The five kleshas—ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion, and fear of death—are the underlying patterns that create and perpetuate protective parts.
Patanjali identifies five kleshas (afflictions or obstructions) that cloud consciousness and generate suffering: avidya (ignorance), asmita (egoism or false identity), raga (attachment), dvesha (aversion), and abhinivesha (fear of annihilation). These are not moral failings but fundamental misperceptions of reality that generate reactivity and fragmentation. Each of these kleshas maps onto the archetypal patterns within internal families: a protective part may be rooted in avidya (fundamental misunderstanding of safety), asmita (over-identification with one role), raga (desperate clinging to a past way of being), dvesha (fierce rejection of unacceptable experiences), or abhinivesha (terror of non-existence or dissolution). By understanding kleshas, practitioners recognize that their parts are not malfunctioning but operating from these deep, conditioned patterns. This recognition dissolves blame and opens compassion. Parts work then becomes the process of gently illuminating these hidden assumptions, updating them in light of current reality, and freeing the parts from their burden of protecting against threats that no longer exist.
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