Today we will look at a philosophy known as Arishadvarga.
In English it translates to six enemies of the mind and these are the inner obstacles that create suffering and can hold us back from reaching our true potential,
Reaching our highest potential and these six enemies are often seen as the root cause of human bondage and these are critical to anyone,
Critical for anyone to understand who is on the path of yoga,
Who is on a path of self-realization or who is on a path of personal growth.
So the term Arishadvarga,
It comes from Sanskrit.
The first part,
Means enemy,
The middle part means six and varga means group.
So these are six enemies or vices that live within the human mind and these vices are kama which translates to desire or lust,
Then you have krodha which is anger,
You have loba which is greed,
You have moha which is delusion or attachment,
You have madha which is pride or arrogance and you have matsarya which is jealousy or envy.
These six enemies,
These six negative tendencies,
They disturb our inner peace,
They cloud our judgment,
They keep us bound in the cycle of suffering and rebirth.
It's what we call in the yogic philosophy or the Hindu philosophy as samsara.
So let's look at each of these six enemies.
So the first one kama which is desire and desire in itself is not wrong.
When it becomes excessive,
When it becomes uncontrolled,
It turns into an obsession,
It turns into lust and it leads us into an insatiable craving for pleasures.
Whether it's material objects,
Whether it's people or whether it's status,
This restlessness,
It keeps the mind agitated.
This is so very true in the world that we are living in today where there's always that focus put on achievement and material things and status and that drive to have more and to have more and to have more.
What yoga teaches us is to practice vairagya or non-attachment and when we practice non-attachment we are able to overcome these uncontrolled desires.
So that was the first one kama which is desire.
The second one is krodha which is anger.
When our desires are not fulfilled,
Anger rises.
When we don't get what we want,
Anger rises.
Krodha,
It clouds the intellect and it leads to impulsive actions that we often regret later.
The bhagavad-gita says that anger leads to delusion which kind of causes loss of memory.
It ruins discrimination and ultimately results in destruction of the self and we can control,
We can put anger in control by practicing pranayama which is breathing or meditation.
These practices can help us to develop patience,
Can help us to develop emotional control.
The next one is lobha which is greed and this is the endless desire to acquire more.
Whether it's wealth,
Whether it's possession,
Whether it's power,
No matter how much we have,
Greed convinces us that it's not enough.
Greed breeds selfishness and exploitation.
Yogic philosophy emphasizes santosha which is contentment.
Contentment as an antidote to greed.
Simply reminding ourselves to be grateful for what we already have.
The fourth one is moha which can be translated to either delusion or attachment and this is the attachment to things,
To people or to ideas based on a very deluded understanding of reality.
It makes us believe that impermanent things will bring us permanent happiness.
It binds us to the material world and it keeps us in ignorance.
It's like we feel that when we buy that car we'll be happy or when we buy that house we'll be happy or when we get married we'll be happy or when we have children we'll be happy or when we have a million dollars in the bank we'll be happy.
So it's the delusion that we believe that impermanent things will bring us permanent happiness.
And in yoga,
The practice of jnana yoga which is the path of knowledge,
It helps us to dispel this illusion by teaching us how to discern what is real and what is not real.
The next one is madha which is pride or arrogance.
Madha arises from ego and excessive pride in one's achievements,
One's wealth,
One's beauty,
One's knowledge.
Madha creates a sense of superiority and because of this superiority we see ourselves as separate from others.
The medicine for pride is humility.
In yogic practice,
Ishwara pradidhana which is surrendering to the divine,
It helps to dissolve the ego.
And the last enemy is matsarya which translates to jealousy or envy.
And matsarya is the inability to tolerate the success or happiness of others.
It takes us into that place of resentment,
That inner turmoil.
Jealousy,
It distracts us from our own path and it blocks our spiritual progress.
In the yogic philosophy practicing mudita which translates to sympathetic joy,
It allows us to genuinely rejoice in the happiness of others and when we are able to genuinely rejoice in the happiness of others it fosters inner peace.
So overcoming adishadvarga,
Overcoming these six enemies of the mind.
And these are very subtle enemies because they reside within us.
We cannot run away from them but what we can do is we can transform them.
And the path of yoga it offers the tools for this transformation.
So firstly we have the yamas and the niyamas which are the ethical foundations of yoga.
Yamas are the restraints that yoga encourages and niyamas are the personal observances that we should try to uphold.
So yamas and niyamas,
These are both model disciplines that guide ethical behavior and personal habits.
Yamas focus on how we interact with the world and niyamas focus on self-discipline and inner growth.
Some examples of yamas,
There is ahimsa which is non-violence,
Avoiding harming others,
Choosing kind words instead of harsh criticism.
Another example of yama is satya which is truthfulness,
Speaking the truth with compassion like being honest at work without hurting colleagues.
And then we have the niyamas which are personal observances.
An example of a niyama is saucha which translates to cleanliness,
Keeping the body and the mind clean.
Another example is santosha which is contentment,
Finding happiness in what you have like appreciating a simple meal rather than always craving luxury.
Then there's dhyana which is meditation and meditation is where the mind becomes still,
Where the mind becomes focused.
Some ways meditation helps us in our daily life is a student who practices meditation to improve their concentration,
A busy professional who uses meditation to manage stress and anxiety or the monk who sits in silence for hours simply observing their thoughts without attachment.
So meditation is another direction that we can go in to keep these enemies in control.
Then there's bhakti yoga and bhakti yoga is about cultivating love,
Cultivating devotion toward the divine or toward a higher power.
In bhakti yoga,
In devotion we are able to dissolve the ego and we are able to foster humility.
And finally there's karma yoga which is the path of selfless action,
Performing actions without expecting rewards and this reduces the ego,
This reduces attachment.
So adhisadvarga,
These are not external force but these are internal tendencies that all of us struggle with,
That every human being struggles with in one form or the other and recognizing them is the first step.
True yogic philosophy,
True sincere practice,
We can overcome these enemies and discover peace,
We can discover freedom,
We can discover the joy that lies in the heart of our true nature.
Thank you for listening.
Love,
Light,
Blessings.
Namaste.
