While in a session recently, I was reminded of the "Three Malas"  as they were so clearly reflected in what my client was saying. The three malas are a concept I first learned about when I was introduced to Siddha Yoga many years ago. They summarize the source of our self-imposed misery and are compatible with the conclusions I reached as I was creating Attitude Reconstruction. They are the three universal lapses in our understanding that keep us from living our birthright -- in joy, love, and peace. 

According to Kashmir Shaivism, three malas are the core delusions inherent to humans (born of unexpressed emotions, I would add). The malas are so tidy and correlate with the three emotions of sadness, anger, and fear.

The first one, anava mala, is the belief that we are somehow imperfect, incomplete, inadequate and unworthy. This keeps us from knowing our true identity, and is the essence of the four beliefs associated with unexpressed sadness.

Because we don't know the truth about who we are, we feel separate and isolated from others and seek things from the outside to fill our void. This is the second mala, mayiya mala, and the essence of unexpressed anger. We point to other people and things as the source of our problems and lack of satisfaction.

The third delusion is karma mala. We are out for ourselves and strive to control our world and life in an attempt to make things go our way. We go around "doing" rather than "being."

Around and around we go, controlled by these three veils of delusion that stand between ourselves and knowing and living bathed in who we truly are.

So if we want to be happy for as long as we breathe we simply need to embody the thoughts, words, and actions associated with the emotions of joy, love, and peace and the three opposing "unmalas" - the 3 ultimate attitudes of feel worthy, accept other people and situations, and be present and specific. How to do this is straightforwardly laid out on the Attitude Reconstruction Blueprint.