Klesha

Klesha names the afflictions of the mind: ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion, and the fear of death, identified in classical yogic thought as the root causes of suffering and obscured perception.

The list is notable for its structure: ignorance is placed first and treated as the soil from which the other four grow, rather than as one affliction among equals. Attachment and aversion, in particular, are described not as opposites but as two expressions of the same underlying grasping, one reaching toward and one pushing away.

The kleshas are not treated, in most classical accounts, as permanent features of the mind to be suppressed by force. They are treated as patterns, weakened through sustained practice and, in their subtlest form, eventually dissolved rather than merely controlled.

From the Editors' Desk, Shastra Digest.