Avidya is the root cause of sorrow. This affliction is the origin of all other afflictions. All movements of intellect (Buddhi) is considered to be the originators of the affliction called Avidya.

Avidya is:

• To consider the pleasures of extremely unhappy events as pleasant.
• To consider the impurities like violence, crime, deceit and sin etc. to be pure.
• Considering the impermanent world as eternal.
• Considering an impure body consisting of cough, bile, blood, faeces and urine to be most pure.
• Holding on to the past.
• To make an impression about oneself that they are a certain way.

If the seeker wants to avoid the kleshas or sorrow (Avidya), he has to control all fluctuations of the mind. Without the restraint and control of the mind, a seeker can never achieve success in yoga practice. By doing Kriya yoga (to bear the conflicts like happiness-sadness, honour-disgrace and profit-loss etc., and study of salvation texts, dedicate all your work to your Guru without desiring any results), we can weaken Avidya.

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