ADVENTURES IN ADVAITA VEDANTA...

Adventures in Advaita Vedanta, the philosophy and science of spirit. We are one you and I; are you curious why?..


Vaasanas

Hari OM
Story-day is for cultural exploration, puraanas and parables and finding out about leading lights in spiritual philosophy.

If you have been hanging around here for long enough, you will have a fairly clear idea of the term 'vaasana' by now. Let us review it.

This is one of those Sanskrit words which has multiple nuances of meaning. Here are just some of a rather long list;
  •  knowledge derived from memory          
  •  thinking of        
  •  liking        
  •  imagination        
  •  idea        
  •  confidence        
  •  false notion        
  •  fancy        
  •  inclination        
  •  expectation        
  •  notion        
  •  desire        
  •  an impression of anything remaining unconsciously in the mind        
  •  mistake        
  •  a present consciousness of past perceptions        
  •  longing for        
  •  idea        
  •  imagination


It gives quite a good picture of what is involved when we have to 'burn our vaasanas', spiritually speaking. As individuals, most of our daily motivations arise from our vaasanas. It is also the case that in daily living, we frequently reinforce already existing traits as well as adding new ones to the list.


The simplest way to appreciate the influence is to understand them as 'habits'. The aim is to eradicate bad habits and cultivate more positive ones. At more advanced levels, we dig for our original, 'starter vaasana', that which set us upon the seemingly endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth. It is this concept which gave rise to the Biblical rendition, the 'original sin'; becoming aware of the body and succumbing to its demands condemned the human race to bondage within the body. The best way to begin our retransformation to divinity is to follow the masters who have broken the path for us and to read and listen to the great scriptures and histories which provide many examples and much guidance. The ultimate self-help books!