Kleshas

Good Morning,

Up at three, not by choice. I have a squally kitty, Ginger, whose internal clock is messed up and who demands food as soon as she wakes. She has the most annoying yell in the morning, worse than any alarm, or garbage truck, or even a police siren. I made the best use of the time. I put in a load of laundry, ran the dishwasher, caught up on emails and browsed a couple blogs. I have a few favorite ones: Leigha Butler, yoga teacher, Bandayoga.com, several writers, and epicurious. Then I spent time planning the yoga class theme I will bring into my classes through July. I try to find a new theme each month. I decided to review the Kleshas.

The Kleshas

The truth is, most of us contend with all of the obstacles to some degree or another. It’s helpful, though, to review the descriptions and identify which of these is a consistent trap for you.

Avidya | Ignorance

Avidya, or ignorance of our divine nature, houses all other kleshas. According to these teachings, each of us is one and the same with the life force power of the universe, i.e., God, Brahman, or Ishwara as Patanjali’s lineage would name it. Non-purist modern yogis permit a liberal interpretation that says: fundamentally, whether you believe in God or don’t, we are undeniably intertwined with All That Is. Further, separation is an illusion, and it’s belief in this illusion (maya) that causes our continued suffering.

Raga | Attachment & Desire

Raga, or attachment, is the root cause of much of our human suffering. We attach to each other, to our conveniences, and to our reputations. We even attach to the concept of freedom. According to yoga, we must develop dispassion so that we are not rocked by every little (or major) shift in our external realities. Life is change. The work is to find the part of our consciousness that is unshifting and undisturbed by change. Leaving attachment behind doesn’t mean we don’t do our work in the world, like caring for loved ones, or earning accolades in our field; but it does mean that we carry out these actions while being firmly established in our serene center, equally at peace through success and failure.

Asmita | Ego

Oh, the ego. Does it show up everywhere or what? Not unlike attachment and ignorance, this klesha keeps us tightly contained in our own body-mind complex. Ego creates despair and suffering when our separateness, or perceived specialness, gets threatened. The funny thing is, the ego is challenged daily! Still, we fall for its allure. We get protective over our uniqueness.

To discharge, or demote, the ego is a radical endeavor, especially for modern-day practitioners who are taught from birth to distinguish themselves and to celebrate their specialness. When the ego is intact it shows up as feeling slighted, insulted, more valuable or worthy than someone else, and just as often, less valuable or less worthy than someone else. It’s sneaky. It’s pervasive. And the path of yoga recommends that we keep a vigilant eye on how it impacts our thinking and actions.

Dvesa | Aversion

On the other end of desire is aversion. At worst, it manifests as active hate. In its least aggressive form, it shows up as a vague feeling of distaste. The yoga system recommends that we take note when aversion crops up into consciousness. We must do the work of self-study, or svadhyaya, and pull this weed out by its roots. Get vigilant is the suggestion.

When aversion arises for you, it’s an opportunity to learn something about yourself. Ask in those moments: Why am I reacting to this particular circumstance or person? What is it in me that is inclined to such disgust? As this teaching would have it, we can be rightly opposed to something — an injustice, for example — but we work against it more effectively when we are emotionally unruffled than when we are propelled by a personal antipathy.

Abhinivesa | Fear of Death

This one’s pretty clear. Born as we are, and attached to the human form, we fear our own body’s demise and cling to life with all our might. Yoga recommends that we make peace with death while we are still living. To fear death is to deny a fundamental fact of existence — that all embodied forms must expire. The sooner we accept the beauty and reality that all human life eventually comes to an end, the sooner we escape from the fool’s desire to live forever as a small and separate individual life form.