Five Kleshas

The monastery has commissioned Suresh Muthukulam of Kerala, India, to paint ten works of art for a book we plan to publish next year. It is Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami's own commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. We thought you would enjoy seeing them now and then as they come in. This one is a blissful yogi on a flying carpet hovering above Siva's Mount Kailas in radiant blessedness. His carpet is held up by a gust of wind created by Vayu, Lord of the Wind.

On either side of Mount Kailash are five icy peaks, representing the five obstacles to meditation and spiritual progress. Good job, Suresh.

Vayu rides on a two-horned deer.

These are the five kleshas represented by the Himalayan peaks. A yogi sits in meditation. One of his main goals is to overcome five barriers to higher consciousness. Left to right, he faces: asmita (egoity), raga (attraction), avidya (ignorance), dvesha (repulsion), and abhinivesha (fear of death).

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