The five root afflictions that Patanjali identifies as the source of suffering, directly mapped to insecure attachment patterns and relationship pain.
Patanjali identifies five kleshas (afflictions) that create all human suffering: avidya (ignorance), asmita (ego), raga (craving), dvesha (aversion), and abhinivesha (fear of death). These operate seamlessly in attachment insecurity. Avidya causes you to misread your partner's behavior through wounded interpretation; asmita fuses your identity with relationship status; raga creates desperate clinging and neediness; dvesha triggers avoidance and withdrawal when intimacy threatens defenses; abhinivesha manifests as existential terror of abandonment. Secure attachment requires recognizing these afflictions as they operate in your patterns. Patanjali's system offers practices to gradually illuminate and dissolve these root causes rather than merely managing attachment behaviors symptomatically. Understanding the kleshas transforms relationship work from trying harder at connection into addressing the foundational ignorance and false beliefs that generate insecure attachment in the first place.
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