What does Vasanas mean?
A vasana literally means ‘wishing’ or ‘desiring’, but is used in Advaita in the sense of the sub-conscious or latent tendencies in one’s nature.
Are Vasanas good or bad?
Vasanas can be good or bad: for example, responding with love when someone is in need or, in contrast, responding defensively because a situation triggered a negative memory. Vasana can also mean a desire for or expectation of something or knowledge derived from memory.
What is the difference between samskaras and Vasanas?
The samskaras are from the outside in. The vasanas are from the inside out. They both meet and make the human life experience possible. Naturally, also within our spiritual life.
How do I get rid of Vasanas?
Through the practice of Sama, the aspirant should destroy the Vasanas one by one with the help of Vijnanamaya Kosa (Buddhi). He should crush them as soon as they try to raise their heads on the surface of the mind-lake. He must not allow them to sprout forth. This is Vasana-Tyaga.
How old is Advaita Vedanta?
While its followers find its main tenets already fully expressed in the Upanishads and systematized by the Brahma-sutras (also known as the Vedanta-sutras), it has its historical beginning with the 7th-century-ce thinker Gaudapada, author of the Mandukya-karika, a commentary in verse form on the Mandukya Upanishad.
What is karma and samskara?
Samskara – Karma has a hidden influence. Samskara is often the focus of discussion in Eastern philosophy. Karma sows tendencies (vasna) in the individual’s life, which affect their behavior as well as their vision of themselves and the world, thus dictating their experience of life.
How are samskaras related to desires and fears?
We call these emotionally charged samskaras, Vasanas, the seeds of desire which color all of our perceptions, feelings, thoughts and imagination. Vasanas are behind all attraction, attachment and craving, and pleasure as well as their opposites – hatred, anger, jealousy, fear and suffering.
How can I overcome samskaras?
8 Steps for Breaking Samskaras:
- 1) Sankalpa – Sankalpa loosely translates to ‘intention,’ but it’s much more than that.
- 2) Tapas – Intensity and dedication; tapas is a type of steady self-control.
- 3) Shani – Slowing.
- 4) Vidya – Deep awareness, or seeing very clearly.
- 5) Abhaya – Fearlessness.
- 6) Darshana – Vision.
Does Advaita believe in God?
Advaita rejects the concept of a God who creates, gives laws and demands recognition, praise and obedience.
What is Advaita Vedanta in simple words?
Advaita Vedanta is one of the schools of Hindu Vedantic philosophy and is based on the concept that the higher or true Self is identical to Brahman, the Absolute Reality. In Advaita Vedanta, Jnana yoga is the path of knowledge to moksha, or liberation from the cycle of life, death and rebirth.
What are the 40 samskaras?
Garbhadhana (pregnancy), Pumsavana (rite celebrating the fetus), Simantonnayana (parting of pregnant woman’s hair in 8th month), Jatakarman (rite celebrating the birth), Namakarana (naming the child), Annaprashana (baby’s first feeding of solid food), Choulam (baby’s first haircut, tonsure), and Upanayana (entry into …
What is Garbhadhana Samskara?
Garbhadhana is a composite word of Garbha (womb) and Ādhān (process of receiving), and it literally means receiving pregnancy. It is a private rite of the intent of a couple to have a child. It is a ceremony performed before Nisheka (conception and impregnation).
What is a Vasana in Buddhism?
Vasana is a Sanskrit term that refers to a past impression in the mind that influences behavior. Vasanas can be good or bad: for example, responding with love when someone is in need or, in contrast, responding defensively because a situation triggered a negative memory. In other words, a vasana is the habitual or automatic response to situations.
Why are vasanas so difficult?
Vasanas are obstacles to spiritual growth and happiness. They are obstacles because they are skewed by our past experiences, opinions and desires. They create restlessness in the mind and attachments to the objects of desire — be they material objects, love or success.
What is the meaning of vahana in Sanskrit?
Vāsanā (Sanskrit; Devanagari: वासना) is a behavioural tendency or karmic imprint which influences the present behaviour of a person. It is a technical term in Indian philosophy, particularly Yoga, as well as Buddhist philosophy and Advaita Vedanta.
What is Waite’s Vasana?
A vasana literally means ‘wishing’ or ‘desiring’, but is used in Advaita in the sense of the sub-conscious or latent tendencies in one’s nature. Writing from an Advaita Vedanta perspective, Waite refers to a model offered by Edward de Bono: