How to overcome our five main obstacles with Yoga
According to Patanjali, five obstacles block our way to reaching a state of balance and contentment – the Kleshas.
They are fundamental principles, road mapping the structure of our mind. We are all affected by them without any exceptions. Hence these obstacles are essential to understand if achieving this goal of balance and contentment is what you are looking for.
In this post, I would like to introduce them to you, including Patanjali's suggestion for overcoming them.
What are the five Kleshas?
They are part of the second chapter of the Yoga Sutras, which I introduced last month.
The second chapter is the Path of Action or Sadhana Pada.
Klesha is a Sanskrit word which translates as poison.
A much stronger word than ‘obstacle’. Poison, however, hits the dimension of the kleshas more and their effect on our lives.
These poisons are:
Avidya - Ignorance
Asmita - I-am-ness
Raga - Attachment to the likes
Dvesha - Attachment to the dislikes
Abhinivesha - Fear or clinging to life.
Let's have a look at them individually.
Avidya - ignorance/misunderstanding
There are different translations. Ignorance is one of them; others are lack or absence of knowledge or awareness, false or distorted understanding, and misunderstanding.
In my last post used a translation of A. Finger explained it like this:
The inability of our mind to see itself in the proper relationship with the universal Self (Atman). There is a lack of awareness of the universal Self, which in turn leads our body-mind (Ahamkara) to assume that its limited perspective of our experiences is all that is.
The base of the Yoga Sutras is the Samkhya philosophy, which suggests that there is a universal consciousness. From this universal consciousness, a part will manifest in us when we take birth. When we die, this part merges back into the universal consciousness. This is a significantly simplified explanation.
We are born ignorant of our true nature; we are born mistaking our limited perspective or our experience in this life as all there is.
We don't see that we are part of the universal Self or consciousness. Instead, we see ourselves as separate from the universal Self.
Some of us feel this separation expressed as feeling alone, even if we have a busy life and live in a family; others might embark on soul-searching journeys because they feel something is missing. We think that there is another dimension but can't see what or where to find it.
We look outside ourselves and hope to find it in hobbies, travelling, different jobs, and religion.
However, Yoga shows us how to remove this misunderstanding and realise that we are part of this universal consciousness and that there is no separation by looking inside ourselves.
Avidya is the root cause of the other kleshas, the other obstacles.
Asmita – I-am-ness
As a result of Avidya, we are experiencing Asmita, a sense of individuality.
We can only see and experience ourselves, right? Only this body, these thoughts with our senses. Hence, we start identifying with the life we are creating and forgetting about the overarching consciousness we are part of. We see them and us.
The main issue or obstacle is not that there is a physical separation between us and others and nature but that we start identifying ourselves with that separation.
Raga - like the likes
Raga is our attachment to the likes. Here, our past experiences come into play. Our mind is naturally drawn to either like or dislike an experience.
When we have a pleasant experience, we like what we eat, the people we meet, and so forth.
Our mind quickly forms an attachment to the likes. We think about how pleasant the holidays were and wish we were there. We aim to have an equally enjoyable experience when booking our next holiday.
Our mind will always lead us towards repeating the pleasant experience without fail. However, we never get the idea of voluntarily repeating something we dislike. That's crazy, right? Why would you want to do this?
Dvesha - the dislikes
Is aversion. As we are drawn toward repeating a pleasant experience, we are trying to avoid an unpleasant one. It is the opposite of Raga.
These behaviour patterns can become so strong that they keep us from creating fresh experiences, and then they are actual obstacles.
We create likes and aversions in our minds. Somebody else might experience the same situation but like what we dislike and vice versa.
Raga and Dvesha are a direct result of our own individual lives, experiences we have had as children, how we were treated, the environment, and the beliefs we grew up in.
Once we see them in the context of our lives and go beyond them, these obstacles can potentially lose their grip.
Abhinivesha - the fear factor
The last obstacle is fear. The fear of dying or clinging to life.
