No action of ours, even the smallest one, can be accomplished without willpower. Without this force, we would not even be able to tie our shoelaces.
There is a great difference between desires and intentions. A person may have countless desires, but the vast majority of them, like garbage, clutter our lives. Throughout the day, the mind generates countless thoughts, and every thought—even the smallest one—carries a certain intention. However, most of the intentions we produce each day remain unrealized. These unrealized thoughts are similar to Brownian motion in an uncharged conductor. In such a conductor, no electric current arises because the electrons move chaotically rather than in an ordered way. Only when electrons move in a single, unified direction does an electric current emerge. In the same way, when our thoughts and desires are gathered together and aligned into a single direction—like a charged conductor—we begin to experience and understand the true power of intention. The strength of the current increases tremendously, creating a magnetic field that attracts everything necessary for the realization of that intention.
Willpower can become an immense force in the hands of one who has organized and directed the movement of their thoughts. For such a person, what remains mere dreams and fantasies for most people becomes possible. As willpower grows, our capacity to realize intentions also increases. Focused and collected individuals tend to succeed more easily. Where there is concentration, there is success.
The primary power of a yogi is Sankalpa. Sankalpa is an unwavering intention on whose path to realization nothing is impossible. Sankalpa always fulfills itself; there are no obstacles before it, and everything standing in its way parts, like the waters of the sea before the prophet Moses.
Everyone possesses willpower, everyone has the power of intention, and everyone has the capacity for Sankalpa. In truth, these are all expressions of one and the same force. However, Sankalpa alone arises from the deepest layer of our nature—from the very center of our being. The practice of yoga develops in the practitioner a force capable of penetrating to this center, and then Sankalpa becomes perfected.
When we abide in the center, we possess everything. The center of a circle governs all its radii and every point along its circumference, and regardless of the radius, the center always remains the center—whether in a human being, in the solar system, or within an atom.
The practice of yoga allows us to discover and develop willpower and the power of intention, and it allows Sankalpa to manifest. Through practice, we can transform our lives.