Wisdom by Titian
“Yamas contain essential advice for daily/good living. As they offer a map or guidance that allows us to have enhanced emotional and mental wellbeing and a more fulfilling and meaningful life, yamas serve as the GPS for our lives. Practicing the yamas leads to greater happiness and spiritual fulfillment not only for the individual but also to those around him/her.” —Ram RaoAfter a stint in rehab for alcohol and drug abuse, Evelyn Zak’s sponsor took her to a yoga class (you’ll see more of her story in a separate post that will be coming soon). She wasn’t sure about going, but had decided to do whatever was suggested by people she trusted to keep her from relapsing. That first class led her to regular practice, then more intensive studies, and eventually she trained to be a yoga teacher and yoga therapist. Now she’s been alcohol and drug free for 30 years, and she says that although all the branches of yoga were helpful in keeping her sober, the yama ahimsa (non-violence) was just what the doctor ordered. She explains it this way, “If the concept of ahimsa is that to hurt another being is the same as hurting oneself, then it stands to reason that to hurt oneself is to hurt another being. Anyone who has dealt with addiction, either as a patient or a support person, knows that everyone gets hurt at some level.”
These days Evelyn works as a yoga therapist and substance abuse counselor, sharing yogic principles with children, seniors, preachers, Rotary clubs, problem gamblers, large groups of lawyers, marathon runners, people with disabilities, eating disorders, and more. She says:
“If I hadn’t absorbed the concept of ahimsa along the way, I don’t believe any of this would have been possible because I wouldn’t have been in a position to learn and absorb and I wouldn’t have cared enough about anyone else to share what I found to be so personally valuable.”
According to the Yoga Sutras, which defines the eight branches of yoga, the first branch of yoga is the yamas. These are yoga’s guiding principles for how to conduct yourself in all your relationships, within your community, and with the world at large. There are five yamas: non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, and sexual restraint, and non-greed.
Yama means “restraint” in Sanskrit. There are two different ways you can think about these restraints or “great vows.” The first is as a set of rules to follow. From this perspective, adhering to these moral guidelines is as essential for being a yogi as all the other branches of yoga. For example, Gandhi practiced non-violence (ahimsa) through passive resistance in his political work and vegetarianism in his personal life.
The second is as a set of practices that can help you cultivate equanimity by reducing the conflict in your life and within yourself. As Georg Feuerstein says,
“For as long as we pursue a lifestyle that falls short of these moral virtues, our energies are scattered and we continue to harvest the negative repercussions of our actions.”
From this perspective, following these guidelines will reduce the difficulty (or even just the drama) in your life, which decreases your suffering—as well as that of others—and allow you to experience contentment. Imagine a television soap opera for a moment: what if everyone stopped harming each other, lying, stealing, cheating on their partners, or taking more than their share?
It’s really up to you to decide how best to make use of these guidelines. Of course it can feel overwhelming to try to commit to scrupulously following a challenging set of moral principles. So B.K.S. Iyengar recommends that you frame the yamas as “positive” practices that you can cultivate in your life.
“Yama is the cultivation of the positive within us, not merely a suppression of what we consider to be its diabolical opposite. If we consider the nonpractice of yama in this way, we will be doomed, not to encourage the good, but to ricochet between extremes of vice and virtue, which will cause us nothing but pain and which have no beneficial effect on the world. Cultivate the positive, abjure the negative. Little by little, one will arrive.”
Non-Violence (Ahimsa)
Ahimsa is considered the most fundamental yama. It includes non-violence in thought as well as action and covers your relationship to all living things. The negative consequences of violent acts are clear in current events and history as well as personal stories. Over and over we observe one act of violence leading to another and then another. So practicing non-violence in your life helps foster both your own inner peace and peace in your community.
Ahimsa also means “non-harming” so it includes refraining from actions or thoughts that harms another, whether physically, mentally, or emotionally. Practicing non-harming also means refraining harming yourself, as illustrated by Evelyn’s story. And from a positive perspective, practicing non-violence means cultivating compassion for others and kindness toward yourself.
