BE INSPIRED
R
e membering the fundamental principle of yogic
psychology: our underlying mental state is one of
purity and stillness. This stillness is at the Center
of our existence, like the eye of the tornado, and is present
in every fiber of our being, at the center of every atom.
Yoga is all about our journey home to that Center, and we
start by removing all the complexities and impurities in
our field of consciousness.In this series so far, we have seen how complexities and
impurities start to accumulate, by exploring the normal
everyday workings of the human mind – how the 5 vrittis
work in the field of consciousness. Some of the vrittis are
pure and in sync with mental balance, while others are
colored and take us away from that pure, balanced state.
Then we explored the next layer of complexity – the 5
kleshas or mental afflictions that take us further away from
our Center of balance and result in suffering.Now we continue further away from the Center, into the
realm of entropy, complexity and instability, as we become
more and more entangled in those afflictions playing out
in our daily lives. We create behavioral patterns and habits
through the accumulation of samskaras, and these lead to
all sorts of ailments. Yoga calls these ailments or obstacles
vikshepas. Patanjali described them as 9 types in his Yoga
Sutras, a few thousand years ago. In this day and age we
can add a couple more to the list.July 2019 49