Patanjali's five kleshas—ignorance, ego, attachment, aversion, and fear of death—function as root causes of psychological distress, paralleling CBT's focus on core beliefs.
Patanjali identifies five kleshas, or afflictions: avidya (ignorance), asmita (ego/false identity), raga (attachment), dvesha (aversion), and abhinivesha (fear of death). These represent fundamental misperceptions about reality and the self that generate suffering. This ancient psychological model directly parallels modern CBT's identification of core beliefs—deep-seated convictions about self-worth, safety, control, and predictability that maintain emotional disturbance. Ignorance in Patanjali's system means misunderstanding the nature of reality; in CBT terms, this includes distorted thoughts like catastrophizing or personalization. The ego-driven belief in a permanent, separate self creates attachment and aversion, driving the anxious striving that CBT addresses. Rather than merely addressing surface thoughts, understanding the kleshas directs practitioners toward foundational beliefs maintaining suffering. This concept enriches CBT by offering a time-tested taxonomy of deep psychological patterns, suggesting that lasting change requires awareness of root afflictions beyond immediate cognitive distortions, pointing toward schema therapy and deeper cognitive work.
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