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Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Kleshas (Afflictions) and Karma(Chapter 2)

Subhash MittalIntegral Yoga Studio

www.integralyogastudio.com 919-926-9717 subhashmittal@gmail.com

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Recap Chapter 1

Definition of Yoga: ability to control the fluctuations of the mind-field

Five types of vrittis (fluctuations): right knowledge, wrong knowledge, imaginary knowledge, deep sleep and memory

Means to control the vrittis: abhyasa (practice) and vairagya (detachment)

Two kinds of vairagya – lower (of the senses) and higher (of the three gunas)

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Kriya Yoga (Yoga of Action)

Austerity, self-study and resignation to Ishwara constitute ‘Kriya Yoga’ (2.1)

Austerity: related to will (karma yoga) – sturdy self-discipline – mental, moral and physical

Self-study: related to intellect (jnana yoga) – study of sacred literature and repetition of mantras

Resignation to Ishwara: related to emotions (bhakti yoga) – doing all action as offering to God and renouncing the fruits of action

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Why Kriya Yoga?

For attenuating kleshas and bringing about ‘samadhi’ (2.2)

Wisdom is disconnected from ‘kleshas’ and awareness becomes subtle and refined

Discriminating wisdom arises and awareness of separation between Self and Ego is gained

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What are kleshas (afflictions)?

Five kleshas are: Ignorance (Avidya), I-am-ness (Asmita), Strong likes/attraction (Raaga), Strong dislikes/repulsion (Dvesha), Fear of death (Abhinivesha) (2.3)

Philosophy of klesha is an analysis of underlying cause of human suffering and the means to remove it effectively

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Ignorance (Avidya)‘Ignorance’ is the cause of the other four which can

be dormant, attenuated, alternating or expanded (2.4)

Definition: taking non-eternal as eternal, impure as pure, evil as good and non-Self as Self (2.5)

non-self for self – instead of “I have a headache”, say “my head hurts” – will provide a paradigm shift

Non-eternal – the material universe is impermanent but we attach to it dearly thinking otherwise

Impure: the body is impure – ever look at the inside of the body? Excretions, blood, sweat, urine/feces etc

Rope vs snake example – how we need the light (of knowledge/wisdom) to realize the truth

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I-am-ness (Asmita)

I-am-ness (asmita): Blending together of the power of consciousness with the power of intellect (2.6)

difference between capital I and small ‘i’; the difference is the dot – a little blemish/ignorance; remove the dot and we are the original ‘I’

The power of seeing/ hearing etc comes because of the power of Purusha, but we mistakenly identify it with the sense objects/mind etc

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Likes and Dislikes (Raga and Dvesha)

Likes (raaga): Attraction/attachment/liking, which accompanies pleasure, is Raga (2.7)

Dislikes (dvesha): Repulsion/hatred/dislike, which accompanies pain, is dvesha. (2.8)

musk deer which has fragrance on its forehead but keeps running around in search of it

Unfulfilled desires cause anger which can lead to total destruction

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Fear of death (abhinivesha)

Strong desire for life (fear of death) which dominates even the most learned (or the wise). (2.9)

Security alarm system – it is our fear of loss/death that we put the alarm in.

Fear of death is inborn – must have come from a previous birth

BG – just as we discard old clothes and get new ones, our soul discards the old body and gets a new one

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Theory of Karma

The storehouse of karmas which are rooted in kleshas result in all experiences in the present and future lives (2.12)

As long as the roots (kleshas) are there, they must ripen and result in rebirth, a given span of life and life’s experiences (2.13)

Each birth brings its own joys and sorrows (2.14)

Three types of karma: prarabdha (fructifying), sanchita (accumulated – like the bank balance), agami (current actions resulting in future karma)

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Why destroy kleshas?

The wise, however, know that all is misery due to the conflict between the gunas and mental fluctuations (2.15)

Constant conflict among the three gunas controls our mind and we act according to the dominant guna at any given moment

All pleasure is short-lived and must accompany pain and suffering

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How to destroy kleshas?

The active kleshas can be diminished through meditation (2.11)

The subtle ones can be diminished by resolving them back to the source. (2.10)

Ex: strong smell of garlic – no matter how much you wash the pot in which it was cooked, the smell stays for a long time

ego has to be purified over a long period of time

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What causes misery? The misery that has not yet come can and should be

avoided (2.16) The cause of this misery is the ignorance which

makes us believe that the seer and the seen are the same (2.17)

The ‘seen’ consists of the elements, and the sense organs and represents the play of the three gunas (2.18)

The seer is pure consciousness, but though pure appears to see through the mind (2.20)

Dispersion of this ignorance is the remedy to realize the disassociation of the ‘purusha’ (seer) and ‘prakriti’ (seen). (2.25)

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How to destroy ignorance

Developing an uninterrupted awareness of the Real is the means to destroy ignorance (2.26)

This can be done by following the eight limbs of yoga – yama, niyama, asana (postures), pranayama (breathing techniques), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), samadhi (total absorption) (2.28, 2.29)