Mani shankar

My friend knows a professional numerologist who says a slight change in my name can drastically improve my romance and career. I am told he has a very high success rate. Do you think I should go for it?
— A 25-year-old, name withheld by me.

Q Here are seven attitudes to harness the power of intention:

1 Stay rooted to reality. Don’t believe in hype, superstition, tarot, astrology or star signs to lure you into believing things about yourself or others that aren’t true. Don’t for a second believe that some guy with a beard and booming voice and deep burning eyes has some “power” to alter your reality either. He doesn’t. If he really did, he wouldn’t be desperate enough to lure you into swallowing his hype today.

e’ve been talking about intention all along, and how you need to prepare yourself to be able to harness its power to alter reality around you. Before we discuss its secrets I need to know who you are. I’ll put it simply — are you a winner or a loser? You don’t know? Well, read on.

You want to harness the power of your mind to alter your reality, yes? That’s really an invitation to chaos. Lots of people are in the market, offering quick and easy solutions. You flow into them with anticipation and excitement. You follow their prescribed formulae, their chants and utterances, wear their beads, read their books, watch their DVDs, dress as per their code, hang on to their every word, hoping, pleading, fantasizing.

There is a most famous statement that has come down from the scriptures: “Act without expectation about the fruits and rewards of your action. That’s the way to lead a fulfilled, successful and thrilling life.” I know we are not discussing philosophy here. We are trying to harness the power of intention within us, but read on anyway.

One clear call to the Universe — that is what Intention is all about. “Help me”. I am doing everything in my power but it’s not enough — “so help me please”. That’s the message sent across the abyss, across the skies, across the twilight zone that separates the tiny Known from the all-powerful Unknown.

I hate being myself. I want to be someone else, like so and so (a popular movie star) whose ardent fan I am.

I Feel no guilt whatsoever. Deception is nature’s way of protecting itself. Every animal in the world uses it. Even plants, worms and bacteria practise it. Inside your body, intruding parasites do their best to deceive their way in, and so do the sentinels, the white blood corpuscles that guard your health.

Not getting your mind messed up by what anyone thinks of you — that’s the real secret to getting a man, getting a job or getting anything you want in life. If you can wake up in the morning, shoo away the ghosts and mares of the night, look at the mirror and give a huge smile, a cuddly self hug that oozes love and happiness, that’s half the job done.

Not getting your mind messed up by what anyone thinks of you — that’s the real secret to getting a man, getting a job or getting anything you want in life.