Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, and Ahankar - 09.01.09

Meditation is the removing of impurities. And these impurities are best summarized in the Bhagavad-Gita, in which they are referred to as: Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, and Ahankar. Kama refers to desire and it is usually specified as sexual desire or lust. Krodha means anger. Lobha is greed. Moha is attachment, “which is another kind of greed, but it’s a holding on to other people” and even the thought of people. Ahankar means “I am the doer—‘I’ the ego. So it is egocentricity; nowadays it would be referred to as narcissism.” And, as Shunyamurti, the director of the Sat Yoga Institute, explains, “all of these are expressions of an underlying issue, which is anxiety.” This anxiety all stems from the understanding, known by the ego but hidden from the conscious mind, that it is an illusion. The only cure for this anxiety, to cleanse these impurities, is the complete surrender to the Supreme Being. Recorded on the afternoon of Tuesday, September 01, 2009.