The search for small but powerful wisdom continues here at My Daily Thread Podcast, where we take the ancient teachings of the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali and weave them into our modern lives.

Our current focus remains on the kleśas (क्लेशाः)—the mental afflictions that obscure our clarity and peace. While we are meant to move forward in the sutras, there is still more to say about rāga (राग, attachment) and dveṣa (द्वेष, aversion) because these two kleśas are uniquely actionable and relatable in our daily experience.

Some of the other kleśas—avidyā (अविद्या, ignorance), asmitā (अस्मिता, egoism), and abhiniveśa (अभिनिवेशः, fear of death/clinging to life)—can feel more abstract, more philosophical and, at times, harder to integrate into everyday practice. But rāga and dveṣa? These are real, immediate, and constantly shaping our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Understanding them is essential for a fulfilling life.

Even with asmitā, or egoism, we often think of ego only in terms of inflation—pride, arrogance, or self-importance. But ego is like a coin, and on the other side is self-doubt, insecurity, and feelings of unworthiness. The trick isn't to flip the coin from one extreme to the other but rather to balance it on its edge, holding both humility and confidence. Clearly, a difficult task—but an essential one.

With rāga and dveṣa, however, we can see their influence much more immediately—in our cravings, our avoidance patterns, our daily emotional responses.

Edwin Bryant highlights an often-overlooked piece of the puzzle: memory (smṛti, स्मृति). It is our memory that keeps rāga and dveṣa alive.

Memory pulls us into the past—reminding us of pleasure we want to chase and pain we want to avoid. But at the same time, memory also locks us into an unknown future, creating expectations, anxieties, and attachments to outcomes we cannot control.

This is the paradox: rāga and dveṣa bind us to both the past and the future—at the exact same time.

But our real life is unfolding in the present.

We cannot live fully if we are constantly chasing past pleasure or resisting past pain. The work of yoga, then, is to train ourselves to return to the present, to cultivate presence, to recognize when we are being pulled away and gently bring ourselves back.

And how do we do that? Through practice. Through the disciplines of yoga, meditation, breathwork, and self-awareness.

Whatever it takes to return to the present, we must do it. The past has already happened. The future is unknown. But here—right now—is where our life is actually happening.