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Klishta and Aklishta Vritti

A discourse on the influence of sensory perception on mental states and spiritual practice.

"Vision, sound, and smell—these three are very difficult to control."

"Hear, give the judgment, and finish. Don't carry it with you for so long."

The speaker analyzes how the three primary organs of perception—sight, sound, and smell—generate either disturbed (kliṣṭa) or non-disturbed (akliṣṭa) mental fluctuations (vṛttis). Using examples like seeing a beautiful flower or a tiger, hearing a pleasing or disturbing noise, and encountering good or bad smells, the talk explores the paradoxical nature of these experiences: pleasant ones can create attachment, while frightening or unpleasant ones can foster renunciation (vairāgya) and alertness. The conclusion emphasizes the challenging practice of witnessing these vṛttis and mastering one's thoughts without prolonged identification.

Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Summer seminar

We were speaking about vṛttis—kliṣṭa and akliṣṭa vṛttis. Kliṣṭa vṛttis are the disturbing factors. We spoke about three Jñāna Indriyas (organs of perception) which have a very intensive influence on our vṛttis. First, through vision—our eyes. Whatever we see, it is natural that we give judgment, we think about it, we know what it is, but still we are thinking about it. This can be kliṣṭa and akliṣṭa; this can be good or bad. If it is good, it supports you. If it is restless, it will not support you; it will not give you calmness. Let's say you are coming somewhere and there is a very nice bush full of blood gems, with a beautiful smell and very nice appearance. You come here; your eyes are pleased to see, your nose is pleased to smell. This creates in you harmonious thoughts. But at the same time, we should know that these blood gems are temporary; this smell will be temporary. When it is gone, then you will be unhappy. So it depends on what we see and how we judge that. But you can say, "Well, next season they will be again, then it's okay." So is this a kliṣṭa or akliṣṭa? It means beautiful thoughts, harmonious thoughts, good thoughts, supporting your sādhanā, creating within you happiness. Now, a kliṣṭa vṛtti: suppose you walk and suddenly you see a wild tiger sitting there. Now, which kind of vṛttis will awake in you? What will happen? This vṛtti will disbalance your entire physical feeling and psychic mood. The tiger was nice enough; he excused you and stood up and disappeared in the forest. But this thought remains in you all the time, for many, many years, and will create fear. So this is a kliṣṭa, a disturbing one. Similarly, sound. There are different kinds of sounds which you like to hear, which are harmonious. Or you are waiting for someone's call and you hear the voice; you are very happy. But there are different kinds of disturbing sounds, and you are not happy. You are sleeping at midnight; your neighbor begins to work in the bathroom, fixing the tiles or boring. This sound is disturbing you. So here, both kinds of thoughts and sounds are not temporary but disruptive. So what to do? Try to protect yourself as much as you can. And let those sounds come which support your spiritual development or your vairāgya. When you see a beautiful bush with nice flowers and smell, it creates in you rāga, moha, or attachment. It creates the thought that you are bound again more to this visible world, the material world. That will push you again and again back. So in this way, is this a kliṣṭa or akliṣṭa? The tiger immediately created in you fear, and you wouldn't like to see or meet the tiger like this again. You will avoid it, and that will support you in being careful, and your vairāgya develops because you want to renounce. Without renouncement, your sādhanā cannot be fulfilled. Third, smell. Good smells or bad smells. Good smells, you like them; you feel happy, relaxed, comfortable, a feeling of freshness, calm. And some bad smells make you ill. They disturb your whole inner system. Now, which is a bad smell? It is a kliṣṭa vṛtti. Which is a good smell? Akliṣṭa. But now with this good smell, you became attached to it. Always you would like to have this smell, so it's an obstacle for your progress. The bad smell always makes you alert to avoid such a place or such smells; that makes you careful, alert, and creates renouncing feelings. Now, consider both. If you cannot smell anything, then you are completely free and neutral. That bad smell, if someone puts it on your hand, it doesn't matter; you don't smell it. Or a good smell, perfume put on your hand, but you don't smell anything. So how in our consciousness the information is given creates the vṛtti. So vision, sound, and smell—these three are very difficult to control. Eating, the sense of taste, is okay. As long as you haven't tasted, you don't know and you have no feelings, and you eat; this you can avoid easily. But smell, sound ... let's say that you can't hear anything now; it doesn't matter. Even if people are making noise, the neighbor is working all night, for you it doesn't matter. In Prague I was once with someone who had hearing machines. We had a program, but he went to sleep earlier. He forgot to take the key out from the door; he was locked inside. And he took his machine away to sleep. You cannot believe, even we were knocking on the window so loud—no sign. So for him, it doesn't matter if you are boring or plumbing or doing anything. Finally, we informed the neighbor; he came with a big ladder. That couldn't help either. We were knocking directly in the room where he was sleeping; then we had to break the glass door to go in and open it. So it is that when you are detached, then it has no influence on you, whether it is like this or not. So kliṣṭa and akliṣṭa vṛttis—also, there is the evidence, or we are pramāṇa, meaning the witness. Those are the right words. How can we gaze and create the vṛttis? It is said: there was no rain at all here, and a flood came. What can be? Somewhere it was raining, and that's why the flood. We see somewhere smoke, but we don't see the fire, so we will gaze: yes, there must be some fire; without fire there is no smoke. So without any reasons within us or outside, it will not disturb us, or it can't disturb us. So Patañjali—what he is trying to say is: you must read your mind. Now, mind has many definitions, but here it means: master your thoughts. How to master the thoughts? This is not very easy. And of course, if it were easy, then Patañjali would not speak about it. And so, it's difficult. Now, how will the wise person do it? Hear, give the judgment, and finish. Don't carry it with you for so long. Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Summer seminar

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt, what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

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