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Kashayas. The Inner Enemies
Compiled by Kavit Haria
effect of old karmas calmly. If we can do that, the door to the liberation will open.
In an issue focussing on progress, it is perhaps equally important to consider those things that will hinder our progress. In this article from our archives, Kavit Haria describes the Kashayas which pose a great challenge to our progress and also presents the antidotes that will help us to conquer these challenges.
he word Kashaya (passions) can be broken down into the word kasha, meaning worldly life, and aya, meaning worldly gain. Thus the literal
meaning of kashaya is to gain worldly life again. This means that as long as we have the kashayas, the cycle of life and death will continue. There are four types of kashayas namely Krodh (Anger), Maan (Ego), Maya (Deceit) and Lobh (Greed). These four can be grouped into two categories: 1) Raag (Attachment) and 2) Dwesh (Aversions). Deceit and Greed is formed from Raag and Anger and Ego is formed from Dwesh.
Spiritually we should aim to conquer these inner enemies in order to further on the path to Moksha. To conquer this karma, and experience the soul (samyak darshan), we must take the guidance of someone who has already conquered their inner enemies and is selfrealised. This is only possible with Upsham bhay. bringing positive qualities to 'war' against kashayas. We use:
• Forgiveness to conquer Anger • Contentment to conquer Greed • Humility to conquer Ego • Straightforwardness to conquer Deceit
There are nine items which trigger our passions. They
are:
...when we grow attachment, hatred or passions for worldly objects, we hinder
the spiritual progress of the soul.'
1. Hashya - laughing and joking 2. Rati- pleasure for sensual activities 3. Arati - displeasure for sensual activities 4. Shoka - sorrow 5. Bhaya - fear 6. Jugupsa - disgust 7. Prurushved - cause of sexual desires for
women 8. Strived-cause of sexual desires for men 9. Napumsakaved - cause of sexual desires for
both men and women
Spiritually, our goal should be to get rid of worldly life and become liberated. However when we grow attachment, hatred or passions for worldly objects, we hinder the spiritual progress of the soul. Whilst we are under the influence of passions, our intellect becomes irrational, we become vicious by nature. Thus, the greatest enemies to our soul are the kashayas and we should save ourselves from coming under the influence of them.
Manifestation of the above decreases as spiritual uplift begins. Therefore, we should be careful not only of kashayas, but of the items that trigger our passions.
The Four Kashayas:
We humans are opportunistic and when we are deprived of what we want then we react with anger. In the same way, if we do not get the fame we think we deserve, our ego hurts and we react accordingly. Therefore in reality even the anger and ego are caused by the liking and liking is nothing but one form of an attachment (Raag).
These passions stem from the maturing of previously accumulated Mohaniya Karma, "BIG MO", which delude us from the experience of our innate nature of the permanently blissful soul. Therefore, instead of reacting with more passion to the situations we should stay tranquil or calm in order to break the cycle, which causes the new karmas. Our aim should be to stop the new karmas from coming in and get over the
ANGER When anger flares we lose our sense of judgment. The virtues like love and forgiveness are destroyed. The anger triggers if someone acts against our wish, causes obstacles in the fulfilment of our desires, or breaches our trust. Everyone wants to stay away from those who become angry easily. Due to anger, friends become foes. Not only is anger harmful in this life, but it can bring the bitter consequences into our next lives too. Sometimes, the virtuous people become angry but they immediately calm down and ask for forgiveness from the people involved. In such situations, that is the right way to act and we should do the same. This way, the sin (paap) caused by anger would be removed. We should cultivate virtues such as forgiveness, penance, and repentance.
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