Truthfulness (Satya)
Truthfulness includes practicing honesty in action, speech, and thought. Lying or misleading others is a form of harm because it violates the trust others have in us. And so many of the conflicts between us, including violence, are the result of keeping secrets and then telling lies to cover them up. So like practicing non-violence, practicing truthfulness helps foster both inner peace and reduces conflicts in your relationships. However, because ahimsa is foremost yama, you always need to consider non-harming when you practice truthfulness. Use compassion when you speak and aim to cause the least harm possible, even remaining silent if necessary.
Satya also means “real,” “genuine, “ “honest,” and “virtuous.” One meaning for being “real” is that you see the true nature of realty and that you communicate that honestly, rather than clinging to how you wish the world would be or telling people what they want to hear.
In addition to your conduct with others, practicing truthfulness includes being honest with—and not lying to—yourself.
Non-Stealing (Asteya)
Stealing, of course, means taking things that belong to others, including both material things and ideas (such as taking credit for someone else’s work). Of course, stealing is not just wrong on its own but it is a form of harming. It violates the person you steal from, and leads to other types of harm of many other kinds, including lies, violence, betrayal, and so on, in the attempt to cover up the original crime.
Asteya also means “non-coveting” and “non-desire.” Even if you don’t commit crimes to obtain the objects of your desire, coveting material goods can cause you to overspend, even going into debt, which is not only stressful for you but can be ruinous for your family. Or maybe the desire for material possessions or even just “success” simply means you work at a stressful, unsatisfying job. And in general being in a state of desire for what you don’t have creates a cycle of dissatisfaction, because what you have is never enough and you’re always looking to acquire more. Naturally all these forms of coveting are impediments to your peace of mind.
Practicing asteya means cultivating contentment with what you have and what you don’t have and letting go of these desires.
Sexual Restraint (Brahmacharya)
This is a complex topic for our culture. The original meaning in the Yoga Sutras is “chastity,” which means refraining from sex completely. That’s because the yogic path described in the Yoga Sutras was intended for practitioners who were unmarried and separated from the rest of society. So in modern times, for us ordinary “householders,” we consider brahmacarya to be sexual responsibility. For example, B.K.S. Iyengar says that for him practicing brahmacarya meant being faithful to his wife.
Not practicing sexual restraint is a form of harming. If you are reckless in your sexual conduct, well, we’re back to the soap opera territory with lies, jealousy, pain, and even violence. (I learned this the hard way when I experimented with “free love” back in the 70s.) And, of course, these days we understand the damage that is caused by sexual abuse in all its forms, whether that means sexual harassment or predatory behavior by those in power.
How you interpret sexual responsibility depends on your personal commitments, your religion if you have one, and the culture in which you live. But we think if you put your mind to it, you’ll know how to practice sexual responsibility in your everyday life.
Greedlessness (Aparigraha)
Greedlessness means limiting your possessions to what is truly necessary, and living a life of voluntary simplicity. In yoga philosophy, too many possessions is considered an indulgence that distracts you from spiritual development. And anyone who has known a hoarder understands how having too many possessions sucks up time and energy, and creates fear and anxiety at the thought of losing what has been accumulated. From a positive perspective practicing aparigrapha means cultivating an attitude of generosity toward others, being willing to share both your resources and your time.
Aparigrapha also means “non-possessiveness,” “non-holding,” “non-indulgence,” “non-acquisitiveness.” And an important aspect of non-holding includes not clinging to thoughts and emotions. Sometimes these negative emotions, such as fear, worry, anxiety grief, anger, rage, and jealousy that cloud your judgment and disturb your equanimity. Practicing aparigrapha means letting go of these emotions rather than allowing them to become obsessions.
Other times these are concepts that give us a sense of security, such as the lives we plan for ourselves or the images we have of who we are. When circumstances change, clinging to these concepts prevents you from living in the present. For example, maybe a marriage you once thought would last forever ends in a divorce, years of striving for success in a certain job or profession ends in failure, or someone close to you dies unexpectedly. Or, maybe you’ve always been the strong one, but now you need to turn to others for help. Practicing aparigrapha means letting go of what once gave you a sense of security and opening up to new opportunities and paths that will take you forward.
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