The Power of Intention: An Exclusive Interview with Dr. Wayne Dyer

When I heard that Dr. Wayne Dyer had a new book out entitled, The Power of Intention, I was intent to have a one-on-one discussion with him about this universal force in nature, especially after my recent conversation with Dr. Deepak Chopra last month which ended up as an overarching theme in the two part interview on the same subject.

Dr. Chopra had this to say about the power of intention, “…we unusually think of intention as just a thought but intention is a force in nature. Scientist who recognizes this talk about a phenomenon called Teleology which is used to explain biological evolution which says if you know the intended outcome in evolution you will be able to predict the biological outcome for it. For example, a giraffe has a long neck because the intended outcome was to reach up to the tree and eat the leaf. A camel has a certain anatomy because its intended outcome was to walk the desert and there was no water. So intentions are responsible for what we call creativity in nature and they are part of the forces of nature as gravity, as much as electromagneticism, as much as the sub atomic forces are. Once you realize that you learn to harness a part of intention by going to that level where in nature the entire universe is really a tapestry of intention.”

Intention is generally viewed as a pit-bull kind of determination propelling one to succeed at all costs by never giving up on an inner picture. In this view, an attitude that combines hard work with an indefatigable drive toward excellence is the way to succeed. However, intention is viewed very differently in Dr. Wayne W. Dyer’s book, The Power of Intention. Dr. Dyer has researched intention as a force in the universe that allows the act of creation to take place. This book explores intention—not as something you do—but as an energy you’re a part of. We’re all intended here through the invisible power of intention. This is the first book to look at intention as a field of energy that you can access to begin co-creating your life in the way you desire.

Part I deals with the principles of intention, offering true stories and examples on ways to make the connection. Dr. Dyer identifies the attributes of the all-creating universal mind of intention as creative, kind, loving, beautiful, expanding, endlessly abundant, and receptive, explaining the importance of emulating this source of creativity. In Part II, Dr. Dyer offers an intention guide with specific ways to apply the co-creating principles in daily life. Part III is an exhilarating description of Dr. Dyer’s vision of a world in harmony with the universal mind of intention.

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer is an internationally renowned author and speaker in the field of self-development. He has written numerous bestselling books, including There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem, Dr. Wayne Dyer’s 10 Secrets for Success and Inner PeaceGetting In the Gap, A Promise Is a Promise, and Your Sacred Self, has created a number of audios and videos; and has appeared on thousands of television and radio programs, including The Today Show, The Tonight Show, and Oprah.

In his latest special for public television, Dr. Wayne Dyer: The Power of Intention, best-selling author and speaker Dr. Wayne Dyer offers a new definition of the concept of intention and explains how every individual can connect to his or her own infinite potential. With unique interpretations of the scientific and metaphysical philosophies of history’s greatest thinkers, Dr. Dyer has inspired countless people to enjoy richer, more spiritual lives. In the following interview, he talks about the program and the book, and his own life’s path.

Philippe Matthews
What exactly is the power of intention?

Dr. Dye
“Most people think of intention as if they have an intention to do something then nothing is going to stop me. It’s like a pit-bull attitude. A lot of the great teachings, particularly the teachings of Castaneda and that whole world of sorcery, they talk about intent not as something that you do but as a field of energy that everything in the universe is intended here from the source.”

Philippe Matthews
When you ask the question where do I come from, most people speak of conception but in actuality we come from divine intention, yes?

Dr. Dye
“Quantum physics teaches us that when you look at an atom and try and take it down to its tiniest component you will find that there are no particles in there. Basically, it’s a field of energy and that field of energy that we come from is invisible and has no form. I think the basis of quantum physics is that particles do not create more particles and that’s what Jesus said more than two thousand years ago, ‘it’s the Spirit that gives life.’ Everything is intended here from a source.”

Philippe Matthews
What is the basis of your book, The Power of Intention?

Dr. Dye
“The basis of this book is that you have to be like that from which you emanated. You have to reconnect with your source. What does this energy field that is responsible for everything, including the minerals, the vegetables, the animals, the trees, the automobiles, the planets; everything that shows up from this invisible field of energy called intention. What does it look like, what does it sound like, what does it feel like? You have to be like that. When we got here from this field of intention, we took on something called the ego and it convinced us that we are separate from God and we are separate from our source and everybody else and who we are is not this divine energy. We have a tendency to believe that who we are is what we have, what we do and who we defeat and how much stuff we collect and what are reputations are. This is about reconnecting to our source. Castaneda said, ‘it isn’t a question of whether you are connected to source, everything is connected to source, you wouldn’t be here if it weren’t.’ The real question is how dirty is the link between yourself and your source. This is about cleaning up the link and living from source energy – that is the power of intention.”

