Discussion of the Kleshas continues with Raga and Dvesah. (Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras discuss the Kleshas in Chapter 2, verses 3-9.) Raga and Dvesah arise from opposite ends of a spectrum and both describe behaviours that distract us from knowing our selves better. As with all the Kleshas, they obscure our true understanding in quite powerful ways.
Raga describes that sense of want, desire that is beyond what we need, in order to create a sense of inner security. We feel unwilling to let go and try either to cling onto or to re-create the pleasant feeling. I suspect we can all find our Raga trigger of choice (Chocolate anyone? How about another glass of wine!) Unhealthy desires lead to a sense of craving as opposed to feeling content. Dvesah indicates negative emotions we connected with unpleasant, fearful, or painful events, e.g. behaviours such as avoidance, judgement, or hatred. Some of our habitual reactions can be triggered by natural animal instinct to avoid danger. But we need to be prepared to let go of such reactions when they serve no positive purpose anymore. We need to know when to dismantle our barriers. This can be a lot easier said than done! For many of us, our barriers were erected so long ago, we do not even notice they are there anymore. And then we wonder why we feel disconnected to others, who read and heed our Do Not Enter sign that we forgot was there. We can take awareness of these Kleshas onto our mats and notice those asanas that we enjoy and would like to do more of and those asanas which would never feature in our own personal practice. Do we gravitate toward ones we feel we execute well, or that energise us? Or perhaps ones that help us relax? Do others confront us with our limits of strength and flexibility that we would rather not be reminder of or which make us feel exposed to injury and bring tension into the body? Such reflections can grow your practice and your understanding of yourself. Be open and honest with yourself, without judgement. Learn when the feelings you have are constructive and helpful (an asana really may be too difficult without modification) and when they are reinforcing unhelpful behaviours. And don’t be afraid to reach out for a helping hand. You will likely find others with similar experiences who can share helpful insights with you. Focus on the Kleshas continues, this week with Asmita. This describes our tendency toward that sense of “I am” as a separate being from everyone and everything around us: my body, my mind, my personality etc as defining who we are. The sutras emphasis that what is real is unchanging. If we define ourselves by these transient attributes, then our sense of equilibrium can be disrupted easily and often when inevitable change arises. But we do touch moments when we are aware of our connection to everything around us, as when we gaze at the galaxies of stars on a dark night.
In our asana work this week, there are some unfamiliar sequences to challenge the equilibrium (ok, quite a few balances in there as well!). But students are supported in so many ways beyond that sense of “I-ness” that connects them to everything around them- the air for prana, the floor for grounding, the shared energy of their fellow students. So amidst all the effort, feel the connection to everything around you, and remember to enjoy it! As mentioned last week, class themes move onto the Kleshas- obstacles that we build and so have the power to dismantle, if we choose to. Avidya translates often as spiritual ignorance, clouds that obscure our ability to see our true inner selves. The aspects of this are described as Asmita (sense of “I am”), Raga (sense of want, desire beyond what we need), Dvesha (aversion, avoidance), and Abhinivesha (fear of change, of things coming to an end.)
I find it helpful to think of the Kleshas as vines growing in a garden, obscuring what lies behind them. When we slowly start to strip the vines away, we reveal once more what had been obscured. It remained there the whole time; we just had trouble seeing it. And if we ever ignore the vines, they will grow back again. So once more in our yoga practice, we can try to stay connected to essentials, even when new postures and unfamiliar vinyasas arrive- this week in the form of Moon Sequences. Do we become entangled in the vines of the asanas, or can we see beyond them and still stay connected to our breath with a clear mind? I am gearing up to review the Kleshas, aspects of ourselves, sometimes referred to as afflictions, which hinder our progress. But before that, a few thoughts on the yoga concept of Pratipaksha Bhavanam- to take another view or perspective. If you are in a negative pattern- feelings, words, energy- then first of all, recognise that this is going on. Step away from this pattern for a few moments and be that non judging observer. Then make a decision to reframe your perspective to a positive one each time you notice negativity creeping in.
Sometimes in a yoga class, the teacher will invite a different approach to a familiar asana. You are encouraged to step away from the habitual, and see what you discover. It could be entering an asana a different way, slightly changing the distance between the feet, or the angle of a back foot, that becomes a breakthrough moment for you and opens up new possibilities. Or you could choose one thing to be your primary focus for an entire practice, e.g. your grounding, playing with slight alterations to observe the effect. Each cultivates the ability to actively observe what is going on and take decisions to make positive changes. So be aware of your habitual patterns, when they have become unhelpful, and then take another view and see where it leads. After my three week break, I am re-reading recent postings and get the sense that it all comes back to some pretty simple and yet frustratingly elusive things. One of my holiday reads was Yoga School Dropout by Lucy Edge. It starts as a light read as she travels through India from ashram to ashram, sampling as from a pick and mix, searching for The Place with The Answers. Her story is told with much humour and self deprecation, and whilst she figures out some key things, she still has a long journey ahead at the close of the book. But what she does conclude is that it is less important what you do than how you do it.
