Major and Minor Avenues of Moh
(Delusion)
I. Gross Avenues (Sthool Moh)
·
Physical Body: Over-attachment to health, youth,
appearance. Moh of wanting to feel presentable
·
Wealth & Possessions: Money, property,
vehicles. Moh in terms of fear of loss, greed to gain.
·
Human interactions & relationships: Friends,
Family & Social Circles. Moh to love and being loved
·
Pleasures & Comfort: Food, sexual
attractions, entertainment, luxuries, sleep. Moh to consume stuff in the
comfort and luxury zone
·
Status & Fame: Craving recognition, power,
praise, influence in society. Moh of the Image
·
Career & Ambition: Position, promotions,
name, success for ego’s sake. Moh of the Ego
·
Habits & Routines: Savouring comforts. Moh
of the Lifestyle
II. Subtle Avenues (Sookshma Moh)
·
Religious Identity: I am “Jain”, “Disciplined”, “Internally
Feel I know more than others, I am better over the others”. Moh of external
identity and Ego trophies
·
Ritual Practices: Moh for rituals without
understanding. Counting fasts, pilgrimages, donations. One angle can be
self-motivation but got to check if I have Moh encapsulated
·
Guru Attachment: Limited to Moh about a person? Cultish
loyalty. The idea is to extract the maximum from the wisdom offered and put to
use for my own growth than getting stuck into the Moh
·
False Humility: Subtle pride hidden under “I am
so humble”. Reality check about Moh of showing-off humbleness. At times, it can/might
be hypocrisy too.
·
Doership Pride: “I did this, I did that, I
funded this…” seeking status / flamboyance through good deeds and creating an
image. Trapped into this Moh?
·
Opinion Attachment: Inflexible views. Missed to
ponder over Anekaant?
·
Misplaced Faith: Since transformation is not
happening, focus on punya, which is ok but take pride in building that Punya
leads to Moh
III. Micro-Avenues (Ati Sūkṣma Moh)
·
Attachment to Emotions: Holding on to sadness,
grudges
·
Attachment to Thoughts: Constant replay of past
or future; inability to rest in the present
·
Subtle Control: Wanting to control people,
surroundings, outcomes, even karma’s flow
·
Fear of Death: Deep-rooted clinging to life and
body identity
·
Craving for Rebirths: Desire for heavenly
rebirths rather than liberation
·
Compulsive Comparison: Subtle envy or pride.
“How am I doing compared to X?”
·
Attachment to Pain: Some hold suffering as
identity. “My grumpy story”
·
Righteousness Trap: “I am right, you are wrong”;
moral arrogance; and if someone tells me “I am wrong”, I become defensive in
the trap.
·
Spiritual Gossip: Talking about other seekers’
faults. “He does this, that, is not pure enough!”
Tool-kit
·
Vivek: To see; not to hate myself, but to shine
light where darkness hides.
·
Vairaagya: To disentangle gently, layer by
layer.
·
Lakṣhya: To remember that “Nothing” is truly mine.
I am the soul, the knower, the witness.
·
Saadhana: Every moment, I can shift: from
grasping to letting go.
This is a great exercise and helps me elevate my experience.
Now, Why do I fall prey to all these Avenues of Moh?
I feel, Literally at every smallest instance of time, I
want to prove my existence to the world; to the people around me. And I
have an immense "Moh" of proving my existence. This existence is non-real,
it is fake, it is transitory. Even if I feel it's real, it is extremely fickle
and not at all in my control.
