* THE VASANAS *
Six latent tendencies which keep the soul trapped in
Samsara

The term “Vāsanā” is used in Hinduism to refer
to…
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* Latent tendencies
* Impressions
* Habitual modes of thought and action
* Hidden desires, and
* Unconscious propensities
…which are cultivated through our actions, thoughts, and habits in each
lifetime and then accumulate in the storehouse of our Causal Body
(Karana Sharira in Sanskrit), thus compelling the soul (Jiva) to keep
reincarnating.
The Causal Body is known in Hindu scriptures as “the abode of all
vasanas” and is therefore called “Causal” because it is the cause of
continued reincarnation, continued entrapment in the cycle of birth,
death, and rebirth, the “Sea of Suffering” or Samsara.
We need to exhaust or transcend all our current vasanas, ideally without
creating any new ones.
As the light of the truth of the Infinite Oneness of Brahman dawns upon
us and we begin to recognize that “Aham Brahmasmi” – I am Brahman –
and “Tat tvam asi” – You too are That – the vasanas begin to fade away
and the pure effulgence of Supreme Divine Consciousness takes their
place.

There are six specific vasanas and these are described
as…
* Lokavasana – latencies connected with the world.
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This includes such notions as “this is my country,
this is my family, these are the right customs and
traditions,” etc.
The fact of the matter is that in our Real Self, our
True Self, our essential nature as pure spirit or
Atman, we have no specific country of our own,
no specific family of our own, for we are the ALL,
the Divine Allness Itself, and in this awareness the
rules, regulations, and nature of national customs,
traditions, and so forth are utterly inconsequential
and irrelevant.
You are not this (idam); you are That (Tat). Do not

Dehavasana – latencies connected
with the body.
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This includes such deep seated notions as “I am
young, I am old, I am this age, physical appearance
and beauty is important, my body is desirable, other
bodies are desirable,” etc.
Your body may indeed be young or old but your body
is not you! You are the Atman, the Supreme Reality,
which is Brahman. Surely you have enough sense to
see and know that you are not the body.
If so, why would you want to go chasing after other
bodies when you know that the physical body is
really nothing more than a very impermanent outer
shell?
You are not this (idam); you are That (Tat). Do not
mistake the not-Self for the Self.

Bhogavasana – latencies connected with
enjoyments.
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This includes such notions as “This is good and I must have it, this is
not good and I don’t want it, I want more and more things to enjoy and
more and more enjoyment,” etc.
Why must you have this particular material item or this particular
experience of the senses?
It is worth absolutely nothing in the whole scheme of things. Prakriti is
Maya; Matter is Illusion.
Krishna tells you in the Bhagavad Gita that the enjoyment of sensual
pleasure is the womb of pain.
You keep on wanting and desiring and craving and lusting for more and
more things to enjoy but your enjoyment of them is always inevitably
short lived.
Why not wake up now from this dream and pursue the only real and
lasting joy?
As for so-called worldly enjoyments, “you should enjoy all things after
giving up the desire for them,” says the Isha Upanishad.
The end of desire is the end of suffering. You are not this (idam); you
are That (Tat). Do not mistake the not-Self for the Self.

Vishayavasana – latencies
connected with the objects of the
senses.
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When unrestrained, unguarded, and uncontrolled, the senses are our
worst enemy and daily become the gateway or entrance through which
desire, lust, ambition, fear, depression, ignorance, and other poisons enter
our mind and soul, eventually resulting in suffering and sorrow for both
ourselves and others.
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We must consciously take authoritative control over ourselves at the start
of each day and do our best to maintain that spiritual self-mastery at all
times.
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There are many things which we must not allow or permit ourselves to see
or look at, to hear or listen to, to touch or feel, and so forth, if we wish to
stand any chance of purifying, refining, elevating, and spiritualizing our
entire being.
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The senses must be mastered and the “worm of sense” must be starved
out until it lies completely dormant and inert, no longer controlling but
controlled by the man or woman who is treading the path to liberation

Viparitavasana – latencies
connected with wrong identity.
This includes such deep rooted notions as “I
am the body, I have such and such a thing, I
do such and such a thing,” etc.
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Self never does anything, nor is
anything ever done to the Self. There is
nothing for It to do, except to BE, and It
“be”…for It alone IS.
 Which part of your being are you identifying
yourself with and as in consciousness?
 You are not this (idam); you are That (Tat).
Do not mistake the not-Self for the Self.
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Bhedavasana – latencies
connected with the sense of
differentiation.
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This includes such notions as “Here is the world, here is this, here is that,
there is one and over there is another,” etc.
Really there is no such thing as “another” or “an other.” All is Brahman.
All is One because the One is All.
Differentiation and relativity is undeniably a currently objective fact but it is
not the real and final nature or truth of things. Remember that glorious and
majestic statement from the Rig Veda, that before this universe came into
being “the ONLY One breathed breathless by Itself; other than IT there
nothing since has been.”
There has never been anything but Brahman. Behind the illusion of everchanging appearance is the One unchanging Reality.
I am That, you are That, all is That, and That is all. That is all there is.
It would be good to always remind ourselves that only the inner is the real
and that all that is outer – which includes everything we can see and sense
around us – is essentially unreal.
There is no separation in the universe. We must come to a true realization
of this. You are not this (idam); you are That (Tat). Do not mistake the notSelf for the Self.

Elimination and Destruction of the
Vasanas
The elimination and destruction of the vasanas is known
as Vasanakshaya. For thousands of years, Hindus have
recited this mantra…
Om Asatoma Satgamaya
Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya
Mrityorma Amritamgamaya
Om Shantih Shantih Shantih
OM. Lead us from the unreal to the Real,
From darkness to Light,
From death to Immortality.
OM. Peace, Peace, Peace.

PREPARED & COMPILED
BY
P.BASKARAN.
MAIL ID:
baski_1960@yahoo.co.in