Most people do not like tasks that are hard to solve, but they reject simple recipes just as readily. Pascal said that man trusts his own insights and discernment more than the same things told him by others. Even the workings of human reason waver between such extremes, trying to pass between the reefs of liking and disliking, of acceptance and rejection. The philosophy of yoga makes this diagnosis too: the human mind wavers between acceptance (sankalpa) and rejection (vikalpa).
The primary meaning of sankalpa is willpower, but its shades of meaning point to the subtler components of our decisions. First of all we must mention the subtlest level, 1) the sphere of ideas. Human willpower works as it should in the light of the highest ideals, for though resolve works with base ideals too, its result will be doubtful. Under the impelling force of noble ideals there takes shape in man 2) a conception, an intention. Let us make no mistake, an evil intention can take shape in man as well, but let us leave the shadow side of life aside for now! The conception comes one step closer to everyday life, bringing ideas closer to practice. From the conception, still largely on the plane of ideas, the intention is a further step towards practice, giving the conception form. After this there become manifest 3) the goal, as a clearly defined intention, and the wish, as the spur to attaining the goal. A further meaning of sankalpa is 4) resolve, decision, which amounts almost to a plan of action, the release and mobilisation of the power to act, a systematic scheme for reaching goals. A decision – according to the science of logic – is the removal of uncertainty, and this is crucial in every action. But the interpretation does not stop at these cognitive and psychological factors. The subtlest shades of meaning of sankalpa also define the nature of the ideal goal: 5) a solemn vow, and the spiritual result hoped for from keeping it. That is, the ideal use of willpower is its use for spiritual ends. Elsewhere the Indian tradition says that truly human life begins with spiritual enquiry, and that before it the possibilities offered by human existence cannot yet be grasped.
Only one element now remains: the substratum of all these factors and functions, in which, and in relation to which, they can be valid. And this is the last meaning of sankalpa: 6) mind, heart. The mind, a function hard to identify, is called the sixth sense, but it is not the same as the human brain. The mind forms the subtle material link between the soul, transcendent by nature, and the body, material by nature. It is more easily identified by the aspects of its working: the mind is where thought, willpower and feeling dwell. That is why the wise speak of the heart-brain, man's mysterious inner and emotional guide. Perhaps we do not know what is bad, but we feel what is good. Experiments also confirm that the body sounds the alarm before the brain has perceived the danger.
It is as if we had a subtle scanning system that lets us sense even the invisible workings of the world. The instinctive, parasympathetic functions of the nervous system point to this subtle working, and through it to the subtler reality. The faculties that consciousness oversees usually follow our first impulses, and we can even explain our bad decisions. At a high level of spiritual insight these two modes of working – the rational and the intuitive – are not necessarily separate, and the spiritual man acts, even after reasoned deliberation, as his intuitive promptings whisper. Spiritual development is admittedly hard to measure, but if this harmony proves itself, that counts as a good result. In this way one can pass from ideas to spiritually motivated decisions and to right action. For the proof of theory is practice.