Do you need to know how an iron ship floats in the ocean to take a cruise?
Do you have to understand the physics of lift to board an airplane?
Do you need to understand how a text message travels through space and is decoded from one phone to another to read it?
I hope not. If we needed to understand how these phenomena worked in order to experience them, only a very small portion of the human population would enjoy the privilege of these seemingly magical experiences.
I know I want to come see you. So I buy a ticket, get inside a tin can and in a few hours I am hugging your neck. I don't need to understand, I only need to KNOW it's possible. That is all that is required.
I don't have to build the plane, fly the plane, maintain the plane. I just need to let it rain all the way to Spain. I know I will arrive there and that is enough to get me there.
If someone presented a bike to you but you had never seen anyone ride one, you wouldn't know it was possible to ride.
So it is with the mysterious force of outer intention.
Very often our minds grapple with how we are going to achieve our goal, a constant thought loop of doubt and troubleshooting runs in the back of our minds attempting to decode the complicated scenarios that lead us to our goal. How will it happen?
We build sophisticated models in our head of all the causes and effects and, ironically, we can't begin to fathom the multitude of infinite variables that most certainly have to be conquered in order to get to our goal. It's exhausting.
We tinker in our heads, wondering just exactly how A will lead to B will lead to C and on and on until ultimately we talk ourselves out of what we wanted in the first place. Our heart was forced to give up its toy because the mind decided it wasn't possible to receive.
The mind simply couldn't understand how it would happen. Even though it accepts many things into its reality that it doesn't understand simply because it KNOWS that the outcomes are possible.
I can't tell you how to ride a bike. But we both know you can. Imagine the feeling you felt when you sat on a bike for the first time, you knew it was possible to ride, you had seen other people do it but you didn't know HOW you were going to.
As you sit at the handlebars, you feel the butterflies of excitement and wrestle with three forces: Doubt, Desire and Control.
None of these forces will help you balance the bike, in fact, each one of them is likely to make you topple over when all seemed to be going well.
You start off on the bike as Dad is pushing you- you know somehow it's working, you're secure and comfortable until you look back and Dad's not pushing you anymore. Now what?! Dad's not in control anymore so what do you do?!
Your mind begins grasping for solutions and tells you you need to do something even though a second ago you were doing nothing and the bike was balanced perfectly.
You doubt that you could be riding the bike yourself, struggle for control and desire to keep the bike upright, forcing the handlebars to one side and CRASHING into the ground.
Dad laughs. He loves you. Then he tells you You Did IT!!!!
He celebrates. You don't know how to react because you felt as if you did nothing but freak out and crash. But he proceeds to tell you that you went all the way down the street before you looked back. He actually wasn't there most of the time you were riding, and you did it all by yourself!
Your mind was at ease. It wasn't wondering how, it let go of the variables and grip of control that so often plagues it and instead allowed the heart to enjoy its ride.
The two elements were in unity, as the mind was the calm navigator and the heart led. After a few more attempts, you're off and riding the bike with perfect balance. Sure, there's a crash here and there as you develop your skills but look how far you've come!
So it is with outer intention. GIVE UP THE STRUGGLE and allow the heart to lead the way. Let the mind rest and take up its role as the calm navigator.
Over time, the mind will learn and it will KNOW that it is possible to ride the wind of outer intention. You'll begin to develop your skill with practice over time and eventually become a master.
Apples will fall to the sky because the mind will KNOW that it's not only possible, that's just what apples do.
It's not about faith, or belief or even confidence. It's about knowledge.
Knowing that outer intention is there for you, guiding you with balance. Every situation is an opportunity to choose balance. There is a positive and a negative potential in every case.
Choose the positive because you KNOW you can. Over time, you'll get better at making that choice and soon it will become automatic.