Sankalpa—IntentionWhat are we aiming for?Last night brought the first real winter snow to Triveni in the high desert. This morning the ground glistens white and the sky is a cold fresh blue behind fast-moving, heavy clouds. Everything seems new, innocent, washed clean. With a fire burning in the woodstove, it’s a good moment to contemplate what the ancients meant by the Sanskrit term sankalpa—spiritual intention. With New Year’s Day having just passed, such musings are in the air. As January begins yet another cycle, the passage of time comes into focus along with questions. How am I doing? What’s working in my life and what is not? What do I value? What about health, security, the future? If we keep inquiring, deeper mysteries come into view—our own mortality, the origins of existence, the purpose of suffering and of life itself. All ancient cultures honored the cycles of the year. For most people, the celebration of a new year was based on astronomy and agriculture, usually on March 21—the time of the spring equinox, when the rebirth of nature is evident throughout the northern hemisphere. The Celtic world celebrated (and still celebrates) around November 1, as do the Aztecs of Mexico (Samhain and Dia de los Muertos). In China the new year falls on February 10, while others celebrate at winter solstice, when cosmic forces bring about the Return of the Light. Different regions of India celebrate a new year at various times based on local custom and whether the lunar, solar or lunisolar calendars are followed. Western culture has been largely shaped by ancient Rome. The Romans originally began the year at the spring equinox, but it was later changed to the solar Gregorian calendar and moved to the month named for Janus—the animistic spirit or god who ruled over doorways, gates, thresholds, transitions, and beginnings. All this anthropology and myth interests me because it reflects essential tantric wisdom at play around the world: every passageway or threshold holds transformational super fuel for our sankalpa. My teacher, Lee, strongly encouraged setting an intention rather than making a vow. “People like to make vows at New Year’s,” he said. “I don’t recommend making vows. If you’re not able to fulfill your vow, maybe even for a legitimate reason, there are consequences. Vows are easily made and easily broken, which sends a message to the unconscious mind and creates a sense of defeat and self-doubt.” His advice was to understand that our spiritual aim or direction during one phase of inner work will naturally evolve into another aim, then another and another. Lee once told me, “At any time, when you have a moment of clarity, use that moment of clarity to affirm your intention to the Universe.” We can appreciate and even celebrate cultural rituals that honor the cycles of time, but every moment of clarity is a threshold of opportunity. When we recognize and acknowledge that a turning point or change of some kind has arrived in our individual lives, either inner or outer, we have a significant possibility. On the spiritual Path we place a great importance upon nondual teachings—"I have only this moment now—past and future, all this striving and suffering, is just an illusion.” One of the basic aims of sadhana is to work with letting go of identification. Even so, the “I am” of our awareness is making a journey through space and time. Living with the Reality of existence, it’s important to ask ourselves questions, like: What is truly motivating me? What do I value most? What sense of purpose do I have? Is it time now to set a new direction? What star guides my path? Somewhere between destined fate and personal freedom, between surrender and will, we are grappling with a deep sense of responsibility. Life itself reveals meaning and purpose to us, which is the essence of what inspires our sankalpa. Clarifying intention in this way helps us to do our individual part—as small as it is—toward the Great Process of Divine Evolution. To speak and affirm our intention is to offer ourselves up to become more and more transparent to the transformative blessings of Divine Shakti. When our jnana yoga (cognitive awareness) meets our bhakti yoga (the rapture of love and longing) then our sankalpa becomes supercharged. A deeply felt sankalpa is a magnet that draws the evolutionary impulse of the Divine toward us in a reciprocal relationship that, nurtured with awareness and reverence, can becomes a felt reality. When real feeling is present, intention is alchemized, melted into gratitude and praise. The poet John Donne once asked of the Divine: “Break, blow, burn, and make me anew.” With everything else we have on our plates in modernity, inviting fire and flood into our lives is a bit daunting—and probably unnecessary. Affirming our intention to the Universe could be as simple as saying, thinking, singing or whispering—in whatever way feels natural—“I’m here. Thank You for everything. I place my trust in You. Allow me to serve.” Mary Angelon Young
January 17, 2024
Triveni, Arizona Batter my heart, three-person’d God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new…. — John Donne
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