I believe when one says "I intend to lose weight, I intend to sky dive, become wealthy" etc, the actual intent in that moment is that the person saying those words knows it is just casual conversation with no real momentum behind it. So, in reality the actual intent is non intent.

Real intent is when you are on your way to work, and your car broke down. You have to still get to work at 9:00am. You have already been late many times last month & you just can't afford to be late.

In that moment you make the decision to still get to work by 9:00. That feeling in your consciousness right now when you say "I am going to be there at 9:00 o'clock" is how real intent feels. It is not a casual statement. There is real momentum of purpose that creates real energy, capable of affecting and creating circumstances.

But I don't think that this energy of creation can be comprehended by us. We are too isolated from the bigger picture to "Know it all". We can't even travel beyond our solar system (physically).

There was a Living Sage in India called Ramana Maha Rishi. He had reached enlightenment & continuously maintained his consciousness in enlightenment for many years until he died. He was speaking about the intelligence within creation & describes it as "I am beyond the last thought, contemplated by the thinker". If these are words from a living enlightened master, who am I to dispute it?

Intent is the first step in the manifestation process which is as follows:

1. Launching of a desire (through intent in your case)
2. The universe manifests this desire in the non-physical
3. Allowing the desire to manifest in the physical reality

Intent can be equated to a desire or wanting. Therefore, it is a key step as without the intent (desire or wanting), there can be no manifesting. However, I would not that it is the most basic fundamental force to manifesting our reality as the other 2 steps are just as important.

However, step 2 happens automatically after step 1 without any effort needed on our part as the universe manifests all our desires without exception. Step 3, however, requires some effort on our part in order to see the manifestation in our physical reality.

In my opinion, step 3 is the most important step in the manifestation process as we do step 1 (launching desires) everyday several times in so many ways (intent is one of them). This is such an effortless step for us. However, most of us do not allow those desires to manifest in our physical reality.

Intention is similar to faith, when I pray I am saying, "I command this to be." I am setting the intention. As I set this intention it is like putting dry corn kernels in a microwave bag in the microwave. I set it and wait knowing when I remove the contents it will no longer be kernels but popped corn! You set the intention then know it is coming so stop worrying about it, do something else! If I checked on my corn kernels every 30 seconds opening the microwave to see why it is not popped corn, it never will be! I need to trust and know my intention is done, it is on the way.

Set it and forget about it; you put the arrow in the bow; you aimed; you pulled the string; you released the arrow. Now you can do nothing, the shot had been made. The arrow is on its way straight toward the target. Forget about it!

If your question is what is the force that is most fundamental in the manifesting process, I would say it is vibration or Source energy.

If I move my fingers to type these words, I certainly intend to write these words. It is that intention which provides the drive for me to write these words. That intention becomes the thought that leads to the action of me typing. The typing itself is a complex array of actions that I have learned over time.

Now I could certainly describe this process in extreme detail...How the brain interprets my thoughts and translates them into words, and produces nerve signals that go to my muscles which contract using ATP to convert energy to movement. But I don't need to know those things to type these words.

It is likely that you don't know all of the details about how your car works. And yet you did learn, step by step, haltingly, how to drive a car. You had to learn how the pedals work, what the traffic signs mean, and (intuitively) an array of physics. But now you do it naturally, almost without thinking.

So it is with spiritual growth. Just as you don't need to know how the engine works to drive your car, so do you not need to know how the manifestation process works for it to occur. In time, many of us will take for granted things about the manifestation process that seemed complicated, even counterintuitive, the first time we practiced them. But then they become second nature to us.

Intention is just the start of the manifestation process. Manifesting begins with asking, continues with aligning your vibration to that which you wish to manifest, and concluding with the manifestation itself.

According to a recent mp3 of the Ninth Density Pleiadian Collective (channelled by Wendy Kennedy at Higher Frequencies) http://higherfrequencies.net/ INTENTION is about 80-85% of the manifestation process.

On a recent course on crystals I attended the teacher kept reiterating that we were to intend that the crystal would do such and such ... she stressed this over and over. An example - when cleansing the crystals, you intend that the water will cleanse the crystal. The intention adds potency to whatever you are doing.

It requires a bit of practice but I'm finding on days when I conscious intend and follow through, the results are clearer.

Abraham Hicks also had an old process called SEGMENT INTENDING when you pre-pave a meeting, day at work, social occasion with good vibrations.

The short answer to your question is - Intention is VERY important to manifesting.