Stress Academy Presents:

Web Series – The Story of Stress

Part 1 – Understanding Stress

Episode 19 – Causes of Stress – Part B

In the previous video, we summarized the two of the primary intrinsic pillars causing stress, wrong knowledge and wrong beliefs. Now let’s discuss the third pillar, “our passions”. These passions can be intentional or they can also result from negligence (Pramad).

As discussed in video 12, passions are the unnatural states of consciousness and thus are direct causes of stress. All of these passions (known as Kashayas) can be divided into two main categories – Aversion (Dwesh) and Attachment (Raag). The passions such as Anger (Krodh), Ego (Maan), Sorrow (Shok), Fear (Bhay), Disaffection (Arati) and Disgust (Jugupsa) fall under the category of Aversions (Dwesh). Based on personal experience, most of us can easily realize that these unpleasant emotions are indeed forms of stress. Other passions such as Deceit (Maya), Greed (Lobh), Affection (Rati), Laughter (Hasya) and sex-passions (Stri-Purush-Napunsak Ved) fall under the category of Attachment (Raag). If not addressed properly, these passions can intensify and eventually cause serious mental health related issues. 

Now, let’s discuss how these passions can manifest in various forms. Uncontained and intense passions can manifest in the form of addictive, violent and unethical behaviors. Thus, we must contain these behaviors to come out of a destructive cycle of stress. These behaviors can be classified as following:

1. Serious Addictions – related to Alcohol, Tobacco, other harmful addictive substances as well as highly risky and irrational behaviors such as gambling, betting etc.
2. Violent, Unethical and Immoral Behaviors – such as intentionally killing or hurting other living beings, habitual lying & stealing, indulging in extramarital relationships and limitless materialistic desires.

These behaviors ruin a person by creating serious problems across physical, emotional, social, financial and even legal matters.

Uncontained passions can also lead to some lifestyle and attitude related issues which can be precursors to persistent stress. If not addressed, these issues could possibly lead to serious mental health diseases. Let us mention a few examples of such behavior:

1. Irrational goals & unbalanced priorities
2. Irrational decision making
3. Inappropriate manners of speech
4. Unhealthy lifestyle
5. Unresolved conflicts
6. Negative thinking
7. Behavior driven by Fear of failure
8. Inferiority complex
9. Following irrational ideals and idols

We will discuss each of these issues in more detail in future videos.

In video 16, we learned that passions can also manifest unintentionally due to negligence in actions of mind, body and speech. Let us now look at behaviors that may manifest from unintentional passions. Here, we are going to discuss five main types of negligence:

GRAPHICS NOTE – Please show each of the following elements in the diagram shown on the next page as they are introduced in the section below.

1. Negligence during motion refers to not being careful in protecting ourselves and other living beings while moving, walking and driving. For example, texting and driving can result in accidents and can have grave physical, mental and legal consequences for ourselves and others.
2. Negligence of speech refers to lying, or  speaking the truth in a harsh manner that harms others. For example, inappropriate speech or usage of social media can lead to incitement of conflicts.
3. Negligence of consumption and diet refers to our lifestyle & dietary choices, timings and manners without consideration for its consequences to ourselves and others. For example, making inappropriate dietary choices and eating at the wrong times can have significant repercussions on our health and other people’s life. Similarly, not being diligent about animal cruelty and environmental impact while consuming goods and equipments are forms of negative passions.
4. Negligence while operating refers to negligence in following the best practices to ensure safety for ourselves and other living beings while utilizing any equipment or instrument. For example, despite having the right knowledge, not following the right safety precautions or applying diligence while dealing with electrical equipment can lead to serious accidents.
5. Negligence in waste disposal refers to not being careful in disposing of waste products which can result in health, safety and environmental hazards for everyone including ourselves. While this may not seem like something affecting us directly at the time of performing action, it is indeed creating a form of potential stress for everyone including ourselves.

More details on these types of negligence will be provided in future videos.

Acharya Umaswami described ways to avoid these five types of unintentional passions in the form of carefulness (Samiti) in his most famous treatise Tattvartha Sutra in the 2nd century C.E. based on Tirthankar Mahavir’s teachings.

Let’s summarize all causes of stress here once again:

We hope that understanding the causes of stress in detail will help you become more aware about your own knowledge, beliefs, emotions, behavior, lifestyle and negligence during your daily routine. Based on the knowledge achieved thus far, we will identify and address ways to resolve these causes of stress in future videos.

If you like the video, don’t forget to like, comment and subscribe.