There is a lot of talk about intentions these days. ‘Intenders of the highest good’ and similar phrases. I’m not much of a fan of such talk. It’s much easier to ‘intend’ something, than it is to actually do it. The master says:
Put without delay your good intentions into practice, never leaving a single one to remain only an intention—expecting, meanwhile, neither reward nor even acknowledgment for the good you may have done. Reward and acknowledgment are in yourself and inseparable from you, as it is your Inner Self alone which can appreciate them at their true degree and value.
A greater contrast with the following is hardly possible I think:
The Intenders of the Highest Good show you how to set your intention to have that which you desire come to you as easily and effortlessly as possible. We have rediscovered a simple method of empowerment that we call The Intention Process which is making all of our dreams come true. We understand that our desires are in us to be fulfilled and that our thoughts create our world. We support and help one another to become as clear as possible in our words and our thoughts so that we can live our lives to the fullest.
Anyone can do it! Just by saying your intentions each day and gathering together once a week with your friends in an Intention Circle, you can change your life for the better.
The contrast can’t be greater because:
- The Intenders don’t argue with our desires, they say they are there to be fulfilled. Instead the master teaches us to ignore our desire for reward (praise) and just do the work that needs to be done.
- The master doesn’t mince words: Every line in his letter implies that this is hard work and the reward can only be found inside. The Intenders instead stress that this is a process of easy and little effort. [As if Oprah didn’t work her ass off to get to where she is…]
The master goes so far as to say:
Reward and acknowledgment are in yourself and inseparable from you, as it is your Inner Self alone which can appreciate them at their true degree and value. For each one of you contains within the precincts of his inner tabernacle the Supreme Court—prosecutor, defense, jury and judge—whose sentence is the only one without appeal; since none can know you better than you do yourself, when once you have learned to judge that Self by the never wavering light of the inner divinity—your higher Consciousness. Let, therefore, the masses, which can never know your true selves, condemn your outer selves according to their own false lights . . . .
The letter goes on with words of advice about the Theosophical Society as an organization, which I could comment on at length, but I’ll save that for a forum with mostly theosophists in the audience.
The fact is though that the art of helping is not the same as writing out a check. We live in a world where things are being confused with happiness – where the solution to sorrow is a shopping spree. So I will leave you with that question: how can we really contribute to a better world? What is real helping?