Yoga Sutras 2.8

2.8: Duhkha anusayi dveshah, Aversion is that which follows identification with painful experiences.

This principle is not usually addressed in western philosophy or if it is it is mentioned in the context that doing what is right is not always the easiest thing to do. Aversion and the previous klesa, attraction, cannot really be separated. First of all I must return to the first klesa ignorance which is the root of the other four. Ignorance of the true nature of the Self (bliss) gives birth to egoism, attachment and aversion. Without the experience of inner joy there is a search outwardly for fullness which includes avoiding pain. Aversion just like attachment is falsely attaching too much credit to the outer experience but when that's all we've got to draw from it's easy to fall prey to this pattern. In the previous blog I discussed how seeking pleasure through the outer without fullfillment from inside leaves us feeling empty. Likewise avoiding any kind of painful experience doesn't stop suffering but if anything increases it. Attachment and aversion are opposite sides to the same coin and the mechanics of how they work are virtually the same. For example having an overly strong aversion is similar to having an overly strong attachment to something that we associate as pleasurable. For example hating something or someone is just like being obsessed with something or someone. According to sutra 1.16 supreme nonattachment is due to realization of the Purusha (inner Self). The way to get out of the pattern of clinging to joy and avoiding painful outer experiences is to dispel the ignorance that is the first klesa. As we will see in sutra 2.27 this process comes in stages. When talking about the klesas intellectually it makes it all sound so black and white. When we start the practice of yoga there is an awakening to this process of suffering. We are starting to get glimpses of that ananda (bliss) that fills us up like nothing from the outside. The attachments and aversions start to become less and less. In yogic terminology we raise our level of attachment from tamas to rajas and ultimately sattva (the three gunas, dullness, activity and lightness) until we are able to function from a level of complete unity with the Self.