Kleshas/Koshas/Gunas Flashcards
List the 5 kleshas?
Avidya, Asmita, Raga, Dvesa, Abhinivesa
What is Avidya?
ignorance, delusion, unwise, breeds the remaining 4 kleshas, choosing not to
know, ignoring unity, living in the physical world without recgonising our spiritual identity, lose sight that we are more than the superficial, once removed; all the others will disappear
What is Asmita?
I-am-ness, relating everything back to the self, constant need to be correct, give
opinions, unable to separate from the self, resulting in limiting and isolating the self from others
What is Raga?
Attachment to objects, sensory, people, experiences and memories, seeing
everything through rose coloured glasses, remembering the pleasure of the experience so wanting to repeat it, greed to fulfil one͛s desires
What is Dvesa?
Aversion, repulsion, opposite of raga, feelings of resistance, frustration, anger and
avoidance of the orginal cause
What is Abhinivesa?
Fear (of loss/death), clinging to wordily life and bodily enjoyment, fear of
being cut of once dead.
What do the kleshas do?
They are causes for our suffering. These “afflictions” distort our mind and our perceptions effecting how we think, act and feel.
What is Abhyasa?
Dedicated spiritual practice over a long period of time with the higher Ideal in mind of reaching one’s true Self.
What is Vairagya?
Dispassion, detachment or renunciation
What are koshas?
Layers of our physical, mental and subtle bodies. Similar to personality traits.
Name the 5 koshas starting from most superficial.
Annamaya Kosha, Pranamaya Kosha, Manomaya Kosha, Vijnanamaya Kosha, Anandamaya Kosha
What is annamaya kosha?
physical, material, most superficial, to transcend you must view the
body as a tool
What is Pranamaya kosha?
Vitality, energy
What is Manomaya kosha?
mental, mind, ideas, thinking, attracted to someone’s mind
What is Vijnanamaya kosha?
wisdom, intellect, ‘I know,’ ‘I do,’ if in this sheath you will have a closed mind and not let any more info in.
What is Anandamaya Kosha?
Bliss state, everything is amazing, fake yogis, deepest state before the Self
What are the 5 major pranamaya?
Prana Vayu, Apana Vayu, Udana Vayu, Samana Vayu, Vyana Vayu
What are the 3 gunas?
Sattvic, Rajas, Tamas
What is sattvic?
is the quality you want to move towards. It promotes luminosity and lightness. It
allows us to feel pure and strong from it clarity. Happiness and contentment can be found within Sattvic. It is an unmoving quality that allows for space and stillness, leading us towards clarity. When this quality prevails, evolution occurs, allowing the soul to pass on to the highest Self, transmitting the light of consciousness.
What is rajas?
This quality is moving, giving us the impulse to act. It preserves us and is only a
reflection of the true Self as it attaches us to emotions like passion and pleasure. It gives us a false sense of safety, preserving our growth and degeneration. It can cause extreme greed for wealth or material gain and produces a lot of unnecessary commotion, unsettling the mind
and body. Rajas can be helpful as it is the fight or flight response in a dangerous situation or what gets us moving when we have become stagnant in Tamas.
What is tamas?
This quality is of sloth-like description, weighing us down into a dark, stagnant
stillness. It prevents growth, promotes ignorance and destruction and leads us down a
spiraling, demotivating tunnel. Avoidance and laziness are key players within this quality,
preventing us from moving and leading us to failure if this quality prevails. We become
infatuated with the darkness, ignore the light and eventually become lost in this quality
What are gunas?
Qualities of the universe that can found within the sheaths of the koshas.
Name the 4 bandhas
Mula, Uddiyana, Jalandara, Maha bandhas
Name the foot and hand bandhas
Pada and hasta bandha
What is the other name for mula bandha and how do you activate it?
Root lock. Draw the sitz bones together and draw the anus into the body
What is the other name for uddiyana bandha and how do you engage it?
The flying up lock. Draw the space between the belly button and the pubic bone into the spine.
What is the other name for Jalanhara bandha and how do you engage it?
Throat lock. Curling chin forward like cupping tennis ball under chin to lengthen the cervical spine
What are 3 benefits of mula bandha?
Stimulates pelvis nerves
o Relieves constipation and piles
o Helps relieve the symptoms of depression
o Relieves sexual frustration and suppression of sexual energy
What are the contraindications of mula bandha?
Bipolar/hyperactivity as it raises energy very quickly
What are 3 benefits of uddiyana bandha?
o Removes lethargy and soothes anxiety and tension
o Stabilises and supports the lumbar
o Builds agni, digestive fire
What are the contraindications of uddiyana bandha?
o High blood pressure
o Chronic digestive complaints
Pregnancy
What are 3 benefits of Jalandara bandha?
o Decreases oxygen and increase carbon dioxide which decreases heart rate increasing relaxation
o Relieves stress, anxiety, anger and irritability
What are the contraindicatIons of Jalandara bandha?
Cervical spine issues
Vertigo
High blood pressure
Heart disease
What are the benefits and contraindications of mana bandha?
All the same as the other 3 bandhas
What is granthi?
Granthi literally means ‘knot’ and it is said that the Granthis prevent the flow of prana along the sushumna nadi and therefore impeded the awakening of Kundalini through the Chakras. These locks
also correspond to the energy blockages held in the nervous system from our past samskaras that we experience through the journey of our lives.
Name the 3 granthi
Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra
