Yamas - The First Limb of Yoga

A young man died and was met by an angel. This Angel explained that the man must choose whether he will go to Heaven or to Hell. “But before you choose, I will show you both.” The angel led the man down a great hall at the end of which was two great doors. “Which would you like to see first?” The man took a deep breath and asked to see Hell first, thinking to get it out of the way. The Angel opened the doors to Hell and led the man through. A great banquet hall stretched away from them, fading into the distance. On it were all manner of wonderful foods and drinks. Sitting on either side of this banquet were the residents of Hell. Everyone had a board tied to each arm extending from shoulder down to their wrists so that they could not bend their arms at the elbows, and thus could not feed themselves. As far as the young man could see were bodies: People dying from hunger and thirst, and corpses interspersed with skeletons. He backed out of the room in horror pursued by the screams and moans of suffering and shut the door behind him.

After some time the young man regained his composure and asked to see Heaven. The Angel opened the doors to Heaven and led the man through. A great banquet hall stretched away from them, fading into the distance. On it were all manner of wonderful foods and drinks. Sitting on either side of this banquet were the residents of Heaven. Everyone had a board tied to each arm extending from shoulder down to their wrists so that they could not bend their arms at the elbows and thus could not feed themselves. BUT some of them were dancing, while others sang, and everyone was talking and laughing as they fed each other at arms length.

These five Yamas, or moral disciplines are essential to the spiritual development of the student of yoga. In many ways they are universal, appearing in most of the ancient religions of the world.

AHIMSA (Non-violence). This often misunderstood precept was the favorite of Mahatma Gandhi who once said “Ahimsa is not merely a negative state of harmlessness but it is a positive state of love, of doing good even to the evil-doer. But it does not mean meek submission to the will of the evil-doer: it means the putting of one’s whole soul against his will.”

SATYA (Truthfulness). The serious student of Yoga should always seek the truth in any situation and MUST ALWAYS speak it.

ASTEYA (Non-stealing). Asteya is not limited to the legal definition of stealing. Asteya means non-stealing in it’s broadest possible sense, including non-covetousness.

BRAHMACHARYA (Chastity). By living a chaste life the Yogi is able to transmute his sexual energy into spiritual energy. In it’s most severe application Brahmacharya includes not only refraining from sexual intercourse, but not thinking sex, not looking with desire, or even conversing in private. Many Yogis do not adopt such a strict interpretation. In fact, most Yogis and Sages in India’s past were married men with families. What is necessary is to free oneself from sexual desire and lust. In fact there is an entire school of Yoga called TANTRIC YOGA devoted to the practice and refinement of Sex as an act of love and worship eventually leading to Samadhi.

APARIGRAPHA (Non-receiving). Receiving gifts is prone to destroy the independence of the mind and make one slavish. This Yama also means that nothing should be hoarded or collected beyond that which is required immediately. It bears much resemblance to Jesus Christ’s parable about the lilies of the field. Hoarding demonstrates a lack of faith.

Most traditional schools of Yoga require a student to master these five abstinence, along with that of the Niyamas before they are allowed to proceed along the “Eight-Fold Path”. In the West however, this is not practical, as most Westerners would never advance past the first two steps to experience the real benefits of Hatha Yoga. This is why we often start students out with the powerful practice of Asanas (poses) initially, to give them a glimpse of the potential hidden within the practices of Yoga.

For most Westerners this introduction to the physical exercises is sufficient and the benefits of a healthy body are reward enough. For those who sense the deeper beauty and power to be found in the devotion of their life to Yoga, rather than just practicing the physical exercises, the Yamas and Niyamas hold the key to opening the doors to the inner mysteries of their own Soul.