Kashäya

Kashäya is the name given to the defilements of anger, ego, deceit and greed. What gives rise to Klesha (grief) is Kashäya. Such Kashäya keeps the soul wandering through Sansär (cycle of birth and death).

The key to achieving a higher level of inner bliss is to get rid of all passions (Kashäya). The basic passions are attachment and hatred; we can subdivide them into anger and ego, and deceit and greed. Nobody is free from these; and, unless checked, they build up in the individual, leading him or her to more and more destructive thoughts and behavior. It can be very hard to get rid of these unpleasant passions. It might take lifetimes, and require hard spiritual effort. Even when the individual has controlled them, it is always possible to slip back. The path is still difficult and the individual must be prepared to avoid the most harmful activities: cheating, hurting others’ feelings, killing, lusts for material things, and so on. If one gets rid of all his/her Kashäya completely, he/she will get rid of all Ghäti Karma and attain Keval Jnän.

Kshamä (Forgiveness)
Forgiveness is a very important part of both our religion and daily life. It is an inherent quality of the soul. Forgiveness is the antithesis of anger, which contaminates the soul. To forgive is a most difficult thing to do. Therefore, it is considered a quality of brave people. It is easy to resort to anger. Anger demolishes the very foundation of love, rational thinking, and intelligence. Anger is harmful to our physical, mental, and emotional health. One’s greatness is measured by his/her practice of forgiveness.

Vinay (Humility)
Humility is the external and internal respect towards all living beings. In fact, humility is an inherent virtue of the soul (Ätmä), with other virtues like knowledge, faith, contentment, forgiveness, and so on. Humility is the king of all spiritual characteristics. Humility denotes humbleness, modesty, decency, politeness, courtesy, kindness, reverence, admiration, honor, and respect. Many popular sayings such as "Ego is the source of sin," "One who bows is liked by all," and "Even the ego of King Ravan went to dust," point out that the ego is a vice while humility is a virtue. Ego makes all our fame and great work useless. Without humility (Vinay), the right knowledge, the right faith, and the right conduct cannot be obtained; hence, one cannot improve oneself and cannot achieve liberation.

Saralatä (Straightforwardness)
We have already talked about forgiveness (opposite of anger) and humility (opposite of ego). Now, we will talk about the opposite of deceit. Deceit implies falsehood, cheating, dishonesty, trickery, corruption, bribery and crookedness. The opposite of deceit is Saralatä (straightforwardness). The virtue of being straightforward (candid, forthright, sincere, straight or frank) is the virtue that we sometimes refer to as "simplicity." It entails consistency in the activities of the mind, speech, and body. To make progress, say exactly what is in your mind, and do exactly what you say. Discard negative tendencies such as complexity, crookedness, deception, trickery, and so on. Straightforwardness is the basic virtue of the true self.

Santosh (Contentment)
The state of being content is called contentment. Contentment also means freedom from discontent. To be content means to limit or free one’s own self from requirements and desires. Contentment is a pure state of satisfaction. Contentment is the very basic nature of the Ätmä (soul).

The opposite of contentment is greed. Therefore, becoming greedy is unnatural. Greed is the lust for wanting more. The more you get, the more you want. A greedy person is never satisfied with whatever they have. Other manifestations of greed are selfishness, miserliness, and stinginess.

Greed is due to unawareness that the self and non-self are different. Greed is not restricted to the lust for wealth; one can be greedy for any non-spiritual object, such as the body, beauty, power, fame, name, use, re-use, pleasures for the five senses, etc.

Greediness is a prison; it is bondage. Greed is at the root of all miseries and all sins. Greed is the father of all sins. Because of greed, we become deceitful, egoistic, and angry. A famous Indian saint, Kabir, has said, “Because of passions, anger, and greed, human beings drown without water.”

How long does greed last?

There are four types of greed, and therefore, their lasting is of four types:
· Some greed is very mild, like a color that can be washed away by water. This type of greed takes hours or days to get rid off.
· Some greed is mild, like a color that can be removed by soap and water. This type of greed takes weeks to months to get rid of.
· Some greed is intense, like grease that requires special chemicals to remove. This type of greed takes good amount of time (months to years) to get rid of.
· Some greed is very intense, like permanent dye. This type of greed takes a very long time, even several lifetimes or more to get rid of that.

What Contentment Is
Bhagawän Mahävir said, “A person who is free from delusion (who understands reality) has no misery. A person who is without any longing has no delusion. A person without greed has no longing. A person who does not have possessions has no greed.”

Thus, the absence of greed is contentment. Contentment, of course, does not mean that we should not make honest efforts to earn. We should get rewarded fairly for our efforts. However, we should volunarily limit the amount we want to accumulate.

Contentment really consists of being happy, even when one has less than what can be obtained. One should make efforts to get needed things without feeling discontented. Moreover, even if, after an honest effort, one does not get what is needed due to Karma, they should feel contented. Such a person stays happy. There is a proverb: "A content person is forever happy."

We should make proper use of our wealth, power, name, fame, knowledge, and relationships. We should not become selfish, mean, or stingy. Once we have accumulated up to our limit, we should devote more time to spiritual activities and distribute additional wealth towards worthy causes. Thus, one can be happy if they are contented with whatever they possess.

Ways To Conquer Greediness
Greed is the most difficult of the four passions (anger, ego, deceit and greed) to get rid of. Therefore, first anger, then ego, then deceitfulness are eradicated; then only is greed eradicated. The methods similar to the “Ways To Conquer Anger” apply here. However, conquering greediness is indeed more difficult than conquering anger. The detection of anger is easy; it can be detected by several external signs. However, greed is usually subtle, and not easy to detect inside one’s self.

Be aware that discontent leads to sorrow and misery, and contentment leads to happiness. Contentment is a natural wealth. Wealth in the form of cash, land, houses, cars, and jewels, and other non-material items like power, name, beauty, and fame are transitory. Contentment is the highest happiness. Desires on the other hand are the worst diseases.

Be aware that as long as one has greed, he/she is trapped in this Sansär. A person free of greediness is free from all miseries. The absence of greediness is the only way to liberation.