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If there were ways of looking at yourself and your life differently, in order to feel more contented, satisfied and just plain easy, wouldn’t you be willing to give it a go?
There are! Along with a whole host of strengthening/lengthening/opening poses, yoga also gives us instructions for ways to live with more peace and yes, even more soul-warming joy.
At the root of these instructions lies an understanding of the 5 kleshas, the afflictions, poisons or “distractions of the mind stuff”. They are described in detail in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which was written around 600 BC but which encompasses wisdom from thousands of year’s prior. What is radically different about this approach is that the kleshas are not things we NEED in order to add happiness to our lives, but simply things we need to uncover or remove. The big old ball of happy is already there, just waiting for the unveiling!
The first klesha is avidya or ignorance, and it lies like a carpet under the furniture that is the remaining four kleshas. Specifically, it refers to our “unknowing”: i.e. we are ignorant of the fact that we are, each of us, truly much greater than we know. Living from a place of smallness, instead of from an understanding of our direct connection to Universal power and flow, is what keeps us in mental, and even physical, suffering. As we remove this unknowing, we automatically step into a mind-space of greater empowerment… and happiness.
The second is asmita, or ego. Not that there is anything inherently wrong in possessing an ego; in fact, there are solid survival reasons for humans to do so. However, painful patterns are habituated when we fail to stop and consider that the false identity we create for ourselves (based on transient things like our body, intellect, possessions, status or achievements) is not really who we are.
Kleshas three and four are attachment (raga) and aversion (dvesha). When we mentally cling to people, things or experiences (think money, big cars, or boyfriends) OR adamantly reject them based on our sensory reactions or thoughts about them (postures we avoid!?!), we are doomed to exist in a state of angst, always denying reality by wanting more, less or different than what actually is.
The last and most challenging to overcome is abhinivesha, or clinging to bodily life. Even western psychology tells us that at the root of all of our fears (try digging deeply into one of yours, it can be very enlightening) is the fear of death. Think of the depth and breadth of products and practices aimed at “staying young”! We are so willing to go to incredible lengths to hide and deny a part of life that is natural and inevitable.
Speaking personally now, the process of absorbing these concepts into my reality has been a marathon, not a sprint, and there have been many bruises and detours along the way. Yet, as time passes and with “abiding practice”, I find that the time between when I first notice myself experiencing frustration, anxiety, fear, anger, jealousy, heartache (or any sort of mental/emotional pain) and the moment that I am able to fully release it grows shorter and shorter. I attribute this to a firm understanding of the kleshas and a growing awareness of how they grow beneath the angst in the first place.
There are! Along with a whole host of strengthening/lengthening/opening poses, yoga also gives us instructions for ways to live with more peace and yes, even more soul-warming joy.
At the root of these instructions lies an understanding of the 5 kleshas, the afflictions, poisons or “distractions of the mind stuff”. They are described in detail in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which was written around 600 BC but which encompasses wisdom from thousands of year’s prior. What is radically different about this approach is that the kleshas are not things we NEED in order to add happiness to our lives, but simply things we need to uncover or remove. The big old ball of happy is already there, just waiting for the unveiling!
The first klesha is avidya or ignorance, and it lies like a carpet under the furniture that is the remaining four kleshas. Specifically, it refers to our “unknowing”: i.e. we are ignorant of the fact that we are, each of us, truly much greater than we know. Living from a place of smallness, instead of from an understanding of our direct connection to Universal power and flow, is what keeps us in mental, and even physical, suffering. As we remove this unknowing, we automatically step into a mind-space of greater empowerment… and happiness.
The second is asmita, or ego. Not that there is anything inherently wrong in possessing an ego; in fact, there are solid survival reasons for humans to do so. However, painful patterns are habituated when we fail to stop and consider that the false identity we create for ourselves (based on transient things like our body, intellect, possessions, status or achievements) is not really who we are.
Kleshas three and four are attachment (raga) and aversion (dvesha). When we mentally cling to people, things or experiences (think money, big cars, or boyfriends) OR adamantly reject them based on our sensory reactions or thoughts about them (postures we avoid!?!), we are doomed to exist in a state of angst, always denying reality by wanting more, less or different than what actually is.
The last and most challenging to overcome is abhinivesha, or clinging to bodily life. Even western psychology tells us that at the root of all of our fears (try digging deeply into one of yours, it can be very enlightening) is the fear of death. Think of the depth and breadth of products and practices aimed at “staying young”! We are so willing to go to incredible lengths to hide and deny a part of life that is natural and inevitable.
Speaking personally now, the process of absorbing these concepts into my reality has been a marathon, not a sprint, and there have been many bruises and detours along the way. Yet, as time passes and with “abiding practice”, I find that the time between when I first notice myself experiencing frustration, anxiety, fear, anger, jealousy, heartache (or any sort of mental/emotional pain) and the moment that I am able to fully release it grows shorter and shorter. I attribute this to a firm understanding of the kleshas and a growing awareness of how they grow beneath the angst in the first place.