It is sad that even the more “advanced” disciples do not know what Sankalpa is. I would like to clarify these terms one after the other.
Wish – I generally equate wish as something that is fleeting. For eg. your walking, it is a hot sunny afternooon and you see your favorite ice cream, you suddenly want it. If it is a fleeting thought, it is just a wish and does not become binding. Meaning you are NOT forced to take another birth just to get this wish fulfilled. It is one of the randomness of the human mind and that is all there is it to it.
Desire – Let us say that in the same example, you keep walking but in your mind, you are obsessed with eating that ice cream! You go home and still covet it, then it is a desire and it is binding. Generally, desires are for bigger things, like wealth, sex, fame, control, intelligence etc. Although we may forget that the desire is there because of the passage of time or because we know the desire is unrealistic based on the present condition – eg. the desire to be the best football or cricket player (and your 50 years old), the seeds are there and we are forced to take rebirth for its fulfilment.
Determination – This is a strong committment towards fulfilling a desire. The human ego, often times just wants something. It is determined to obtain it and often times they work very hard to get it. For some people the hard work is related to reading (for getting a good score in the exam) or in establishing a business or getting a job etc. Even here the results are inconsistent because the necessary “punya” or the good deeds or the tapa to get the results are not there. If the tapa or punya is there, then we may get the results but it is at a cost. For others, they are determined to get results but they work a little hard to in the job or exam and work very hard in doing real tapa. The best approach is a balanced one – work enthusiastically in the job or study enthusiastically and a balanaced tapa. THIS IS DESIRE BASED and one often times repeatedly thinks of the desired results or wants it and uses the aid of their tapa or good deeds to get the results.
Tapa : The best quote about tapa and explanation on it was by Vivekananda in his explanation of the Yoga sutra by Patanajali in his book called Raja Yoga. Tapa literally means to burn away. It is said, as per Vivekananda, that even Brahma had to do tapa at the beginning of creation to create the world. Tapa can be in many different ways. For eg, reciting the name of God incessantly all day, or doing mala all day. Or fasting! There are more ardous and perhaps seemingly impractical tapas also – eg standing on one foot and reciting Gods name! Depending on how challenging the tapa is, the results are there more instantaneous. However, tapa cannot take away strong Prarabdha. That can only be taken away by a liberated saint.
Sankalpa : So far, we have only covered things in the realm of Ego and chitta and the mind or Mana or Intellect (Buddhi). Sankalpa has nothing to do with any of them. Sankalpa is NOT desire, it is NOT determination. In other words, there is no desire whatsoever and neither happiness nor unhappiness occurs if the even occurs or not. If it does not happen, at the most the person will say, “God did not want it” – no remorse. A perfect example of Sankalpa is Gods creation of the world. He willed it and it happened.
It just a Will (WITHOUT DESIRE). The WILL can be either of the Divine (or great saints) or the Will of the soul. In case it is the Will of the soul, the soul merges (he, she or its) Will with that of God’s divine will. It just Wills it and the event occurs. To reach this stage, one should be beyond the gross physical and beyond the subtle body or sukshma deha. One has to be at least at the stage of Karana deha or higher. Ones prana should be in the Brahmanadi and should have ascended to the anahata chakra or higher. Gurudev had a favorite Bhajana of Anvar – I do not have all of the exact words at the present words but part of the words are like this – Jal me milke jal hojaye, fir nikle siddhkari, saadho atam siddhi, karo sabhi siddhi ko visro” Meaning – the person can disolve his body in the water, go to the other end of ocean and come out just like that! The last paragraph of the Bhajan states – Whatever that person Wills or does Sankalpa about, happens IMMEDIATELY and then I will call that person a Siddha otherwise it is all worthless! Gurudev said, “This is the real thing, this is the real Bhajan”
The problem with understanding Sankalpa is this – it is at the stage of pure consciousness. How can it be described when we do not know our own existence, the existence of the living, vibrant soul in its purest form – an existence that is there for birth after birth, an existence without the mind or intellect or the ego or the emotions or chitta! Unless you reach that stage, it would be difficult to understand why or how anyone can do Sankalpa or Will something without desire! And remember God is even further away from this pure existence as soul!
There are many people described in Yoga Vasistha Maharamayana where great saints “created” universes at their will and dissolved them They created universes inside a stone etc. Even these people are not necessarily liberated! THINK about this! LIBERATION is a challenge and one has to work VERY HARD for it.
Look at the Sankalpa shakti of Babaji – he did sankalpa and created a whole palace in this GROSS physical world!
A few other points – True Sankalpa is just done once and for a fraction of a second and the results are there! I have witnessed Gurudev do this countless times!
Sometimes Sankalpa requires a scapegoat or “nimitta” for fulfilment! Eg. Lahiri Mahashaya used castor oil to bring a person back to life. Of course, it was not the castor oil that brought the person to life but this is often necessary.
Gurudev explained this to me in detail when he explained to me the story of Shravana. I will relate this story to you as best as I can in the way Gurudev described to me. Gurudev is a trikaldarshi – he could literally see all events of the past and future merely by closing his eyes. Hence, his stories are as if they literally just happened right before his eyes !
King Dashratha had no kids. It was not in his fortune or prarabdha to have kids either. He humbly approached his Raj Guru Vasistha Maharaj. Vasistha Maharaj knew it was not in his fate to have children. However, since he was the Raj Guru, he was obliged to help him. He had King Dashratha perform a Yagna and at the end of the Yagna told him to personally guard a lake on the outskirts of the city. He had to make sure that no animal drank water from the lake. It was night time but King Dashratha was “Karnabhedi”. (meaning he could shoot an arrow in the darkness just by listening to the sound). Early that AM, he heard a sound of someone trying to drink water from the lake. It was Sharavana! King Dashratha immediately shot an arrow and mortally injured him. He went to Shravana and then went to deliver water to Shravanas parents. It was too late and Shravanas parents cursed him, “May you die with pangs of pain from missing your kids, just like we will die without our dear child Shravana”
Gurudev said, “Call it a curse or call it a blessing, but this is how Rama and his four brothers” were born to King Dashratha. I asked Gurudev, why did Vasistha Maharaj make him go through all this, when all he had to do was bless him and it would have materialized? Gurudev said, “Nimitta banavu pade” Meaning one has to make or appear to give credit to someone else.
I have seen Gurudev often times do Sankalpa and give the “credit” or make someone else the “nimitta”. For eg, he made Niranjanbhai the nimitta when someone was looking for a job at Nirma! Or tell someone to apply oil and their arthritis will get cured! There are countless examples like this in the life of Gurudev.
Bhavin