Raise your hand if you have never had a moment -or two- of discomfort, confusion, pain, anger and/or rage.
I personally can't raise mine.
And that's fine because part of the human experience is to feel these emotions, to let them run through you, to accept them, embrace them and move on.
Since aversion for unpleasant experiences while pursuit of a persistent sense of comfort and pleasure are reasons why humans perpetuate their state of unhappiness read on if you are interested in finding out a full list of the main causes of pain and suffering - according the the yogis.
These are called KLESHAS
Think of them as
Causes of pain and suffering
Veils that cover our divinity
1. AVIDYA –ignorance- innocence of our true nature. Forgetting who we truly are. Let's remember that our true nature is joyful, peaceful, unchanging.
These qualities become covered by life’s distractions -when life happens.
2. ASMITA –egoism- mistaking our true nature - connected with all, because we are all one - for the I, Mine.
Thinking of yourself alone, and not as part of the bigger picture.
3. RAGA – attachments- to pleasurable things, to people.
There is nothing wrong with having desires: they propel us into accomplishing our dreams. It's the attachment to desires that brings us pain.
Can you relate to this one?
Inability to let go – Clinging on to what does not serve us anymore is a big source of pain.
Can you thing of something you had trouble letting go of,
but when you finally did you felt more energized,
more in charge of your life, stronger?
4. DVESHA – aversions – Avoidance of unpleasant experiences – Only searching for the "good time".
Think of something you know it's good for you- like your yoga practice or going to the gym, for example- but you know it requires sacrifices like having to wake up early, or saying no to going out with a friend;
so you end up avoiding the "unpleasant experience" of setting the alarm earlier for instance, to continue staying in bed instead -
or you end up meeting your friend and not having time for your practice.
Not learning from or seeing the beauty in life or our mistakes.
In experiencing an object that gives us pleasure we become attached to that and want to experience it again and again.
When this experience is unavailable we feel pain.
Are you familiar with these emotions?
Can you go back in time and think of something that felt so amazing the first time around,
but when you tried to duplicate that experience it just wasn't the same anymore?
5. ABHINAVESH– fear of change – fear of realizing we are not in control of everything.
If we don't come out of our comfort zone we become stagnant.
On the contrary, being comfortable with being uncomfortable boosts our creativity, makes us feel powerful,
and gives us a chance to learn more about ourselves, as well as new skills.
Change requires courage and willingness to step out of our comfort zone.
Any day is a good day to change.
We just have to make the commitment to is and take the necessary steps.
Fear of dying. Dying is part of living. Lets remember to body dies.
The soul moves on.
This brings us back to the first Klesha…
Our true nature is never ending and is more than our thoughts, emotions, fears.
If you are ready to work on any or all of these veils and need help in doing so,
I'm your girl.
Comments
Post a Comment