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lifepositive.com 8/15/2003
Yoga is more than just a physical discipline. It is a way
of life—a rich philosophical path. And the yamas (restraints)
and niyamas (observances) are ten good common-sense guidelines
for leading a healthier, happier life for bringing spiritual
awareness into a social context. They are for you to think
about and ponder over with a rational mind, because yoga is
not about mindlessly accepting externally imposed rules—it is
about finding the truth for yourself—and 'connecting' with it.
Yamas:
There are many interpretations
of and opinions about the yamas and niyamas. While the ancient
Indian text, the Bhagavata Purana assigns 12 yogic restraints
the Parashar Smriti, another text, puts forward ten. But the
yamas as described in Patanjali's Yoga Sutra are only five,
which are also known as the great universal vows or the
sarvabhauma maha vratas, because they are not limited by
either class, creed, time or circumstances. They are the
guidelines for how we interact with the outer world, the
social disciplines to guide us in our relationships with
others. These five are:
• Ahimsa (non-violence),
• Satya (truthfulness),
•
Asteya (non-stealing),
• Brahmacharya (celibacy) and
•
Aparigraha (non-covetousness)
According to the Yajnavalkya Samhita, ahimsa or
non-violence is the awareness and practice of non-violence in
thought, speech and action. It advocates the practices of
compassion, love, understanding, patience, self-love, and
worthiness.
Patanjali describes truthfulness as: "To be in harmony with
mind, word and action, to conduct speech and mind according to
truth, to express through speech and to retain it in the
intellect what has been seen, understood or heard." A
perfectly truthful person is he who expresses in his speech
exactly what he thinks in his mind and in the end acts
according to it.
Non-stealing or asteya is the third constituent of the
yamas of Ashtanga Yoga. It upholds forgoing the unauthorized
possession of thought, speech and action. Asteya stands
against covetousness and envy. It advocates the cultivation of
a sense of completeness and self-sufficiency in order to
progress beyond base cravings.
The Vedas, Smritis and Puranas all glorify the fourth
constituent of celibacy. It is believed to be a behavior,
which brings man nearer to the Divine. This yama believes in
avoiding all sensual pleasures, whether mental, vocal or
physical.
The literal meaning of apigraha, the fifth yama, is the
non-accumulation of worldly objects, caused by covetousness
and attachment. The commentator Vyasa says that this last
state of yama is attained when one remains totally detached
from sensual pleasures of all kinds and so effectively
refrains from committing himsa or violence of any sort.
Niyamas:
The niyamas are the
second constituents of Ashtanga Yoga. How we interact with
ourselves, our internal world. The niyamas are about
self-regulation—helping us maintain a positive environment in
which to grow. Their practice harnesses the energy generated
from the cultivation of the earlier yamas. According to sage
Yajnavalkya, there are ten niyamas and the Bhagavad Gita lists
11 constituents. But Patanjali names only five:
• Shaucha or purity,
• Santosha or contentment,
•
Tapa or austerity,
• Swadhyaya or self-education and
•
Ishwar-Pranidhan or meditation on the Divine
Shaucha implies both external as well as internal purity.
In the words of sage Manu, water purifies the body;
truthfulness the mind; true knowledge the intellect and the
soul is purified by knowledge and austerity. It advocates the
practices of intellectual purity, purity of speech and of the
body.
The second niyama is that of contentment, which is
described as not desiring more than what one has earned by his
honest labor. This state of mind is about maintaining
equanimity through all that life offers. Santosha involves the
practice of gratitude and joyfulness—maintaining calm at all
costs. This state of mind does not depend on any external
causes.
Austerity, the third niyama, is described in Yoga
philosophy as power to stand thirst and hunger, cold and heat,
discomforts of place and postures, silent meditation and
ritual fasts. It also maintains that the perfect man is he who
practices both mental as well as physical austerity.
According to the commentator Vyas, self-education or
swadhyaya consists of scriptural studies. The scripture being,
the Vedas and Upanishads together with the recitation of the
Gayatri Mantra and the Om mantra.
Commentators describe Ishwar-Pranidhan, the last of the
niyamas, as the dedication of all our actions, performed
either by intellect, speech or body, to the Divine. The
results of all such actions are by definition, therefore,
dependent upon Divine decision. The mortal mind can simply
aspire to realize the Divine through dedication, purification,
tranquilization and concentration of the mind. This Divine
contemplation spills over to all aspects of the yogi's
life.
The Benefits of Practicing Yamas and
Niyamas:
The yamas and niyamas help in managing
our energy in an integrative manner, complementing our outer
life to our inner development. They help us view ourselves
with compassion and awareness. They help in respecting the
values of this life, in balancing our inner growth with outer
restraint. In short they help us to lead a conscious life.
Yamas and niyamas are not about right and wrong.
They are about being honest with the true Self. Living
according to these principles are about living our lives in a
better way, about moving towards an understanding, about
making it possible to 'connect' with the Divine.
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