{"id":119542,"date":"2019-02-15T12:12:58","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T17:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/?p=119542\/"},"modified":"2019-02-15T13:09:27","modified_gmt":"2019-02-15T18:09:27","slug":"5-obstacles-keep-us-from-knowing-ourselves-kleshas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/fr\/journal\/5-obstacles-keep-us-from-knowing-ourselves-kleshas\/","title":{"rendered":"The 5 Obstacles that Keep Us From Knowing Ourselves\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Catch Andrea Rice<\/a> teaching at Wanderlust Stratton<\/a> this summer! For tickets and more information, click here<\/a>. Andrea is currently writing a book with Wanderlust Director of Content Lisette Cheresson<\/a>, tentatively titled\u00a0<\/em>Season Alchemy: 52 Weeks of Yoga Wisdom, Practice, and Ritual, to be published in February 2020<\/em>.\u00a0For updates on the project, follow @seasonal_alchemy<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Have you ever faced a challenge from which you thought you’d already healed? If so, you’re in good company. Unending growth is part of the human condition. There will always be more to learn from, struggle with, and eventually release. We are always in some phase of recovery and forgiveness throughout our lives. Yet there are lessons to be gleaned in rising from the ashes. Facing obstacles\u00a0makes us stronger and more resilient each time we find ourselves on the other side. When we can acknowledge the teaching within our pain or discomfort, we can more readily navigate the next challenge from that resolve. And each time we do, we know ourselves on a deeper, more profound level.<\/p>\n

Yoga and meditation practices hone awareness and insight, and illuminate our samskaras<\/em>. Interpreted from Sanskrit, samskaras are understood as the inherited patterns, or scars, we unconsciously repeat much to our detriment and delusion. This karmic loop continues from one lifetime to the next. By noticing our samskaras we may begin to break the cycle.<\/p>\n

Noticing Scars Reveals Obstacles<\/h3>\n

As Patanjali describes in the Yoga Sutras<\/a>, the kleshas<\/em>, our collective obstacles, are the hinderances we must break through to reconnect with the true self. These obstacles keep us from understanding our real nature, as they are mental constructs put forth by societal conditioning\u2014for most of us, immediately following birth. Understanding the five kleshas is key to integrating with who and what we actually are.<\/p>\n

The kleshas are powerful tools for self-study. Each obstacle presents an opportunity to break through the veil of illusion that shrouds the eternal self in darkness. What lies beyond each obstacle is self-awareness, an opportunity to examine how the other obstacles may be operating in tandem with other aspects of the non-self.<\/p>\n

Are the kleshas like a video game\u2014meaning do you have to conquer the boss at the end of every level in order to advance to the next? Will there always be obstacles to navigate yet each time we level up we are faced with yet another test for an even deeper understanding of our truest nature? If it is in our dharma to continue grappling with some aspect of each obstacle, then we can also consider that any new neural pathways we create in this life may very well carry over into the next\u2014which is good news for your next incarnate. If growth is indeed a process unending, understanding how these blocks may continue to show up can at the very least lay the framework for cultivating more acceptance and ease in our lives overall, despite adversity.<\/p>\n

Here are the five obstacles that keep us from knowing who we truly are.<\/p>\n