21. Perception is Reality: Intro to the Kleshas

Often when we practice yoga, meditation, or study astrology, it is our goal to increase our self-awareness, whether that be of our body sensations and emotions or how we fit into the natural cycles of life. These are excellent goals, because they can help dispel the kleshas, or afflictions of the mind/blocks to yoga. In ancient yoga philosophy, the kleshas are the root causes of suffering. 

I give a brief introduction to the five kleshas, which are avidya (ignorance), asmita (over-identifying with your ego or "little s" self), raga (desire, or attachment to pleasure), dvesha (avoidance), and abhinivesha (fear, especially of dying, that may prevent one from fully living). We discuss how avidya is the "trunk of the suffering tree" from which all other afflictions grow. Avidya can be oversimplified as ignorance or misperception. Listen to learn nuances related to what avidya is, how it causes suffering, and some ways to ease that suffering.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali more specifically define Avidya in verse 2.5: “Avidya is to mistake the impermanent for the eternal, the impure for the pure, sorrow for happiness, and the not-Self for the true Self.”

Listen to hear several examples of how avidya shows up and how to navigate those circumstances with more ease: from impermanence of all things good and bad, being dogmatic about things like spiritual beliefs or food, feeling the emotion vs becoming the emotion, and defining Atman and Brahman, "little s" self vs "big S" Self.

For more specific practices, especially for you personally based on your birth chart, check out this weeks full moon report that comes out on July 23rd! Make sure you sign up for my email list, either at the top of my link tree or at the bottom of my website homepage, so you can be the first to hear about upcoming events and get the sign-by-sign yogiscopes on upcoming new and full moon reports!

If you'd like to read the blog post that goes along with this episode for more detailed show notes, please visit: https://www.yogiscopes.com/podcast/21

If you'd like to join the Yoga + Astrology facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2852274405102702/

To sign up for my email list to receive astrology forecasts and be the first to hear exciting announcements, please visit https://www.yogiscopes.com and scroll to the bottom to find the newsletter sign up.

If you’d like to book an astrology reading, please visit https://www.yogiscopes.com/book

If you're reading this or listening, I'm grateful that our paths have crossed and would love to connect with you on instagram or facebook!

https://www.instagram.com/yogiscopes/

https://www.facebook.com/yogiscopes/

Don't forget to like, subscribe, rate, follow, share, give me all the digital warm and fuzzies, and stay in the light!