The second article in the SACRED Principles of Practice series examines why sankalpa grows more potent as personal doership recedes, linking the subtlety of will to spiritual evolution.
BY N.S. NAGARAJA AND JOSHUA POLLOCK
In Part One, we introduced sankalpa—the inner method of spiritual change. We form sankalpa inwardly, by gathering thought, intention, and will into a prayerful suggestion for change, while leaving its fulfillment to Divine Will. The individual does not manage the manner, timing, visible form, or scope of that fulfillment.
Once formed, some sankalpas appear to manifest swiftly, with clear and visible impact, while others unfold gradually over time. In some cases, they bring about deep, lasting transformation; in others, they produce only temporary, surface-level change.
It is easy to assume these variations are a simple matter of feasibility—after all, surface-level change seems easier to achieve than deep transformation. From the standpoint of divine power, however, feasibility is not the determining question. A sankalpa’s fulfillment, rather, depends largely on the subtlety with which it is formed and offered.
To understand the subtlety of a sankalpa, let us first examine its opposite, which is forcefulness. Daaji emphasizes that we cannot create transformation by imposing our will, which he calls “a type of violence.” “What happens when you rely on force to produce change in another person?” he asks. “You only create resistance. Even if the person complies with your wishes, it is only on the surface. Your efforts have not produced true change. A far better approach is to elicit willing cooperation. You can politely request, ‘Please do this.’ Or, like Pujya Babuji [Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur], you can be quite indirect about it, and say, ‘It would be wonderful if this thing were to be done.’ That approach creates even fewer ripples. The subtlest approach, however, is to say not a word, but instead, to prayerfully and silently submit, ‘may it happen like this.’ Forming such a subtle will—and then prayerfully submitting that subtle will to the Lord, devoid of all attachment and insistence—is by far the most potent type of suggestion.”1
This silent, prayerful submission is the beginning of sankalpa in its true sense. From there, Babuji described three degrees of subtlety within sankalpa: subtle, subtler, and subtlest. If a sankalpa is subtler, the result does not take long; if it is subtlest,2 the result is immediate.
The subtlety of sankalpa depends on the condition of the one who forms it. As a person’s condition becomes more subtle, their sankalpa becomes more subtle, and its effect becomes more potent.
Indian thought describes the gunas (sattva, rajas, and tamas), which are the essential conditions through which nature expresses itself. These gunas serve as useful reference points for understanding the variations in our inner condition. A subtle inner condition may be understood as sattvik, while grosser conditions may be rajasic or tamasic. The effective formation of sankalpa depends on a subtle, sattvik condition. That is why, in Heartfulness, a new seeker receives the support of a trainer, who helps create the inner conditions in which subtler states can gradually develop.
A subtle condition can be recognized by many signs: resilience, inner lightness, contentment, peace, clarity, compassion, and courage, among other qualities. A grosser condition manifests as heavier states such as desire, restlessness, anger, fear, and confusion.
Yet these are signs, not the root. At the root lies the presence or absence of the sense of self. Patanjali calls this asmita, the feeling of “I-am-ness,” commonly described as ego. When this same sense of self appears in relation to action as the feeling that “I am the doer,” it is called ahankara, the sense of “I do” or “I make.” Hence, egoism does not simply mean vanity or pride. Rather, it is the inner claim of authorship: “I am doing this. I am the one acting. I am the one producing the result.”
The subtlety of sankalpa depends on the condition
of the one who forms it. As a person’s condition
becomes more subtle, their sankalpa becomes
more subtle, and its effect becomes more potent.
Babuji describes a series of stages of egoism through which we progress on the spiritual path.3 In the cruder stages, a person feels that their body is the doer. One’s attention remains fixed at the physical level, not seeing beyond the body as the agent of action.
As the condition becomes finer, the sense of agency shifts inward. The person may now feel that the soul, the mind, God, the guru, or some other inward agency is the doer, while the body is only an instrument. The idea of the physical body as the doer has receded, but the idea of a doer still remains. This marks the beginning of subtlety.
A further refinement comes when even this idea of agency begins to disappear. Work is being done, but the person no longer feels that it is being done by the body, the mind, or any other identifiable agent. As a result, the questions “Who is doing?” and “Through what agency?” do not arise.
At the subtlest stage, even the awareness that work is being done disappears. Action continues as needed, but there is no idea of the action before, during, or afterward.
To illustrate this subtlest stage, Babuji gives the example of a sleeping person bitten by an insect. Their hand automatically goes to that part of the body and scratches it as needed. Yet the person remains asleep. They have no idea of the action, whether before, during, or afterward, and when they wake, they do not remember it. Babuji calls this “the sleeping state in the waking condition”: one goes on doing everything as circumstances demand, without any idea of the work or its doer.4
In such a condition, the person functions as an instrument of Nature, and divine work proceeds through them automatically. Such action is not mechanical or unconscious in the ordinary sense; rather, it is free from the self-conscious doer. In this condition, sankalpa reaches its subtlest state, and its potency is absolute.
Seen in this light, Babuji’s three degrees of sankalpa—subtle, subtler, and subtlest—become easier to distinguish.
A subtle condition can be recognized by many signs:
resilience, inner lightness, contentment, peace,
clarity, compassion, and courage, among many
others. A grosser condition manifests as heavier
states such as desire, restlessness, anger, fear, and confusion.
A subtle sankalpa is formed and offered with conscious deliberation. The conscious self remains present in the act, and a feeling remains that “I am offering this sankalpa.” This presence of self lends what Babuji calls “slight weight” to the sankalpa.5 In addition, the involvement of the self creates a risk that the sankalpa may be fabricated by the intellect or arise from imagination [vikalpa] rather than from a true perception of need.
