that instant the illusion of separateness falls away, and you experience directly that what you have called "we" and "you" and "me" are expressions of the ONE BEING THAT IS THE ALL....and you see the truth of Shakespeare's view of the world as a stage upon which Being plays its many parts...awe and wonder wash over you as you experience that reality is what the Mystics have said it is....I AM engaged in a Play of Consciousness...a celebration of Creation...a Dance of Shiva. With joy, understanding, and compassion beyond all words, you know I AM the Oneness of ALL THAT IS is Unconditional Love expressing itself, creating itself....and nothing is missing....it is all perfect, whole and complete...from formless to form and back to formlessness...Light manifesting as Form...Form dissolving back into the Light...and you are finally where you always have been ---at home---and now you know it...

                -- Hal Isen

From Core Wisdom On-Line Number 64 - July 11, 2006
� 2006 Hal Isen & Associates, Inc.