Patanjali's five kleshas (ignorance, ego, attachment, aversion, fear of death) map the psychological architecture of PTSD and provide a framework for systematic healing.
The five kleshas—avidya (ignorance), asmita (ego), raga (attachment), dvesha (aversion), and abhinivesha (fear of death)—form Patanjali's psychological taxonomy of human suffering. These afflictions take specific forms in trauma survivors. Avidya manifests as dissociation from traumatic reality; asmita as fragmented identity; raga as compulsive attachment to safety behaviors and avoidance; dvesha as intense rejection of traumatic memories and triggers; abhinivesha as existential fear and hypervigilance about future danger. Understanding PTSD through the kleshas framework reveals how trauma doesn't just create isolated symptoms but distorts fundamental psychological structures. Rather than pathologizing survivors, Patanjali's model normalizes these responses as exaggerated versions of universal human tendencies. The yoga path systematically addresses each klesha through specific practices: meditation illuminates avidya, witness consciousness dissolves asmita, dispassion releases raga and dvesha, and pranayama calms abhinivesha. This comprehensive mapping enables trauma therapists and survivors to work intelligently with the psychological roots of PTSD.
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