On our mats we can bear this in mind in our ability stay connected to the sense of moving meditation with our breath control. And also in our choice of asana, how we actively work in the pose, and what we discover. We can be mindful of when we are straining or taking things too far, but also when we have slackened off too much, perhaps in less challenging poses. So breath by breath, keep tuned into how you are working- no autopilot and no overdrive! So now I have a better grasp of Duhkha, last week’s theme, how can I become more aware of the situations that give rise to it so I can try to act differently? The Heart of Yoga by TKV Desikachar mentions the play of the Guna as relevant. These are states of mind. At one end is Tamas, heaviness, and at the other is Rajas, restlessness. Both can draw Duhkha. Absence of either is described as Sattva, likened to clarity.
Whether Tamas and Rajas are good states of mind to be in will depend on the situation. If a troubling external event arises in our lives, a sense of tamas can prevent us from reacting hastily without clarity, which could create Duhkha. At times when we feel a bit stuck and in a rut, a sense of rajas can spur us out of our stupor into action and back to better balance in our life. So again, an awareness of what state we are experiencing and what purpose it is serving us- help or hindrance- can provide us with more clarity- sattva. And we can take this into our asana practice and be aware of the states of mind we take into our postures and whether they are an asset or a liability. Start with noticing, and then you have the chance to work on change, even if it takes awhile! It’s funny how at certain times, a Yoga Sutra can seem either mundane or impenetrable to me. Yet at other times, the same one suddenly seems very illuminating. Such was the case when I came to Sutra 1.8, the counterpoint of 1.7 discussed last week. Sutra 1.8 mentions incorrect knowledge or misapprehension i.e. wrong understanding. OK, fine, we all experience this. I then read about Duhkha and Sukha in The Heart of Yoga by TKV Desikachar.
Duhkha is describe as a kind of darkness of the spirit- the sense of constriction, feeling bound up, or to me, that sense of being “out of sorts”, sometimes without knowing why. Sukha is the opposite, a sense of good space, lightness, peace of mind. Actions arising from incorrect knowledge create duhkha- sometimes immediately, sometimes much later. Desikachar powerfully comments that an action based on correct knowledge harbours no Duhkha. So it sets free our peace of mind. Yet how impossibly difficult, when so often, we believe ourselves to be acting “with the best intentions”- i.e. we think at the time we are using correct knowledge yet hindsight proves it not to be so. For me, Desikachar’s comments provide another perspective with which to view my thoughts and deeds and their impact, particularly in creating that sense of Duhkha. Once again it asks us to put a mirror up to ourselves for the causes and the remedy. This could take awhile! We stay with Patanjali’s Sutras, where 1.5 and 1.6 introduce five types of fluctuations of the mind. But we are focused just on the first of these this week. Sutra 1.7 discusses correct knowledge. To me, it feels as though this touches upon intuition, that sense of knowing to your core something to be true. The Sutra details the types of proof that support correct knowledge. But ultimately it is up to us to discern and decide and like so many things, it is a skill that we can develop if we pay attention to it and nurture it.
Iyengar’s Light on the Sutras of Patanjali has some interesting comments on this Sutra, and the progression from discernment to true inner wisdom. He explains how our asana and wider yoga practice help to cultivate this ability. So in classes, students are asked to listen for their inner wisdom in their practice and to heed it: to know when they have more available within an asana, and when they have reached their edge, or need to pull back a bit. So a fair few challenges to help them hone their skills! Well done to all the students last night. And Happy Easter! Patanjali’s Sutra 1.4 reminds us that at times (perhaps most times) we are caught up with the activities of the mind- our thoughts, feelings, what is happening around us. We lose that sense of stillness that enables us to cut through all the noise around us and connect with what is real, with what matters. The light of our true selves is dimmed when we turn away from it.
Yoga gives us many strategies to turn toward our own inner light for nourishment and enlightenment. And as mentioned last week, our yoga practice helps hone our skills in focusing the mind. This week we explore Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha deep in our core: how to deploy them in a flowing way, engaging them subtly sometimes and more fully at other times, aware of taking what we need, when we need it, and letting it go when it is no longer required. We observe how being attentive within can enhance the outer expression of our asana work, silencing the distraction of its details. Instead, we feel how the essence of a pose is nourished from deep within us, we learn to trust ourselves to find and use that resource wisely, and when it all connects it is a true wonder- for us and those around us. Patanjali’s second sutra 1.2, mentioned last week, explains that yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. Sutra 1.3 goes on to let us know why we want to achieve this. Tada drastuh svarupe vasthanam: Then, the seer becomes established in his / her own true nature. So we move toward stillness in order to grasp what is real, and we move away from what is mere distraction. Our still mind is a pre-requisite to self-realisation.
For those interested, https://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-sutra-1-3-translation-and-commentary provides audio of these sutras so you can hear them spoken, as well as interesting commentary. Students are reminded in class that all aspects of our yoga practice- asana, breath work, cultivating the ability to observe ourselves during our practice, to maintain a sense of equanimity throughout- has the goal of enabling the mind to become one pointed, to see things clearly for what they are without the subjective mind, the ego, intruding and distracting us from what is real. Monday’s class contained some challenging sequences that gave ample opportunity for the ego to distract us from the sense of the mind just observing and witnessing, of being quiet and still. So we learn from it, we become more aware of when the subjective mind starts leaping in, and we guide ourselves away from it sooner next time, or perhaps the time after that. It’s all part of the process, all good stuff. |
AuthorRuth is a yoga therapist and yoga teacher based in Cheltenham, UK. She emphasises yoga as a tool for well-being, for individuals and in her classes, in person or via zoom. Archives
October 2023
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