Desire: The Third Shakti
This fall we’re diving into Tantric Yoga philosophy as applied to modern life. Even if you’re not a “yoga person” you may find that this philosophy has something to offer… come along for the ride. Two weeks ago we started our discussion of the five shaktis - innate powers we all have. We continue this week.
What do you Want?
Every week before I go to the grocery store I ask my children what on Earth they want to eat. I am open to all suggestions. I will gladly prepare just about anything they ask for as long as it has at least a small amount of nutritional value.
Every week my children give me literally no suggestions at all for what to make for dinner. So week after week I go to the grocery store, shop, prepare nutritious meals and watch as they push the food around their plates. It’s good real-world yoga practice for me. But gosh I think we’d all be happier if they’d just ask for what they WANT.
Power of Desire
Want. Desire. Heart’s Will. Intention
Any of these words could be used to describe Iccha - the next power in NST. Iccha shakti is the power of your heart’s desires. Your longings. Your dreams. Your intentions. Your power of desire is the starting point for building a life you love. It is the starting point for any project or creation.
And, just like with Ananda (Joy) last week, a lot of folks get pretty suspicious when the conversation turns to desire and wanting. I’ll just say that our cultures and upbringings have a lot to do with this. Desire is problematic in the overarching narrative and wanting as a sign of weakness.
But that’s not so in the NST world view. In this vision, your iccha shakti is the way that Universal consciousness helps you become most authentic version of yourself. Only you have your unique set of desires and interests. And only you can bring them to life if you choose to. Your iccha shakti is here to direct you towards fulfillment and joy. Turning away from your iccha shakti is like turning off your authenticity - you’re left having to follow someone else’s dreams. If you do that for too long, eventually you won’t even recognize your life.
How Life Happens
At the deepest level iccha shakti is your will to live. It’s the Universe’s unimpeded will that expresses in the flow of life where everything is part of an interconnected whole. Iccha Shakti has to come before any action. You, or the Universe, must have the desire or intention for that action to happen. Without it, the action can’t happen. There’s no desire for it. But with desire, life can shift and change.
Ask over and over
The practice with Iccha Shakti is to ask your heart over and over again: What do you want? Ask in small moments like deciding what to order in a restaurant, or what to listen to in the car. Ask about bigger things like how to spend your time outside of work or what career to take on. Ask in the most important areas of your life like in your most intimate relationships.
WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Then. Stop. Listen for the actual answer. Not the one you think you’ll get. Not the one you’re supposed to get. Listen for the real answer. The one that comes up in the moment. And put on your seatbelt. Be prepared that this can be messy and unpredictable. Your answers may change dramatically day by day. That’s ok. Just keep asking. (in fact, since you’re practicing awakening to iccha, you don’t even have to do anything with the answers you get)
A Life you Love
What you’ll find over time is that your iccha shakti will point you towards peace, joy, and freedom. The more you listen and use the next two powers (jñana and kriya) the bring your desires into the world the more you’ll love the life you’re living.
((Maybe this is super woo-woo of me, but I also believe the Universe is like me on grocery shopping day - it’s waiting for us to realize what we want and ask for it. Chiti would like nothing more than to deliver our true heart’s desires to us - if we only remember to ask ourselves: What do you want?))