What is a Vasana? | Steve Beckow

By Steve Beckow, January 26, 2021

(Golden Age of Gaia)

Alice in Wonderland is all about vasanas

As a result of working on a book on vasanas or core issues, I’ve arrived at a composite definition of a vasana. Here it is.

“Vasana” is a term derived from Advaita Vedanta or Non-Dualism. It refers to the karmic seeds of future actions.

I’ve heard vasanas be called records, upsets, resentments, scripts, numbers, old baggage, unfinished business, etc.

Under one name or another, they’re known to most, if not all, psychologists and spiritual teachers.

So what is a vasana?

I consider a vasana to be an archaic and troublesome behavior pattern formed in early-childhood, originating in an earlier, similar traumatic incident.

It comes complete with conclusions, decisions, and reactions.

It persists through time like a sleeping volcano, until triggered by something in the present which in some way resembles the original incident in the past.

It presents itself as an interruption in well-being which we call an upset and which we usually project onto other people (“eg., “you made me mad”).

It exists as a disturbing, disruptive irritation or wave in the mind, preventing the stillness and clarity that’s usually considered a prerequisite for enlightenment.

(I consider our vasanas and their resulting habitual behavior patterns to be the chief obstacles to our enlightenment.)

It produces residue such as Constant Comment, an inner critical voice; a lack of self-worth; and residual habits, which exist independently of the vasana, disempowering the individual and keeping them playing small.

It has very little to do with the present situation and much more to do with our failure to complete our experience of the original incident.

Vasanas are not completely removed until a level of enlightenment called Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi, a full and permanent heart opening. This is moksha, mukti, or liberation from the reincarnational cycle of the Third Dimension. This marks our entry into the Fifth Dimension.

References

“Experiencing, Re-Experiencing – It Feels the Same!” February 13, 2013, at
https://goldenageofgaia.com/2013/02/13/experiencing-re-experiencing-it-feels-the-same/


“The Fundamental Reorientation that Sourcing a Vasana Involves,” October 2, 2011, at https://goldenageofgaia.com/2011/10/02/the-fundamental-reorientation-that-sourcing-a-vasana-involves/.

“How to Handle Unwanted Feelings: The Upset Clearing Process,” December 29, 2018, at https://goldenageofgaia.com/2018/12/29/how-to-handle-unwanted-feelings-the-upset-clearing-process-2/.

“A Time for Clearing,” April 3, 2013, at https://goldenageofgaia.com/spirituality/on-processing-vasanas/a-time-for-clearing/.

“Vasanas and This Work,” June 25, 2010, at https://goldenageofgaia.com/2010/06/25/vasanas-and-this-work/.