“Mental activities are called Kliṣṭa when they result
in Duḥkha and Akliṣṭa when they do not.
When the three Guṇa are dominant,
Jīva is troubled and mental activities result in Duḥkha.
When the mind is free from desires, inclined toward discrimination
and seeking truth, mental activities do not result in Duḥkha.
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 5

“There are essentially three causes for fear….
desire, disease and death.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 9

“What the mind desires does not diminish as we age,
only the capacity to realise it.”
– TKV Desikachar

“In the Indian tradition,
stress would be the situation where a person
exhibits the Udvega, attitudes or behaviour
which take over a person and control him.
The origin of the Udvega lies in the Ṣad Ūrmi,
the six enemies.
These six are:
– Kāma: desire
– Krodha: anger
– Lobha: possessiveness, greed
– Moha: darkness;
though not actually dark it is as if darkness exists
because the person is so sure of himself
and his opinions that he is unable to see.
– Mada: arrogance,
the refusal to accept or give in.
– Mātsarya: jealousy,
to resent the success of others
and to be happy at their failures.
These are Āyurveda‘s Mano Roga.
If any one of these six is dominant in a person,
that person is sure to experience Udvega in one form or the other.”
– Yoga Sūtra on Stress – An interview with TKV Desikachar

“The desire to have is pushing us to seek things,
but to seek what sort of things?”
– TKV Desikachar from unedited manuscript for ‘What are We Seeking?’.

Links to Related Posts:

• The pursuit of ‘Yoga happiness’ can be so demanding or intense……
• Trying to hold onto the fleeting presence of awareness can be likened to a bird…
• Yoga Sūtra on Stress – An interview with TKV Desikachar