Excerpt from "Get What You Want: The Art of Making and Manifesting Your Intentions"
Introduction from Brenda Knight
by Tony Burroughs
All editors believe in the books they pick to publish. But it is rare for an editor to claim that a book completely changed their life. In this case, as Associate Publisher and founder of Viva Editions, I am here to tell you that Tony Burroughs’s teachings on the art of Intending may have even saved my life or, at the very least, my sanity. I still remember when I first touched the envelope containing Tony’s manuscript. It was the end of a long and fruitfully busy day but I was feeling a little guilty about a stack of book proposals awaiting my attention in the white post office bin beside my desk. I sorted through them quickly, the “yes, no, and maybes” practically organizing themselves when I finally got to the last envelope in the bin. When I touched it, I felt a twinge of excitement. I immediately knew there was something there. I was excited and settled in to read whatever it was that contained the energy that sparked through a padded manila envelope. Fascinated, I read about Tony Burroughs and how he came to this wisdom. Suddenly, it was made so clear to me that I could use “intention-setting” as a way to improve my life, a rudder with which to navigate its vicissitudes.
Little did I know how much I would need the wisdom of Intending and just how soon.
Tony’s own story reads like fiction. He moved to Hawaii and became a farmer of exotic fruits, no less. The Elder who was training him to grow fruit in the middle of the Pacific was rather exotic himself, given to pronouncements of esoteric philosophy. As Tony was mastering fruit farming, he was also, unknowingly, being carefully mentored in a deep and ancient spiritual wisdom. Fairly quickly, Tony and three friends held the first “Intenders Circle” in Hawaii. It was nothing short of miraculous. In fact, one of the three, Tina, was even “bringing through” the teachings of Lee Ching.
If channeling is news to you, as it is to many, the concept itself is quite old: an ascended master, one who has passed from the earthly realm, can pass information “through” a channel, someone who will speak their messages out loud. Lee Ching had much on his mind and conveyed many important messages through Tina to Tony and the Intenders Circle. Lee had come from an ancient time of war and strife and very much wanted to speak of how people today can live in peace and harmony with Intending as a central tool. Tony and the Intenders took this as their mission—to share the art of Intending as well as other deeper, more eternal wisdom.
It was close to midnight but I called the number on the submissions letter. Tony answered and we got a book deal rolling.
No wonder I could feel the power through the envelope. Electrified, I told everyone who would listen about my new discovery—all my friends, coworkers, even a VP at Barnes & Noble who said, “Oh, it’s like The Secret but real and for the highest good of all, without the self-centeredness.”
At the time I was happily ensconced in a relationship and a home. My partner of fifteen years and I finally decided to invest in a house with a teeny tiny view of the Pacific Ocean and room for my gardening projects. About a month after I first met Tony, we were hit with hard news. My partner, Robert, was diagnosed with melanoma. Our world was turned upside down. Unfortunately, Robert’s cancer was advanced by the time it was found so it was only a few short months from diagnosis to his death. I felt like I lost everything.
It all happened so swiftly that I was in shock, barely able to function. Nevertheless, I needed to function more efficiently than ever; Robert had no will because we thought he had months or even years to live. His estate was put into probate and I was stuck with a mortgage built for two on a slim salary for one. I quickly used up all my cash on the mortgage, memorial arrangements, etc. Then I got into the credit card trap, cash advances at a penurious interest rate, every mistake in the book you can make. I remember thinking to myself, “I will become one of those women who lives in her car, the working homeless.” I kept a lot of this a secret and did my best to hang on.
As financially poor as I was, I have always been rich in friends, and some of my girlfriends compared notes and figured out I was cracking under the pressure of all the debt. Grief-stricken, I was broke and my spirit was breaking, too. Amanda, a mom with a new baby and a brilliant mind open to new ideas, suggested we try that “intending stuff” I used to talk about all the time. We gathered up an Intenders group of three, just like the early Hawaii days for Tony. I brought in a crudely copied version of Tony’s instructions for setting up an Intenders Circle and we got started. It was a relief to talk about what I needed to set Intentions for, even though it was somewhat overwhelming. I needed:
to sell the house and get out from under the mortgage;
to find a new home that was affordable, nurturing, and right for me;
and to make more money.
As you’ll learn from these pages, it’s best to state your Intentions specifically, in clear, positive language. As long as it’s for the highest good of all, you can get what you want.
Amanda wanted a certain kind of bookcase for her baby’s toys and baby books. Billee wanted a writers’ group and a good and interesting job. So, here’s the kicker—I wanted a new home I could afford with a basement, a view, a fireplace, and a garden. For the highest good of all. We had our first lovely little Intending session and went our separate ways.
The next day, Amanda called me, “You’re never going to believe this. I walked outside my house this morning and at the end of the block someone had left a virtually new bookcase
exactly like I wanted. Wow!”
I was amazed but a little doubting voice in my head said, “No way you can sell that house and find a rental you can afford with a view, a fireplace, and a garden. No way!” I ramped up my Intending and started each day off with stating my Intentions aloud and also visualizing them.
We kept meeting and our Intenders Circle in San Francisco became the highlight of the week for us all. Billee got into a writers’ group and got a fantastic new job! Each week, new reports of highly successful Intending occurred.
Finally, I got an offer on the house I needed to sell at a modest profit but with one caveat: I had to be packed and out of the house in two weeks. I had nowhere to go. Maybe I was going to live in my car after all!
I added a nightly Intending session as my bedtime “prayer.” That day I saw an interesting Craigslist ad for a place in the East Bay in my (low) price range. I went to see it the next morning at 11:11 and it was exactly what I had Intended for. I shocked the landlord by saying “I’ll take it!” Flustered, he informed me there were a lot of people ahead of me that had already handed in credit reports. I ran down to the copy store a few blocks away and printed out the best of my three credit reports, all of which were about to bottom out. I raced back and handed him my report along with a freshly typed memorandum saying that I was looking for a peaceful home in which to write and edit. That seemed to find favor with the owner.
Two days later, upon learning that I’d never smoked a cigarette in my life, he rented me the place. I’ll never forget that moment of joy: I had a new home that suited my needs to a tee.
But, it was not exactly as I had Intended. It was better! My new home had a basement plus a big old garage and two views: one of the Golden Gate Bridge and one of Mt. Tamalpais! There was a front yard and a backyard with two terraced, landscaped gardens. Best of all, there was a fireplace in the living room and one in the backyard, too! I took one look at the fireplaces and knew they would be the gathering places for my friends and the site of many Intenders Circles to come.
After that, there was no stopping me. If you say hello to me, I will probably start evangelizing about the success I’ve had making and manifesting my Intentions. I feel honored to be a part of bringing Get What You Want to the world because I know this book contains great truths that can help us all.
I Intend the best for you and yours and for us all!
Brenda Knight
El Cerrito, California
October, 2012
Tony Burroughs is an author, storyteller, and a cofounder of The Intenders of the Highest Good, a grassroots community movement with Intenders Circles in countries all over the world. Also the author of the popular daily email message "The Bridge," Burroughs lives in Mount Shasta, CA.
October 2012
$16.95 ($18.50 Cdn)
Trade Paper
1-936740-20-6
ISBN13 978-1-936740-20-8
256pp, 5 1/2 x 7 1/4
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