Welcome to this short talk on one aspect of the philosophy of yoga.
Panchakleshas,
They translate to the five afflictions.
And these panchakleshas,
They appear in the yoga sutras as written by the sage Patanjali.
How a book is divided into verses,
The yoga sutras are divided into sutras,
Where sutra roughly translates to a verse.
So in sutra 2.
4 or in sutra 2.
3,
He introduces these five afflictions.
He says avidya,
Asmita,
Raga,
Dvesha,
Abhinivesha,
Klesha.
And the five kleshas,
This first one is avidya.
Avidya in Sanskrit,
It translates to ignorance.
Then there's asmita,
Which is egoism.
There's raga,
Which is attachment.
There's dvesha,
Which is aversion.
And then there's abhinivesha,
Which is clinging to life.
These five afflictions,
They act as internal obstacles that can cloud our perception,
That can distort the way we see and experience reality.
And in turn,
They hinder spiritual growth.
It's about recognizing and addressing these deep-seated sources of distress in order to find more clarity and more peace.
So the first klesha is avidya,
Which translates to ignorance.
Ignorance is said to be the root cause of all suffering.
And avidya,
Which is ignorance,
Is the fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of reality and the self.
It is not merely a lack of knowledge,
But it's a misperception or a misinterpretation.
It is like mistaking a rope for the snake in the dark.
When we live in this ignorance,
It causes us to mistake the impermanent for the permanent,
The impure for the pure,
And the painful for the pleasurable.
As an example,
You can imagine a person who is chasing wealth.
And they are doing this believing that financial success alone can bring them lasting happiness.
So they dedicate their whole life to accumulating material possessions only to feel unfulfilled even when they reach their goal.
Their ignorance lies in failing to recognize that true contentment,
It comes from within,
Not from without,
Not from external achievements.
How do I overcome avidya?
How do I overcome this ignorance?
And the antidote to avidya is wisdom,
Jnana,
Wisdom.
And this can be cultivated through self-inquiry,
Through meditation,
Through reading of the sacred texts.
And when we practice mindfulness,
It kind of helps to unveil the transient nature of life.
And we start to see that there is a deeper truth beyond the illusion.
So that was avidya,
Which translates to ignorance.
Then we have asmita.
Asmita translates to egoism,
The illusion of separation.
Asmita,
This is the false identification of the self with the ego.
And this can lead to a very rigid sense of I-ness,
A sense of mind-ness.
It creates an illusion of separateness from the universe and it can fuel arrogance,
Pride and an unquenchable need for validation.
A good example would be a skilled artist.
A skilled artist who becomes attached to their reputation and constantly seeking praise.
When their work is criticized,
They take it personally.
They feel very deeply wounded.
And their identification with their craft as their very self prevents them from embracing growth and learning.
How do I overcome asmita?
How do I overcome this egoism?
Yoga teaches humility and selflessness through practices like karma yoga,
Bhakti yoga.
Karma yoga is selfless service.
Bhakti yoga is devotional surrender.
And by shifting our focus from self-centeredness to interconnectedness,
We can dissolve the ego's grip and embrace a more universal perspective of life.
The third aversion is raga.
And raga translates to attachment,
Clinging to pleasure.
And raga is the insatiable craving for pleasure and the tendency that we can have to become attached to experiences,
Attached to people,
Attached to material possessions.
And this attachment creates a cycle of dependency,
Where happiness depends on external circumstances.
For example,
A person deeply attached to a romantic relationship,
They can find that their entire sense of joy depends on their partner's presence.
And when the relationship ends,
They spiral into despair.
They are unable to see a fulfilling life beyond that attachment.
How do I overcome raga?
How do I overcome attachment?
There's a practice of vairagya,
Which is non-attachment.
It teaches us that joy comes from within.
There's the practice of santosha,
Which translates to contentment,
Which helps us appreciate the present moment without excessive longing.
Meditation,
It cultivates inner peace and helps to reduce that need for external validation.
The fourth affliction,
Dvesha.
Dvesha translates to aversion.
It's the fear of pain.
Dvesha is the aversion to discomfort,
To pain,
To any kind of unpleasant experience.
Dvesha manifests as fear,
As resentment,
As avoidance.
It can cause us to flee from challenges rather than face them with resilience.
A very common example is a person who has failed in business.
They avoid taking risks simply because they are fearing another failure.
And this fear,
It paralyzes them.
It prevents new opportunities for success.
Their aversion to discomfort keeps them stuck in inaction.
Overcoming dvesha.
Yoga encourages equanimity.
In Sanskrit,
The word is upeksha,
Equanimity.
It is the ability to remain balanced in both pleasure and pain.
Through mindfulness,
We can start to accept discomfort as a part of growth.
There's also tapas,
Which is self-discipline.
It fosters that inner strength.
And the fifth affliction,
Abhinivesha.
Abhinivesha translates to clinging to life,
The fear of death,
The fear of change.
And abhinivesha is this deep-rooted fear of death,
Fear of change,
Fear of the unknown.
And even the most wisest of us can be affected by this primal instinct of self-preservation.
However,
Excessive fear of death,
It leads to resistance against the natural flow of life.
And this causes that constant anxiety,
That constant attachment.
An example would be an elderly person who is resisting the aging process.
And they undergo numerous cosmetic surgeries simply to maintain a youthful appearance.
The fear of impermanence,
It blinds them to the beauty and wisdom of growing older.
Overcoming abhinivesha.
Meditation on impermanence.
Meditate on the impermanence of life,
Reflecting on the transient nature of life.
Surrendering to the divine.
This helps us embrace change with grace.
And simply by living in the present,
We can experience life fully rather than fearing the end of life.
So,
Overcoming the kleshas,
Overcoming these afflictions.
And Patanjali's yoga sutras provide a very systematic path to transcend these five afflictions,
To transcend the pancha-kleshas.
And this is seen in the eight limbs of yoga.
So,
We have yama and niyama,
Which are the ethical guidelines that cultivate discipline,
That cultivate moral integrity.
Then we have the asanas and we have the pranayama.
The asanas are the physical postures.
Pranayama is the breath control that prepares the body and mind for deeper self-awareness.
And then we have the practices of patraihara,
Dharana,
Dhanya and samadhi.
These are techniques of self-withdrawal,
Concentration,
Meditation and absorption that lead to self-realization.
And by implementing the principles of yoga in our daily lives,
We can gradually weaken the influence of the kleshas,
We can weaken the influence of these afflictions.
And this leads us to greater mental clarity,
Greater freedom and ultimately a spiritual awakening.
Thank you for listening.
Love,
Light,
Blessings.
Namaste.
