Making the unconscious conscious
Three methods to reveal hidden thought patterns
Om Sri Gurubhyo Namah. Salutations to all the teachers.
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will rule your life, and you will call it fate.”1
- Unknown, misattributed to Carl Jung
Recap: Vrittis and Kleshas
In Yoga psychology, there are only five types of mental movements, called vrittis. These vrittis can be coloured or uncoloured. Coloured vrittis result in suffering, while uncoloured vrittis do not. When we suffer, it is due to the presence of these mental colourings, called kleshas.
If a klesha is present, it is in one of the following degrees of strength - strong (aka udaar), interrupted (aka vichhinna), weak (aka tanu), or dormant (aka prasupta).
Yoga builds upon itself, weakening the kleshas systematically.
Initially, the preliminary techniques of eka-tattva-abhyaas, the Brahmavihaaras, and the six stabilizing techniques attenuate the kleshas from the udaar to the vichhinna state. These techniques can also be used to further weaken kleshas, and to keep them at bay. Given this, they are to be continued throughout one’s practice until they become the Yogi’s way of life.
Next, Kriya Yoga moves the kleshas to the tanu, or weak state. At this point, the first six limbs of the eight-limbed Yoga - the Yamas, the Niyamas, Aasana, Praanaayaam, Pratyaahaar, and Dhaaranaa weaken them even further up until they become extremely subtle, and then Dhyaan (ie. meditation) can be used as a fine-grained tool to make them dormant, or prasupta.
Over the past two weeks, we discussed ways in which meditation, or Dhyaan - the seventh limb of Yoga - can be used to weaken subtle kleshas. At first, the Yogi applies Dhyaan to the “distracting” klishta-vrittis that automatically arise during Dhaaranaa. Then, once these stop appearing, and once the Yogi feels comfortable, they can intentionally cultivate vrittis that they know will agitate the mind, so as to weaken the kleshas even further.
This second technique must be applied with care, because otherwise it can agitate the mind to the point of being counterproductive, and even causing harm.
After these techniques have been practised for some time, it may start to feel like there are no more subtle kleshas left to address. It is important not to fall into the trap of feeling like the job is done (aka bhraanti-darshan). Rather, we must continue to use any tools available to us to uncover kleshas that may be hiding in the recesses of our mind
How to uncover unknown kleshas
“In order to see a fish, you must watch the water.”
- Bodhidharma
Last week, we discussed the method to intentionally activate klishta-vrittis (coloured, or painful, thought patterns) so as to apply Dhyaan (ie. meditation) to them, therefore moving the kleshas to a dormant state. In order to make the method clear, we went over an example of someone with an addiction to alcohol. However, the same principles apply to any klesha at all.
For example, trauma can leave traces in the mind that result in kleshas of aversion and fear, or feelings of insecurity stemming from childhood can leave traces that result in the klesha of asmitaa, or “I am”-ness rearing its head in the form of arrogance or pride.
In last week’s example, the Yogi was already aware of their addiction to alcohol, and so knew which kleshas needed to be addressed. However, most kleshas are not known, as our friend P brings up below:
P: In the example of alcohol addiction, it seems pretty obvious. If I was once addicted to alcohol, I would remember that, and I can easily follow my own journey as the addiction weakens. But what about kleshas that are so subtle, that I don’t even know if they’re there? How can I find out what I should be focusing on?
Jogi: This is a great question. Most of our kleshas are so subtle that we don’t know that they are there. The first step, then, is to bring awareness to them. This can be done in two ways - by momentarily letting go of the aalambanaa and carefully watching the apparently “silent” mind, or by contemplating the vitarkaa.
Before jumping into the methods, note that the method being discussed here is only applicable for kleshas that are in the tanu, or weak state. If the kleshas are stronger than this, this method can lead to further mental agitation.
If you are not sure, and would like to try anyway, the Brahmavihaaras (aka the Four Attitudes) good safety mechanism. If strong feelings arise, quickly apply the appropriate Brahmavihaara to calm the mind. If you are not familiar with the Brahmavihaaras, you can review the article here.
Momentarily letting go of the aalambanaa
When we walk into a dark room, or suddenly turn all the lights off, it takes a few moments for our eyes to adjust. At first, everything appears completely dark. After a little while, we are able to make out rough shapes, and eventually, we are able to see far more.
This principle also holds true for the mind.
When the mind goes into Dhyaan, it feels as though attention is automatically and effortlessly “sticking” to the aalambanaa. Distracting thoughts are no longer arising, and the entire weight of attention is on the breath, the mantra, or whatever you are using for your support.
At this point, gently let go of the aalambanaa.
You will experience what feels like a deep and peaceful silence. It can be tempting to rest here, and feel like you have achieved the goal.
However, if you wait for a little while, and watch this “silence” carefully, you will start to notice extremely subtle mental movements. Watch these movements without adding to them, and see if you can discern their component vrittis and kleshas. This will likely take some practice, and may not happen on the first try.
Eventually, you will be able to more clearly discern these extremely subtle thoughts, and the tanu kleshas colouring them.