In vikalpa, the mind forms an image, idea, or possibility of its own creation. In pratibha, however, spontaneous visionary insight descends from the superconscious, without the involvement of discursive thought. When forming a subtler sankalpa, one tends to perceive the result as already real, though in potential or seed form. The situation is comparable to a sculptor who views a block of stone and sees the form of a statue already present within it. The statue is not yet outwardly manifest, but to the sculptor’s eye it is already there, waiting only to be revealed.
Pratibha is not the mind inventing a result, but a direct perception of what is already present in potential. Sankhya philosophy expresses this through the principle that the effect is already present in the cause, as oil is present in the seed before it is pressed. Pressing does not create the oil; it reveals what the seed already contains. In the same way, sankalpa does not imagine a result and then try to make that real. Instead, it perceives what is latent, and through that seeing, allows it to reveal itself.
Even before we have developed the capacity of pratibha, we follow the same principle when offering a sankalpa, forming the thought that “the work has already been done”—that is, treating the result as already present in seed form.6 Initially, this is held as an attitude; later, it begins to appear as perception.
However, perception is not the same as manifestation. The movement from potential toward expression belongs to bhavana, the yogic capacity by which contemplation calls a thing into existence. The individual remains a mere witness to what is present in potential. And in that witnessing, the potential begins to express itself.
At the subtlest level, even witnessing falls away. The person is not standing apart, seeing the potential and allowing it to manifest. As in Babuji’s example of the sleeping state in the waking condition, action arises without the idea of action before, during, or afterward. At this level, sankalpa is automatic—divine work proceeding efficiently through a prepared instrument, without any involvement of the mind or intellect.
The fundamental difference among these three levels lies in how much the self remains involved. In the subtle sankalpa, the self formulates, thereby limiting the result. In the subtler sankalpa, the self witnesses, and the result is less impeded by the self’s activity. In the subtlest sankalpa, the witness dissolves, and the work proceeds automatically and unhindered.
This relation between subtlety and selfhood also clarifies why sankalpa cannot be misused for self-interested goals. Selfishness belongs to the self—the sense of “I” and “mine” that gives rise to fear and desire. Such motives may have psychological force, but they lack the subtlety that gives sankalpa its potency. This forms a natural protection against misuse: a selfish sankalpa lacks subtlety and therefore loses potency. As the self-conscious doer recedes, so does the basis for selfish motive. At the subtlest level, where divine work flows unencumbered, a selfish sankalpa cannot arise.
As we explored in Part One, sankalpa is the inner method by which thought and intention are gathered into a single prayerful suggestion and consigned to Divine Will. In doing so, the individual uses thought and intention to transcend dependence on both.
In the subtle sankalpa, the self formulates,
thereby limiting the result. In the subtler sankalpa,
the self witnesses, and the result is less impeded
by the self’s activity. In the subtlest sankalpa,
the witness dissolves, and the work proceeds
automatically and unhindered.
This raises a deeper question. If spiritual evolution ultimately leads to a condition in which the self-conscious doer has dissolved and divine work proceeds without personal involvement, what remains for the human being to contribute? Babuji answers:
“I may also bring to light another mystery. We have been saying out of devotion that there is providence in the fall of a sparrow and not a leaf trembles without the Divine Will. And that is a fact too. But if I say that God too does not move without the will of his devotee, I do not know what the wiseacres of saints might think of me. But that is a fact beyond doubt, and a fact must be declared in order to reveal reality.”7
Babuji’s words leave us with an apparent paradox: even as personal doership dissolves, the devotee’s will remains essential.
The final part of this series will return to the practical method and applications of sankalpa. But is sankalpa truly a method at all? That question will lead us beyond technique, toward the mind’s higher function.
FROM HEARTFULNESS INSTITUTE
The Heartfulness Institute is a global not-for-profit offering heart-based meditation, a yogic practice for inner well-being and collective harmony.
1 Kamlesh Patel (Daaji), “Invoke the Highest,” message on the occasion of the 148th birth anniversary of Lalaji Maharaj, Daaji.org,
daaji.org/daaji-messages/invoke-the-highest.
2 Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari, What is Sahaj Marg? A Preceptor’s Guide, Vol. II, First Electronic Edition (Shri Ram Chandra Mission, 2005), 29–30.
3 Ram Chandra, “Central Region,” in Efficacy of Raja Yoga in the Light of Sahaj Marg, in Complete Works of Ram Chandra, Vol. I, 5th reprint (Chennai: Shri Ram Chandra Mission / Spiritual Hierarchy Publication Trust, 2009), 153–155.
4 Ram Chandra, “Central Region,” 154–155.
5 Rajagopalachari, Preceptor’s Guide, Vol. II, 31.
6 Rajagopalachari, Preceptor’s Guide, Vol. II, 52.
7 Ram Chandra, “The Final State,” in Towards Infinity, in Complete Works of Ram Chandra, Vol. I, 5th reprint (Chennai: Shri Ram Chandra Mission / Spiritual Hierarchy Publication Trust, 2009), 276.
NS Nagaraja
NSN is founder and CEO at Sensei Technologies. He has been practicing Heartfulness meditation for 20+ years and is deeply interested in the science of spirituality, software architecture and design philosophies. He also works with Bright... Read More
Joshua Pollock
Joshua Pollock is co-author of The Heartfulness Way, an international bestseller available in twenty languages, and Editor-in-Chief of Heartfulness Magazine. He has also performed as a featured v... Read More
