21 Aug Śakti vs. Willpower
Preamble: I’m not an expert on this subject. Just a student of it, and these are some current thoughts on it. I was biking the other day and was finding so much joy in the speed and forward-motion, and was reflecting on how much of my work in life has been bringing awareness to the pathological nature of the always-forward, never-stopping, always pushing nature of modern day Western culture and its damaging effects on health in general and women’s health & hormones in particular.
But there is also joy in forward motion. Like Simone Biles or Mary Lou Retton hurling themselves gloriously forward in their floor-routines, vaults and earth-defying feats of majesty. From these thoughts came the following reflection.
In our culture, we often hear about the power of will. The message is clear: if we want something, we should work hard, focus, and use our willpower to make it happen. The classic “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality. However, there is another, perhaps even more potent, force at play. In India, we speak of a force called, śakti, and it’s a creative power that doesn’t rely on personal willpower or desire.
Understanding Śakti: The Feminine Force
In Sanskrit, śakti refers to the primordial energy that drives all of creation. This energy is inherently feminine, representing the divine creative force of the universe. Śakti isn’t about personal desire, striving, or pushing to make things happen. It’s ever-present and independent of these personal ambitions.
We can think of śakti as the difference between a river flowing naturally toward the ocean and someone frantically trying to dig a canal to divert the water in a different direction. The river, representing śakti, knows where it’s going and moves with a powerful, yet effortless, grace. The person with the shovel, on the other hand, is using their willpower to create something, but it’s exhausting, unsustainable, and, ultimately, less effective.
Willpower vs. Creative Power
The difference between relying on willpower and tapping into śakti is significant, and can reflect significantly in our nervous systems. When we rely on willpower, we’re drawing from desire and from a limited resource—our personal energy. This can lead to burnout, frustration, and a sense of constantly swimming upstream. We’re trying to force our way through life, and while we might achieve some success, it may be at a great personal cost. In addition, we may not feel satisfaction, joy, or peace even if we experience “success” in whatever endeavor we’ve forced out of our efforts.
Śakti, on the other hand, is less about what we want to create and more about what wants to be created through us. When aligned with śakti, we’re not working against or diverting the current. Instead, while we may put our shoulder to the wheel and work to cooperate with that current, we have the great privilege of experiencing a natural power greater than our mind and personality. In our worldly lives, we can become conduits for creativity, allowing ideas, projects, and even relationships to come into being with ease and grace as we relinquish personal ambition. In our spiritual lives… well… that’s a whole other subject for another time and perhaps someone better qualified than I to explore. However, if we can learn to live our worldly lives in greater alignment with a power greater than ourselves, this may have a profoundly helpful effect on our spiritual lives. One of my teachers used to say that it is easy to meet God, but it is hard to become a human being. Living in this world well can help pave the way for the seemingly loftier pursuits of spiritual growth.
Letting Go of Control
One of the most challenging aspects of aligning with flow may be letting go of control. Many of us may be conditioned (or, as in the case of many pitta-type individuals—inclined by constitutional influences) to believe we must control every aspect of our lives to be successful. But many spiritual traditions train seekers to learn to detach from our relentless desires and ambitions, which may invite śakti to flow with less obstruction—and trust a greater Force that Knows what’s best, even if it’s not immediately apparent to us.
This may not mean giving up or becoming passive. It may mean working in our spiritual practices to remove the obstructions to the flow. What are those obstructions? Anything that clouds the clarity of the organism: the physical (vāta, pitta, and kapha) and mental (rajas and tamas) doṣas; and the ahaṁkāra—the ego or I-former. And for this process, genuine spiritual traditions and adepts are invaluable.
Creativity Beyond Desire
Śakti operates independent from our personal desires. Willpower is often driven by what we want. Śakti might not always align with our ego’s desires, but it will always be in harmony with our higher purpose.
For example, we might be using all our willpower to push forward in a career that we think we should be pursuing. But if it’s not aligned with our deeper purpose—the voice of our innermost essence, we’ll feel constant resistance. This can manifest in the organism as the physiology of stress—one that is harmful to us. However, as alignment with śakti replaces personal drive, we might find ourselves being drawn towards a different path or different actions—one that, while not always easy, feels more natural, fulfilling, and ultimately more successful, even if it’s not what we originally envisioned. This can manifest in the organism as the physiology of courage. This is not harmful to us. (We spoke more about the physiology of stress vs. courage in our Aug 21, 2024 session of Menopause Chronicles.)
Ideas for Inquiry & Integration (these things have helped me)
- Cultivate Awareness: Pay attention to when we’re using willpower versus when we’re in a state of flow. Notice how each one feels in our body and mind.
- Practice Surrender: Whenever we find ourselves pushing too hard or feeling frustrated, take a step back. Breathe. What happens if we stop pushing?
- Stay Open: Be open to new ideas, opportunities, and directions that might not align with our original plans or desires. This melts resistance and obstruction.
- Create Space: Make room in our lives to practice listening to our innermost essence, to the best of our ability. This might mean setting aside time for meditation, journaling, or simply spending time in nature.
Conclusion
In a world that glorifies willpower and control, the idea of surrender may feel lazy or scary. But in the actual practice of it, we may find creation becomes less about striving and more about allowing. We might even move from a place of exhaustion to one of inspiration, from stress to ease, and from personal desire to higher purpose. So, the next time we find ourselves trying to force something into being, we might take a step back. Breathe, trust, and let śakti educate us.