Just like the eyes adjust to darkness, attention eventually adjusts to this mental silence.
This method is a way of providing space for otherwise suppressed or weak klishta-vrittis to surface. Once you know what they are, you can apply Dhyaan to them, one at a time in the moment, or by taking notes and bringing up these vrittis at a later time as discussed above.
P: How do I select the klishta-vritti to apply Dhyaan to first?
Jogi: The mind will automatically be drawn to the strongest kleshas. You don’t need to apply any additional mental effort or analysis. It will happen by itself. Start with whatever comes up first, and repeat the process. Afterwards, take notes of what is coming up for you so that you can intentionally bring up the vrittis to test your progress and weaken them further.
Over time, the silence that arises upon releasing the aalambanaa will start to feel deeper and more peaceful. At this point, klishta-vrittis will need to be intentionally cultivated, as above, with the buddhi.
At some point, however, you will find that these kleshas have become weak, and it feels like the job is done. Don’t be fooled! There are likely still more kleshas to be uncovered, and this can be tested by doing some analysis into our dreams and the vitarkaa.
Contemplating our dreams
स्वप्नज्ञानालंबनं … तदाकारं योगिनश्र्चित्तं स्थितिपादं लभत इति॥SvapnaGyaanAalambanam … tadAakaaram yoginashChittam sthitiPaadam labhata iti[By making] the knowledge of dreams … the support (ie. object of study), the shape of the Yogi’s mind becomes known, and steadiness [of mind] can be obtained.
- Vyasabhashyam on Yoga Sutra 1.38
Dreams are a manifestation of the vrittis and kleshas from our waking experience, in the form of a mixture between imagination and memory.2
Often these vrittis and kleshas may not be apparent in our waking experience but manifest themselves clearly during dreams. For example, you may dream about violence despite being externally loving and kind in your day-to-day life, or you may dream about having won the lottery despite never having previously purchased or even consciously thought about purchasing a lottery ticket as far as you can consciously remember. However, these dreams provide a valuable window into the mind.
In this way, remembering your dreams can help to uncover subtle kleshas that would have otherwise been difficult to access during waking life.
Using the example of the dream of winning the lottery, you may actively cultivate the memory of the dream, and pay close attention to how it makes you feel. What parts of the dream activate kleshas?
Perhaps you notice that the part of the dream where you are about to find out the news activates a sense of great anxiety. This is an indicator of a latent klesha of asmitaa and raag towards the vritti of money.
To validate this, closely watch your mind when dealing with money in your waking life. Do you notice the klesha activate on a subtle level? If so, you can cultivate vrittis of money during your seated practice, and apply Dhyaan to weaken the kleshas as previously discussed. If not, go over the dream again, and notice if there is something else that activates a klesha. Take notes to find patterns!
Contemplating the vitarkaa
As a brief recap, vitarkaa (pronounced vih-turk-aah, the plural of vitarka, pronounced vih-turh-uh) are thoughts that arise which are contrary to the Yamas and Niyamas. Some examples are thoughts about violence, untruth, discontent, and clinging. A full list is in the image below:
To make this clear, let us take the example of harming/hurting. This vitarka is contrary to the first Yama - ahimsa, or non-violence. Violence can be gross, such as thoughts about killing or physically hurting other beings, or more subtle, such as an argumentative thought wherein you think “I am right.” For more on the subtleties of violence in Yoga, you can take a look at the article here:
When the kleshas are strong, vitarkaa can erupt into action. For example, a strong feeling of hatred towards someone can result in physically harming them, getting someone else to harm them for you, or allowing them to be harmed (in decreasing order of subtlety).
When the kleshas are weaker, vitarkaa can erupt into words. For example, the same feeling of hatred towards someone can result in you saying hurtful things to them, getting someone else to say hurtful words to them, or allowing hurtful words to be said about them (again, in decreasing order of subtlety).
If the kleshas are even more subtle, vitarkaa can erupt into bubbling thought patterns.3
In the case of vitarkaa erupting into actions and words, the kleshas need to be dealt with at a more gross level using the foundational practices (eka-tattva-abhyaas, the Brahmavihaaras, the six stabilizing techniques), Kriya Yoga, and Pratipakshabhaavanaa. However, when they are subtle enough to only come up in thought, Dhyaan becomes an appropriate method to counteract them (although even here the preliminary methods are extremely effective).
P: Ok, I get what a vitarka is, but how do I use this framework to uncover subtle klishta-vrittis?
It is here that your notes, in particular notes of keeping track of the Yamas and Niyamas, become extremely helpful.
Prior to sitting down for your practice, look through your notes, or try to recall as honestly as you can, which Yama or Niyama is the most difficult for you. Contemplate the ways in which you tend to violate the Yama or Niyama, and what triggers it for you. Notice how the vitarkaa arise in your relationships with others. Are there things which others say or do that “trigger” these thoughts? Even though it may seem like the actions of others are the cause, ultimately the triggers are within your mind. Remember, the three triggers are lobha (greed), krodha (anger), and moha (delusion).