Fear holds a firm grip over our life. As mentioned above, there can be a fear of being alone; nowadays, we have FOMO, the fear of missing out, the fear of not having enough, the fear of losing our jobs, not being able to pay the bills etc. Fear can lead us down some murky avenues and can have us make compromises we had never dreamt of agreeing to. Imagine you were free from fear. How would that feel?
As mentioned above, the Samkhya philosophy is based on the understanding that we are part of the universal consciousness. To which we return once we leave the body, death is not seen as the end but rather a transition. As a result of that, there is no fear involved.
How can we overcome this misunderstanding?
Patanjali talks about four different states in which they can present themselves.
Patanjali states that they can be dormant when they are like a seed in the ground.
Once the circumstances are right, this seed will sprout and be weak and manageable, just like a tiny seedling.
It can grow bigger and bigger, then it might get cut down, and another plant will come up and overtake the first one.
Once the plants have fully matured, they run our lives, and we have lost control.
What can we do then?
The second chapter starts with the solution:
“Kriya Yoga is accepting pain, self-study, and surrendering to higher powers.”
“This Yoga helps to minimise obstacles and attain balance.”
I know, accepting pain doesn't sound very appealing. It is not necessarily physical pain. Tapasya, which is the Sanskrit word, is more like a challenge. For example, you decide to get up every morning at 5 am, no matter what and meditate or go for a walk, whatever the purpose. Paramount is getting up at 5 am, no matter what.
The first day you might be very enthusiastic and be ready at 5. The second day, maybe you went to bed late, or your child was unwell during the night; at 5 am and your alarm sounds, you feel tired and miserable. You need to get up; this is your challenge, and then thoughts start appearing telling you, oh, just today I will get up at 5.30, tomorrow I'll go back to 5. You might know these thoughts.
Tapasya is getting up on the dot because you made this pledge to yourself. Going to bed late, sick children, no matter what, you get up.
This determination will transform your life. Not what you are doing will transform your mind, but that you stick to it, no matter what, will grow your resilience.
We develop the resilience needed to stay less affected when we encounter situations that we don't like to help prevent us from going down the rabbit hole. Tapasya is a Yoga of action; it allows you to uplevel yourself.
Self-study means studying scriptures as well as studying yourself. When observing yourself, you see raga and dvesha in action. For example, you might understand why you love or hate certain things/situations/people. This can motivate you to try something, overcome fear, etc., and create a new experience to overlay the old one.
Surrender or Ishvara pranidhana acknowledges that there is something higher out there, more important. This, again, can be whatever you want it to be, devotion to mankind, nature, the universe, God, Allah, or Buddha. It educates your mind that there might be something more significant, resulting in becoming humbler. It can help you to pass on responsibility when you say, 'I have done whatever was in my capabilities; I now leave it to …'
These three actions bring resilience, clarity, and modesty/openness.
The same will be achieved in the second chapter with the eight limbs. Tapasya (accepting pain), svadhyaya (self-study), and Ishvara pranidhana (surrender/devotion) are three of the 5 niyama, the internal disciplines of the eight limbs.
Conclusion
We are all born in ignorance of our true nature. We misunderstand our limited perspective of our experiences as all there is. As a result, we cannot see the connection between us and the universal consciousness.
We identify with our experiences, family, environment, job, friends, and status.
Our mind naturally draws toward repeating experiences that are pleasant and naturally avoid repeating unpleasant experiences.
Fear holds a firm grip on us, and we often act out of fear, reacting to the fear.
The obstacles come in different stages: as a seed, they can be weak, and they can be cut. Then, however, others might take over; they can be mature, and then they run your life.
You might say, I don't believe that there is a universal consciousness, and I am a part of it. That is fine. Nevertheless, the tendencies of your mind and the impact that fear has on you can still run the show and keep you from feeling balanced.
Can you see yourself in this? Let me know and email me.
Read more about Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras to get the bigger picture. Patanjali’s first chapter. the second chapter, Yoga philosophy overview.
Yoga and Ayurveda are all about coming back to balance. Learn more about my upcoming 8-week course, Back to Balance, helping you to take charge of your health & well-being using the skills and tools of Ayurveda & Yoga.
