Difference between an intention and a desire

There is a difference between an intention and a desire. Desire is that which gives you anger and upsets you. Sankalpa is having an intention.

 It means taking your consciousness to the universe, to the infinite; then bringing the mind to the present moment, and making a wish for something that you long for in your mind. Desire means to want it to happen now. In sankalpa you say, “Let it happen whenever it has to.”

Strength lies in the power of your sankalpa (intention). The mind is full of sankalpa and vikalpa (imagination, fancy). All work gets done through sankalpa. Even the act of moving one’s arm is preceded by the sankalpa in the mind. The sankalpa of a weak mind is ineffective. We can make our mind strong by sadhana (spiritual practices) and knowledge. Then the sankalpa will also be strong.

When sankalpa arises in your heart, then it helps expand your consciousness in the universe. In this huge universe, I want this little sankalpa to happen. Suppose you are asking a question to someone and you have a doubt whether this question will be answered or not, you will hesitate to ask it or you will make errors even in the process of asking.

So the right way of asking is, first, having that confidence in the divine and knowing that “I have this request and it will be granted to me.” One should apply effort, work and also relax. Before going to bed, meditate for 10 minutes and surrender whatever you desire, and sleep happily. The main things to follow are sadhana (spiritual practices and self effort), awareness, and then abandoning of feverishness.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji