Inner World of Yoga – Day 24
Inner World of Yoga – Day 24
By Wendy Kolanz
Mind Structure: Vasanas and Samskaras
Part 2
Today we continue with the second structural component of the mind, samskaras.
Samskaras are individual impressions, residues or bio-memories that become stuck in the very fabric of our body/mind. They are the products of sense plane experiences we have in life. They are either positive or negative, form at the very instant the mind is experiencing, can form at any time, and primarily reside in the unconscious or subconscious body/mind. A specific experience leaves a specific samskara. Like vasanas, they too contribute to our personality as they influence our likes, dislikes, and form memories on subconscious, unconscious and sometimes conscious levels. It is also said we can be born with embedded past residues.
Samskaras are essentially incomplete experiences. In other words, we did not stay in complete awareness throughout the duration of a given experience, completely feeling the effects of it, accepting and releasing it. Because it is incompletely processed, it leaves a residue about which we make a decision, causing similar experiences to come back at us repeatedly until we eventually totally re-experience it and finish the process. If we don’t, it keeps coming back. This is how even though we trade say, one marriage or one job for another, thinking we have solved the problem by getting rid of an individual we perceived to be responsible for our problem or issues, we somehow end up back in the same situation with someone else.
The role of negative Samskaras is to be the lesson that keeps on coming until we finally “see” it.
