AVIDYA – SEE INTO THE NATURE OF REALITY
According to the ancient philosophy of Yoga, there are 5 afflictions of the mind, called the kleshas, that lead to and keep us in a cycle of suffering. The kleshas act like a veil, clouding our vision and perception of the world around us. Beneath this veil we’ve created a strong sense of self (asmita), a result in every moment we’ve ever lived. We become so self-assured that our individual thoughts, beliefs, values, religion, culture, and behaviours are considered supreme to another. The kleshas are a thick curtain of illusion that smothers the essence of who we are beneath these constructs, holding us back from the remembrance of our connection to one another, and to our pure and divine nature.
Avidya (ignorance) - the inability to see things as they truly are
We are natured and nurtured into specific ideas, beliefs, values and expectations that condition us into adults that think and believe in these systems, borrowed from our parents and the life we’re born into. Psychology recognises the importance of the first 7 years of life as a deeply impressionable time. Every single moment we experience in life is buried in the cellular and energetic memory bank of our Being. Whilst we may not have conscious recall of events from when we were a young, nothing is forgotten. In the first seven years of life, every moment, no matter how pleasant or unpleasant, has shaped our internal memory bank and created belief systems that, as adults, we’re calling on to interact with the world. These subconscious beliefs create the veil I am speaking of. We’re constantly looking at the world through a lens, coloured by the ghosts of our past. When we’re unconscious of these operating systems (or what the modern world calls ‘asleep’) we are at the mercy of a thought construct that was created in a moment of joy or fear as a child. 95% of the time we’re in a dance of leaning towards or avoiding any situation, person, job, experience, or moment that will trigger a memory from our childhood when we felt safe, or not.
If we were abandoned, adopted, left to cry too long, lost our parent in the grocery store, had a bad experience with an animal, witnessed abuse, born into intensive care, sustained a severe injury, were physically abused, grew up around drug and alcohol abuse, witnessed parents separating, were teased in the playground and got laughed at, got rejected by our first love at the age of 5, fell down the stairs and felt humiliated, endured frequent hospitalisation and had to be pinned down for medical procedures, told our colouring in wasn’t good enough, were told we were annoying or too loud, shamed, judged, or even loved too much, we created a belief system around that moment and today, we’re living in this adult sized body looking at the world through the eyes of our little Self.
Each moment triggered a response in your nervous system, which caused an emotional response (that was perceived as feeling ‘good/pleasurable’ or ‘bad/painful’), and it left a lasting impression in your brain that said ‘that’s safe’ or ‘that’s not safe’. And then we shaped our life and experiences to attract or avoid these feelings in the body.
It didn’t have to be a big trauma to create a belief system. Perhaps you were always picked last for a team sport. And now, you have a belief system that you’re not athletic, not good at sport, or not good at being part of a team.
Perhaps your father whacked you one for hurting your sister and your mum didn’t protect you from the wrath of a terrified father, and you’ve created a belief system that your dad’s an angry man and your mum’s never there for you.
Perhaps you got lost in a large crowd for a moment, terrified you’d been left there. And now you feel incredibly anxious in large crowds.
Perhaps your experience of family has been one of cohesion, fun, and togetherness, but you realise, through significant trauma in your adult life when the true colours start to shine through, that your perception wasn’t real. That your family is disjointed, unstuck, and in shambles.
“Perhaps you dropped your cup and your sibling screamed “You’re so clumsy!”, and you believed her, for the rest of your life”
Perhaps you were a chubby baby and everyone commented on how cute and fat you were, and you’ve spent your entire adult life dieting to control that little bit of tummy fat that just won’t seem to go away.
Perhaps you were loved so fiercely by your parents that you hold an incredibly high expectation on your friends and family to love you the same, and you feel rejected or unworthy by anyone who doesn’t meet that desire.
Perhaps your dad said something hurtful in a moment of exhaustion, and you created the belief that you’re unworthy of being held and supported, so you’re the mater who never lets anyone help you.
Perhaps you endured a traumatic event as an adult and new systems and beliefs have been formed as a result of the shock, fear or grief as an adult.
Yoga and meditation gifts us an incredible opportunity to peer into the mirror with a curious mind. The practice invites us to look at what colours our lens. It encourages us to see into the nature of reality, and unpack the filters that have dawned a layer of illusion across our heart to protect it. It’s an invitation to look into the nature of why we lean into some things and avoid others. We can look at why we’re constantly anxious or angry, why we blame others for how we feel, or why we avoid conflict. We can look deeply into the nature of self-harming, emotional lability, why we abuse our partner, or attract people who abuse us. Why we lack patience with our children, feel like a failure, or never feel satisfied by our successes. Why we feel unsupported or are terrified of being rejected by a potential lover. Why we avoid seeking help, terrified of feeling like a burden.
To see things as they are, and not through this clouded, coloured and filtered lens that dictates our interaction with the world. It’s not easy, this ‘waking up’. This looking into the mirror strips you bare, and demands full responsibility. It encourages you to forgive what feels unforgivable as you being to see into the nature of others’ realities. To have compassion for the journey’s others are walking. We don’t know what belief systems everyone else is operating from, but we spend a lot of time judging others for their beliefs and actions. As you develop your own Self-awareness, it opens your heart to the understanding that everyone is operating from the belief systems they created to protect them as children, and we’re all just leaning in (Raga) to feel good, or avoiding (Dvesha) life to escape pain.
And in that understanding, we live from a place of truth and deep understanding and reverence.
How do you see into the nature of reality? We slow down. We meditate. We soften the nervous system and feel into the body. From this place of connection and embodiment we can heal. My work as an Energy and Emotional Freedom practitioner, coupled with coaching, intuition, reiki, and meditation offers a safe and loving space to look into the mirror and see, with pristine vision, the nature of reality, so you can free yourself from the hold of the ignorance that clouds your view and your life.