The Power of Intention (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "During the past several years, I've been so strongly attracted to studying intention that I've read hundreds of books by psychological, sociological, and spiritual writers;..." (more)
Key Phrases: appointment with infinity, attract ideal people, feel successful and attract, Rule Number, Wayne Dyer, Carlos Castaneda (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

After years of spiritual study and reflection, inspirational speaker and bestselling author Wayne Dyer has emerged a highly esteemed teacher. His current message about tapping into the power of intention may sound like good old positive thinking: just stay focused on what you want, rather than focusing on the lack of having what you want. But the teaching here goes deeper than just controlling thoughts (although he does acknowledge that thought control is a surprisingly challenging and significant endeavor). This book might help readers land a better job, but it's more relevant for those who are ready to detach from an ego-driven life filled with quick fixes of happiness and step into a more authentic, joyful, and spiritually fulfilling life. His core teachings speak to tapping into a universal source of energy that can also be called the "power of intention." He calls people who are consciously co-creating with this energy source "connectors" and describes them as "individuals who have made themselves available for success...They don't say With my luck things won't work out. Instead, you’re more likely to hear something like, I intend to create this and I know it will work out." Connectors are also committed to Dyer's "seven faces of intention"--creativity, kindness, love, beauty, expansion, abundance and receptivity, which he speaks to throughout the book. Each chapter concludes with five suggestions for becoming stronger connectors, such as how to monitor one's inner speech or shift out of low-energy beliefs. Some criticize Dyer for not giving credit to other teachers who offer this same message, especially Jerry and Esther Hicks (A New Beginning I) and even Ralph Waldo Emerson. It's impossible to know whether this was a deliberate omission, but it is obvious that Dyer has tapped into a growing conversation about co-creating with "source." Other leading-edge voices in this conversation include Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now), Shakti Gawain (Creative Visualization ) and Lynn Grabhorn (Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting). --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly

For this very popular speaker and bestselling author of the classic Your Erroneous Zones, intention is not dogged determination, but an inner awareness "that exists in the universe as an invisible force of energy." This conviction, gleaned from Dyer's professional experiences, metaphysical studies and contacts with personal mentors, has allowed him to link to the force of intention and use it to enhance his life and work. For Dyer, there are seven faces, or energy fields, of intention: creativity, kindness, love, beauty, expansion, abundance and receptivity. Drawing on a variety of spiritual traditions and gurus, Dyer first describes how to surmount the barriers that may get in the way of connecting to this power, such as negative thinking, relying on the opinion of others or retaining a controlling ego. Although Dyer's message is deeply sympathetic, his conception of the fields of insight reads like a familiar mixture of Eastern and Western philosophies wrapped up in a new theoretical package. In a chapter on living a stress-free life, for example, he recommends silently repeating the words "I want to feel good"-i.e., practicing a form of meditation-and elsewhere advises practicing detachment, a cornerstone of Buddhism. Another tactic, using forgiveness as a means to achieve peaceful relations with difficult family members, has recently found a wealth of expression. But whatever his sources, Dyer's soothing voice and gentle prescriptions for happiness remain uniquely his own, as fans will recognize.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 259 pages
• Publisher: Hay House; 1 edition (February 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401902154
• ISBN-13: 978-1401902155
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (301 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #21,044 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

315 of 342 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A RECOMMENDATION WITH RESERVATIONS, March 2, 2005

By	Jack Rosenblum (Deerfield, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm going to end up recommending this book with one major and two minor reservations. If you can get past the reservations (which I will explain), I believe there is something here that might make a difference in your life and mine. You'll notice that the majority of reviews give the book 5 stars, but a significant minority give it 1 star. I'm guessing that the wide disparity of reactions is based on how surmountable or insurmountable the reservations were to each reviewer. My purpose is to help you decide whether for you it would be worthwhile shelling out the $18-$25 price of the book

Here's the major reservation: in Calvinism, you could tell who was saved and going to heaven by how successful and prosperous they were. In Social Darwinism, successful people were evidence of survival of the fittest. In the Power of Intention, people create the lives they want based on being "aligned with Intention". The implication is that if they are poor, diseased, homeless, or victimized, they are not aligned with Intention. They may not be sinners (Calvinism) or unfit (Social Darwinism), but they are unenlightened and somehow responsible for their unhappy fate. I wonder what advice Dyer would have had for the victims of the recent tsunami.

If Dyer's theories are correct and universal, should we be translating his book and dropping it into distressed areas like Darfur in the Sudan or perhaps in the Sunni triangle? Personal responsibility is a powerful and often overlooked factor in the human condition, but Dyer seems oblivious to the possibility that there might be other factors at work, as well. His five words "I want to feel good" would be a tough sell for the sole survivor of a family that has just been murdered.

The first minor reservation is, pardon the big word, epistomological: how does Dyer know what he says he knows? For example, how does he know that there are precisely seven "Faces of Intention"? Why not six or eight or ten? Is he the Chosen Receiver of Spiritual Truth with his own private Mount Sinai, or more likely, is he simply inventing a systematic break-down of Intention or figuring out what Intention should include? The system and the seven faces are plausible and useful, but where and how did he get them?

The second minor reservation is that Dyer does not really share with us how alignment with Intention has made a difference in his life. For example, how did it help him overcome addiction to cocaine or alcohol? How did it help make his second marriage better than his first? These stories would help him connect his theories with his life and help the reader do the same.

All that said, I still think Dyer is onto something. I have a vague awareness of the power of Intention in my own life, and after reading the book, I now intend to pursue it in a conscious way and see what turns up. The possible benefits of this experiment far exceed any conceivable costs. And this is why I end up recommending the book to you, IF you can get past the reservations.

235 of 262 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Connect to the energy and then detach. Great Book!, March 8, 2004

By	Jay Reese (Sarasota, FL) - See all my reviews

A lot of important information is given in this book that will help you connect to the field of energy that you are connected to whether you may realize it or not, and then detach from what you are trying to manifest in order to allow the manifestation process to bring you what you desire.
This is a comprehensive book that will help to elevate your life in all areas. It will help you turn you negative thinking around, which is the by-product of turning your life around. This is one of the few books that has impacted my life, and has helped me to `feel good' which is why it is highly recommended.

203 of 227 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Become A Connector To Manifest ANYTHING, February 27, 2004

By	Barbara Rose (BornToInspire.com) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is a wonderful book that will teach you how to align intention and focus, along with your energy to manifest what you desire to create in your life. By using the tools in this book, you WILL receive that which you place your focus on.

This book will teach you how to become A 'Connector' by working in harmony with those around you. It gives you examples to raise your energy above the negativity of 'competition' and shows you how to align yourself in harmony no matter what your outer conditions are. When you are attuned to this field of alignment, you will radiate and attract to you exactly what is within the field of energy you are in harmony with.

Connecting to the filed of intention is a conscious, daily, moment by moment inner experience to connect you to the highest that exists within you. As a result you WILL bring about EXACTLY what you harmonize with on all levels. This book is a wonderful tool to help you consciously bring about the best in your life from the inside out.

Barbara Rose, Ph.D. author of If God Was Like Man, Stop Being the String Along, and Know Yourself