Philippe Matthews
So intention is a force of nature?

Dr. Dye
“It is a force of nature and when you connect to it and act like it then you regain the same power that it has because you and it are one. Once you reconnect to it and start living at that energy level, you have the power to create, you have the power to manifest, you have the power to heal, you have the power to attract into your life virtually anyone with any assistance you need for whatever it is you would like to have in your life. You virtually become a magician if you will, but it means staying with source energy. I call them the seven faces of intention and one of them for example, is the face of kindness. An energy field that can create worlds, doesn’t need to create anything that is unkind toward it. It doesn’t have any hatred in it so every single time you have a thought that is unkind toward someone else or something else you have left source energy. You have resisted being at source energy and you have lost your ability to intend.”

Philippe Matthews
You began your inspiration for this book during your surgery as you were completing A Spiritual Solution to Every Problem is that correct?

Dr. Dye
“Yes, and I came across a quote that is the display quote for the opening chapter in The Power of Intention, ‘In the universe there is an immeasurable, indescribable force which shamans call intent, and absolutely everything that exists in the entire cosmos is attached to intent by a connecting link.’ I carried that around with me and thought about it.”

Philippe Matthews
The Power of Intention has become a powerful PBS Special but your message is energy in expression across the world.

Dr. Dye
“Even doing an interview with you; putting it out on the internet, this is a shift in energy and it’s the kind of shift that the whole planet, including the George W. Bush’s, the Sadaam’s, the Rumfeld’s and everybody else out there -- we really need to shift to this kind of awareness that all of us come from the same source and as the native American’s say, ‘No tree has branches so foolish as to fight among themselves.’ We have to learn that lesson.”

Philippe Matthews
The masses are searching for something much higher than what they have been receiving each week through their current doctrines and sources.

Dr. Dye
“I think people are leaving organized religion in massive numbers and one of the reasons that they are doing it is because if you measure organized religion on the Hawkins scale of whether it weakens or strengthens you, when you ask people questions about organized religion and what impact it has on their life and you do kinesthesiological tests, you’ll see that it weakens you because organized religion divides people up. It compartmentalizes people and makes some people eligible and some people not, whereas spirituality is something that unites people. Anything that unites us as a people strengthens us and anything that divides us weakens us. We have to look at what are the things out there that divide us and carve us up. Our political organizations, our sense of nationalism, our patriotism, our religion, our organizations – so much of that stuff is designed to pit one of us against the other. There is not enough out there that really looks at how we are all connected and come from the same source.”

Philippe Matthews
So the power of intention is really a part of our normal spiritual/human evolution…

Dr. Dye
“Yes, if you want to know what it sounds like, it’s Krishna who is the voice in the Bhagavad Gita speaking, ‘I am the source of all. Everything emanates from me.’ If you want to know what it feels like, if you open up the Torah in the Old Testament, the opening line in Genesis 1:1 says ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.’ Then if you look at Genesis 1:31 it says, ‘And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.’ Good and God are the same thing. So, what does it feel like to be connected to the source? It feels good. If you call my cell phone and listen to the message, it says, ‘Hi, this is Wayne Dyer that you’ve reached and I want to feel good. If your message is designed to do anything other than that, you’ve reached the wrong number and I suggest that you call Dr. Phil!’ Feeling good doesn’t just mean feeling giddy or high, it means I want to feel God. God and good become the same. So when you say, ‘I want to feel good,’ what you are really saying is, ‘I want to feel God,’ which means I want to feel exactly like that sense of wellbeing that everything emanates from.”

“People say how can they feel good when there is so much bad going around? With so many people out there who are being mean to each other. My sister-in-law has cancer. Soldiers are dying from explosions; my response to that is you can’t feel bad enough to make someone else’s life better. You can’t get confused enough to unconfuse one person. You can’t get sick enough to heal one person out there so anytime you are feeling anything other than the good or God, what you are doing is contributing to rather than encouraging others to reconnect to their source.”