At this stage, it is important to look for obvious tendencies - things that happen frequently - and then move to one-off occurrences over time once these more obvious tendencies have been weakened.
Now, contemplate the kleshas that give rise to these tendencies, and the vrittis that tend to trigger the klesha.
Take note of these vrittis. Then, when you sit for meditation, use the same technique of intentionally cultivating the vritti, and apply Dhyaan to the kleshas. Over time, the kleshas will weaken. You can even keep track of your progress by using the Yamas and Niyamas.
To make this process clear, let us use an example:
Before sitting for your practice, you review your notes from keeping track of the Yamas and Niyamas, and how you did each day. You notice that you consistently have a hard time with santosh, or contentment. Since this is a subtle klesha, you are able to stop yourself before actually acting on your discontentment, or speaking about it, but the thoughts arise in your mind regularly enough for you to write it down in your notes.
You reflect on this for a moment to find the trigger. After some thought, you realize that you tend to violate this Niyama due to lobha, or greed. You aren’t a greedy person, but subtle feelings of greed arise in your mind from time to time.
Looking through your notes, and your memory, you find that these subtle feelings of greed tend to arise when you hear someone else speaking about how well other people are doing, and a subtle feeling of jealousy leads to a subtle feeling of greed, which then leads to thoughts of discontentment with your life in the present moment. These thoughts, of course, exacerbate your own suffering, but you usually don’t realise this in the moment because the mind becomes so scattered, and so you have a tendency to indulge the thought, adding to it with additional memories and imaginations of wealth, status, and power.
You then break down jealousy into its component vrittis and kleshas, write it down, and sit for your daily Yoga practice in your Aasana. You practice some Praanaayaam, then withdraw your senses using Pratyaahaar, and bring your mind to the breath, your regular aalambanaa.
The mind wanders, and you return it to the breath, as is your regular practice.
Eventually, the mind sticks to the breath, and you have entered a state of Dhyaan. Allow the state to remain as it is for a few breaths, relaxing into it.
Then, when you are ready, release the aalambanaa, and start to cultivate the feeling of jealousy that triggers the violation of santosh.
You do this by remembering (smriti) the last time that someone said something about how well someone else is doing. Perhaps it was your significant other, talking about how well their good friend is doing. How they are making a lot of money, or buying a lot of things, or whatever it is that you deem to be success.
You allow the sensation of jealousy to arise.
At this point, you may feel an automatic tendency to “block” the jealousy or otherwise suppress it. Notice this feeling, and the associated kleshas. Watch how the mind dances with the feeling of jealousy, with curiosity, as though you are seeing something amazing for the first time.
You notice that the vritti is a vikalp-vritti (ie. imagination vritti), and that it is coloured with the klesha of raag (ie. attraction).
You then “lean in” to this vritti. This doesn’t mean that you start to analyse the vritti and its causes, or add to it with additional related thoughts. Rather, you lean in to the vritti itself, as it is, with a curiosity. You “feel” it without trying to “discern” it.
To use an analogy, it is less like looking at a clock to see the time, and more like looking at a clock to appreciate the beauty of its inner workings, and how these inner workings manifest themselves as the ticking hands.
After some observation, the klesha becomes less intense, and then disappears, like an ebbing wave.
At this point, return the mind to the breath.
With Dhyaan, by watching the thoughts carefully, with curiosity and openness, and allowing yourself to feel whatever is coming up, the kleshas start to weaken. Then, when they come up again (when, not if), they will be weaker. The same process can then be repeated until the thoughts remain only in seed form.
At this point, the next limb of Yoga, Samaadhi becomes the finer tool to burn the seeds so that they never sprout again.
Until next time:
Take notes on what comes up in the mind when you release the aalambanaa during your regular practice. Notice if there are any similarities with your dreams and the notes from when you keep track of the Yamas and Niyamas.
If you feel comfortable, try one of the three methods above to uncover kleshas that were previously unknown to you.
If you don’t feel comfortable yet, then continue your practice of Kriya Yoga, and the four Brahmavihaaras to weaken the kleshas further.
Next time: “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me.”
Although Carl Jung is not actually known to have said this, and while the point made by the original quote is still a valuable one, the misattributed quote makes the current point better than the original. For reference, the original quote is as follows:
“The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate. That is to say, when the individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner opposite, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposing halves."
~ Carl Jung, Aion, Christ: A Symbol of the Self
Specifically, in Yoga Psychology, dreams are essentially memories (aka smriti) of all types of vrittis - pramaan, viparyay, vikalp, nidra, and smriti itself - when the mind transforms itself completely into the memory. This is as opposed to waking memory when the mind contains a combination of different types of vrittis at once, and is not entirely taken up by memory alone.
Here, the vitarka itself is a combination of klishta-vrittis that gives rise to further klishta-vrittis.
Great analogy with the clock! The Klesha instantly started subsiding or becoming less intense when I leaned into it intentionally, was amazed by it, and then became curious about how it worked. Does this method help in disentangling yourself in a non-judgemental way from the Klesha? It almost seems like the only thing needed was to acknowledge it with full immersion. What is really happening here?