The Eagle's Gift: Part SEP: Chapter SEP 4 - Intent Is The Force That Moves The First Ring Of Power.

The Eagle's Gift. ©1982 by Carlos Castaneda.

Part S.E.P.: Chapter S.E.P. 4 - Intent Is The Force That Moves The First Ring Of Power.

Don Juan explained to me that "intent" does not refer to having an intention, or to wanting one thing or the other; but rather has to do with an imponderable force that makes us behave in ways which could be described as intentions, wishing, volition, etc. Don Juan did not bring intent forth as a condition of being stemming from oneself, such as a habit produced by socialization nor by a biological reaction; but rather, don Juan brought intent forth as a private, intimate force that we possess and use individually as a key that makes the first ring of power move in acceptable ways. Intent is what directs our first attention in order for it to focus on the Eagle's emanations within a certain frame. And intent is also what commands the first ring of power to obstruct or interrupt its flux of energy.

Don Juan suggested to me that I conceive intent as an invisible force existing in the universe that, without revealing itself, still affects everything. The force that creates and sustains skimmings. He asserted that skimmings must be incessantly recreated to be imbued with continuity. In order to recreate them each time with the freshness that they need to build a living world, we must intend them each time we build them. For instance, we must intend the "mountain" along with all its complexities for the skimming to be fully materialized. Don Juan said that, for a spectator, who behaves exclusively based upon the first attention without the intervention of intent, the "mountain" would appear as an entirely different skimming. It could appear as the skimming "geometric form" or "amorphous spot of color". For the skimming mountain to be completed, the spectator must intend it, whether it is unconsciously through the urging force of the first ring of power, or premeditatedly, through the warrior's training.

Don Juan pointed out to me the three ways in which intent comes to us.

The most predominating one is known by seers as "the intent of the first ring of power". This is a blind intent which comes to us by chance. It is as if we were in its way, or as if intent was in ours. Inevitably we find ourselves trapped in its net without having the least control of what is happening to us.

The second way is when intent comes to us by its own. This requires a considerable amount of purpose; a sense of determination on our part. Only in our capability as warriors we can put ourselves voluntarily in the way of intent. We summon it, so to speak. Don Juan explained to me that his insistence in being an impeccable warrior was nothing more than an effort to let intent know that he is putting himself in its way.

Don Juan used to say that warriors call this phenomenon "power". Thus when they speak of having personal power, they are referring to the intent that comes to them voluntarily. The outcome, he used to say to me, can be described as the facility to find new solutions; or the facility to affect people or events. It is as if other possibilities, previously unknown by the warrior, suddenly become apparent. In this way, an impeccable warrior never plans anything ahead, but his actions are so decisive that it seems as if the warrior had calculated beforehand each facet of his activity.

The third way in which we find intent is the most rare and complex of the three. It occurs when intent allows us to harmonize with it. Don Juan described this state as the real moment of power; the culmination of a lifetime effort in search of impeccability. Only supreme warriors obtain it, and as long as they are in such state, intent lets itself be handled by them at will. It is as if intent had fused in those warriors, and in doing so it transforms them into a pure force without preconceptions. Seers call this state the "intent of the second ring of power", or "will".