Sankalpa defines the goal for life, to put it in straightforward language. Of course, there are intricacies and complexities of sankalpa, for some are affirmations of positive thoughts at the conscious level, like the three mantras in the morning. Before you open the floodgates of thoughts and engage yourself in your daily activities, create three thoughts which are your own creations – for health, wisdom and overcoming difficulties in life. These three thoughts offer you the awareness and the goal to follow the path to experience health, wisdom, and overcome distress.
The yoga nidra sankalpa goes deeper into the subconscious. It is not an affirmation, rather it becomes a resolve. The three mantras are affirmations, but the yoga nidra sankalpa becomes a re solve, focusing the will, sankalpa shakti. This sankalpa shakti plants the seed of a future change or transformation in your life, depending on what you choose. I have known people who through their yoga nidra practice have achieved many of the smaller goals.
One person said to me, ‘I change my sankalpa every week, because every week something is fulfilled.’ I said, ‘What do you mean, you change every week.’ He said, ‘I decided to stop smoking and I stopped after a week. I decided to stop drinking. I took the sankalpa. I was totally put off by the smell. I took the sankalpa not to go to casinos; today I cannot even tolerate hearing the word casino.’ Things like that do happen. He said, ‘I even tried for acquiring money, and that week I got money from the will of my aunt.’ The man said to me, ‘I do believe in the power of the subconscious, which yoga nidra brings forth.’ This story has remained with me since 1971, and until today I remember it. He said it with such conviction and clarity. I thought, ‘This is one person who is able to experience the depth of yoga nidra, and is going into his subconscious mind.’
Navaratri sankalpa is different; there you are engaged in some anushthana, a spiritual sadhana, chanting of mantras, you are engaging in mantra sadhana for hours, not just minutes. The sankalpa of that time is for the experience of grace, in whatever form.
Sankalpa is something that gives focus to your attention, effort and energy. If attention, effort and shakti is there, sankalpa will flower. If these three things are not there, the sankalpa will simply remain the new year resolution, which you write on the first day of January, and then you destroy the paper on the second day of January. Sankalpa is a way to give focus to our efforts, our energies and our intention.
You do not need a sankalpa for everything. What sankalpa do you take when you eat food? What sankalpa do you take when you go for a shower? So, follow the wisdom of yogis, and do what is necessary, without creating confusion in your own mind.
27 January 2024, Ganga Darshan, Munger