ahimsa satya asteya brahmacarya aparigrahah yamah
Non-violence, truth, abstention from stealing, continence, and absence of greed for possessions beyond one’s need are the five pillars of yama.
sutra II.30, light on the yoga sutras, bks iyengar
“The yamas are the great, mighty universal vows, unconditioned by place, time and class.” (II.31, iyengar) I came to yoga because of a physical need, an ilial-sacral injury, but the first time I practiced yoga, I was immediately drawn to the way it made me feel, physically, but also emotionally. It gave me a sense of peace and calm from what I now see was the constant fear and anxiety I was experiencing at the time. I have found that through the practice of asana and pranayama, the layers of the onion are peeled away and I think I begin to gain glimpses of the true nature of things more clearly. However, this practice also requires a consistent vigilance over the yamas and constant practice of the niyamas.
Ahimsa, non-violence, sometimes seems like the simplest yama , because I have an extremely hard time harming anything. For better or worse, I feel I am empathic to every living being, including plants. I could go into a diatribe about how I decided to become a vegetarian at 16, which continued for 20 years. My reasons for becoming a vegetarian, evolved from not wanting to get fat, to not wanting to harm animals, to not wanting to harm the planet. I finally began eating meat again the last few years because I feel like this was one of the least violent things I could do for my own health. I still have a difficult time eating meat, but I do it consciously. But when I look at how quickly I put myself down, beat myself up for not doing something or not doing something correctly, I remember how complicated this practice can be.
Satya – Truth - I was punished once for lying when I was a young girl, so now I am a terrible liar. The practice that is challenging for me is knowing what the truth is, whether it has to do with listening deeply to my own truth and acting from that knowing or looking to understand the real truth in a matter. It is extremely easy to be an ignorant fool in this world. You have to be vigilant to not ingest food, medicine or apply body wash that is harmful for you. Even our air and water are polluted. There is always some new truth to discover whether it is the truth you want to know or not.
Asteya, non-stealing, was another lesson I learned young when I stole candy from a convenience store. I had to return the candy and apologize to the owner of the store. It was mortifying. My fear of getting in trouble has always been greater than my need to steal in that way. But in this day and age, it is challenging not to steal someone else’s idea or use an image or download music that seems freely available. Sometimes I want to steal someone else’s attention or I am jealous of someone else’s skills or abilities. A wise friend of mine says “claim instantly that which you admire in another human being.” Why not adopt the attitude or style of someone you admire? Is that stealing?
Bramhacarya – Continence. At 38, I have been in a committed relationship with my husband for almost 15 years, married for almost 5 and we still hope to have children. In this modern world, I feel like that is doing fairly well. When I think of brahmacarya in terms of moderation, however, this is more of a challenge when I look at how I consume foods like caffeine, sugar, wheat or dairy products as well as how I am able to balance work and rest. This period of my life, feels like an intense focus on work and study, but I try to balance it by eating well, practicing yoga daily, sleeping 8 hours a night, visiting with friends, as well as finding time for solitude and study.
Aparigraha – Greedlessness. I spent many years with no more than a backpack’s worth of possessions and I find that it makes life so much simpler. I also choose to spend much of my time on a 10-acre piece of property often seeing only my husband and three cats for many days at a time. We even choose not to have Television. Technology has actually allowed for us to be secluded ourselves, but also to be able to then consciously choose what we want to investigate and engage in.
When I am in a big city with many different peoples’ energies, however, it is a challenge not to want to indulge in the illusion of what other people have. The challenge at that time is to practice mentally training my brain not to even want to do the wanting. I do believe that there are a finite amount of resources on our precious planet and when you have more than you need, others do not have enough and the whole planet begins to suffer. BKS Iyengar points out that “holding on to one’s thoughts is also a form of possessiveness.” Some of the yamas seem straightforward, but when I begin to contemplate them, there are endless ways in which they can be interpreted and relate to my personal practice.
The practice and contemplation of the yamas and niyamas feels like an endless journey towards the center of the self and the more consistent and constant I am with my practice, the more balanced and connected to the true Source, I become.
BKS Iyengar, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 1993.