Sankalpa Means…
The mind wills, yearns, prompts, and insists on effort and action. This process is named sankalpa. These are like commands. Everyone has to be aware of the variety and validity of the actions induced by these promptings. The mind is host to fifty million such commands! Of the thoughts that appear and vanish, the clouds that pass silently, many stay and stir the mind into activity. These are referred to as sankalpas. Until these are well understood against their vast background, man cannot live happily and in peace. Good sankalpas can elicit the best out of man and help him to use all strength for his uplift. Man has to recognize bad sankalpas or urges as soon as they arise and render them ineffective by the systematic cultivation of beneficial sankalpas. These latter alone can save a person from disaster and keep him close to prasanthi (supreme calm)…
A sankalpa affects the consciousness more subtly than an electric charge. It manifests as a need, a motive with a name and form. It colors the thought stream in a distinct way. It is no scribble on a blank mind; it causes clusters of reaction in the blank-less mind. It’s potency depends on time and circumstance. Sankalpas breed further sankalpas; they play their role, unaided through their own latent force.
The mind activates the eye, ear, tongue, nose, and every organ of perception and action. The mind initiates its activation when a sankalpa influences it. The mind is the unseen witness, the interested observer, as the queen inside the King’s palace, watching the flow of men and vehicles on the road below through holes in the wooden windowpanes of the zenana [part of the house reserved for women]. Whence do the sankalpas originate? From the ego, the “i”; and the “i”? From the innermost atma….
Therefore, as soon as a passing thought sprouts in the mind as an urge or desire, one has to examine it with care to discover whether it would tarnish or promote one’s reputation, hinder or help one’s progress, weaken or strengthen one’s character. If it is of the former category, cast it away, as a foul stinking object. And save yourself by saturating the mind with good intentions. Earnestness in this direction is heightened by mutual encouragement….
Unrest, anxiety, and anarchy are fed by evil sankalpas. You must see good, hear good, and act good, so that evil intentions do not arise. People who move with criminals or read or write about them are likely to be infected with the evil. Spiritual aspirants who move in the company of the godly are prone to develop serenity and compassion….
Intentions can all be beneficial, when the person persists in good company. Of course, one cannot gain them from without; they have to grow from within, from the heart, freed from the weeds of pride and greed. Good company helps to purify the heart.
This is the lesson people have to learn today—cultivate sat sankalpa (good thoughts) by seeking out and sheltering in satsang (good company). Planting poisonous seeds, people hope to get nutritious fruits! Why blame God when bitter seeds do not yield sweet fruits? Man is the only animal that imbibes and expresses ananda (bliss). The smile on the face is the blooming of the joy that fills the heart; it wafts away discontent and depression from other faces.
“The Mind—Use and Misuse,” Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 19
