Kleshas/Obstacles

Reading from Wednesday, January 8, 2014 yoga class

I had a totally different reading for today's class, but I changed it at the last moment because of the word judgment.  I subscribe to Yoga International online.  I took on a 7 day self-discovery challenge which one of the teachers on that website, Amy Pearce-Hayden, offered to start the New Year.

The kleshas, the five universal obstacles, their Sanskrit names and what it means and their triggers are as follows:

                                      Avidya (Ignorance)    Trigger--judgment of others

                                      Asmita (false sense of identity)  Trigger--Self-judgment

                                      Raga (attachment to pleasure)   Trigger--Expectation

                                      Dvesha (aversion to pain)  Trigger--Resistance, avoidance

                                     Abhinivesha (fear of death)   Trigger--Anxiousness, anxiety, worry

I had purchased a wrist band to wear to help with the triggers throughout the 7 days.  As simply as I can summarize it, because it is a VAST subject (the kleshas)... we used the wrist band to switch to the other wrist, each time we found ourselves in those triggers.  We took a klesha a day and on the 6th day took the klesha that we needed the most work on  and then on the 7th day committed to take that klesha on to a full 30 days of discovery.

Amy had us begin with the fifth klesha first and work backwards.  So... fear of death...it's not something we walk around doing, but a subtler expression of fear which is much more common: anxiety, anxiousness, worry.  That sneaky, habitual voice of worry... noticing it... being a witness to it.  Our thoughts ARE NOT really who we are, but a reflection of the patterns we have fallen into due to a lack of mindfulness and not being present. 

The fourth klesha, aversion to pain.  Who wants to be in pain!! So what we notice is HOW and WHAT we avoid, thus the trigger resistance. 

The third klesha, attachment to pleasure.  So...why wouldn't we want to have pleasure?  It's not that we should avoid pleasure, but the obstacle is when we get attached to our ideas of pleasure, or expectations of the way happiness, joy or pleasure will arrive which is usually, but not always, about small everyday things.  Habits of the mind= the 5 universals obstacles. 

The second klesha, false sense of identity.  That voice inside of us that condemns, judges or criticizes so quickly our feelings and experiences...self judgment.  Can we see ourselves with more compassion.  Traditionally, this klesha, is viewed as a skewed perspective of our ego.  Trying to always uphold a "perfect" picture of ourselves and who we think we ought to be, thus creating stress.  So... get rid of the "old" view of yourself and begin to slowly find the "real" you. 

The first klesha, ignorance.  This klesha is the root cause of our suffering and from it all the others stem.  This klesha suggests that we are focused on the impermanent aspects of life as a permanent reality, so to speak.  Getting caught up in ASSUMPTIONS, therefore making judgments.  Noticing how much energy is spent on judging others and taking things personally.  This practice makes you take note of what things you continually judge.  Remembering that where we judge is where we don't have knowledge.  Our mind goes on without our conscious awareness.  So... it is a habit of our mind.  We don't have all the information...not a clear picture of any given situation. 

So... as I told the class, the one that I had the most "changing of the wrist band" was the first klesha and the trigger of JUDGMENT.  I am ALWAYS judging people when I am driving.  I am just not very patient behind the wheel.  It is something that I have a lot of work to do on.

I am taking on JUDGMENT for the next 30 days.