Yamas - 1st Limb Of Yoga (1/8)

The first limb of yoga is Yamas,

Which translates over to external or social ethics.

So this is the ideal step to start off in because it relates to the outside world,

And these are things you can handle a lot easier,

Rather than the other limbs which start to become more and more subtle.

So Patanjali says that Yamas is a perfect way to start the process of understanding the limbs of yoga.

So these ethics or qualities are Ahimsa,

Which is non-harming,

Satya,

Which means truthfulness,

Asteya,

Which means non-stealing,

Brahmacharya,

Which means moderation or sometimes celibacy,

And then Aparyagraha,

Which means generosity.

And you can think of these Yamas as just basically good codes of conduct on being a good human being and how you can conduct yourself,

Because what you'll find is that through the process of meditation and meditative practices,

You actually start to develop some inner powers known as Siddhis,

And if you don't have a good structure in place,

They can cause you to abuse your powers for obviously the worse and be a really bad human being.

So these codes of conduct can help you provide a nice structure for yourself and make you a good human being.

And it's from that structure you can then develop into your meditative powers.

So the first ethic is Ahimsa,

Which is non-violence,

And this means non-violence in not only your thoughts but also your words and actions as well.

And this also includes yourself,

So don't neglect yourself.

So take into consideration how you talk to yourself.

Are you saying good things about yourself or good things about other people but talking poorly about yourself?

So take that into consideration.

And with Ahimsa,

You want to treat everything and everyone as yourself.

So this includes inanimate objects as well.

And when you generate,

And funny enough,

The irony behind violence is that you're not really harming the other person but you're also harming yourself,

Because whenever you're generating violence towards others,

You first have to generate that emotion within yourself.

So Ahimsa teaches you to be non-violent and be kind to yourself and also other people as well.

And some practical questions you can ask yourself when you're considering this first ethic of the yamas,

Which is Ahimsa,

Is have my thoughts,

Words,

And actions towards myself,

Have they been kind?

And have my thoughts,

Words,

And actions towards other people been kind as well?

And an antidote,

If you will,

To ill will or hatred towards others is a practice called loving kindness.

So this is something you can practice to develop feelings of love towards others.

And the way to do loving kindness practice is to first start with yourself and repeat the mantra,

May I be happy,

May I be well,

And may I be free from suffering.

So you repeat that towards yourself and visualize yourself in a really happy state before then bringing that emotion and repeating the same phrases to other people.

So you would then repeat,

May you be well,

May you be happy,

And may you be free.

And the way the pattern normally works is that you first start with yourself and then think about your closest family members and people you're really close with,

And then gradually expand that circle.

So you would target your family members and say,

May you be happy,

May you be well,

And then target some really good friends,

And then maybe acquaintances you don't know too well,

And then expand that circle to people you don't know at all and people just around the world in general.

The second ethics is satya,

Known as truthfulness.

And when it works with ahimsa,

Nonviolence,

You can think about how you can speak your truth with kindness.

So oftentimes in the New Age community a lot of people are afraid to speak their own truth,

Or afraid to speak up,

But this is actually against satya,

Which is truthfulness.

And this basically means you want to state your truth and just express it.

And also a really good quote I found from Bhagavad Gita,

Which is an ancient Hindu text,

Is that it's far better to live your own life path imperfectly than to live another's life perfectly.

So you want to follow your own path,

Whatever it is,

To its full extent,

And take some time to really understand what you personally want to do in this life and what you resonate with,

And follow that path,

And also take into consideration how much of your life is ruled in by other people's opinions and thoughts and judgments.

So this is really a tool that you can use to really find out where you're straying from that,

And follow your own truth and see what works for you.

And this is all about just being honest with yourself,

And this can also help you understand yourself better if you know what you do like,

What you don't like,

What meditation paths work for you,

Because there are different paths for everyone.

Some people might really like yoga,

Some people might like Zen meditation,

There are just so many different paths and things you can do,

You can choose to focus on.

So the question is,

What rings true to you?

Then the next ethic is asteya,

Which is non-stealing.

This applies not just to property,

But also to other people's concepts.

You want to credit them if you're taking credit for someone else's work,

And obviously credit the author,

That's a good thing to do.

But also being mindful of how we're taking up other people's space,

Personal space,

And boundaries.

Are we stepping over other people?

Are we judging people or criticizing people?

You want to be mindful of other people's space.

So it's non-stealing,

Not only property,

But actions and being aware of other people.

So keeping that in accordance.

Now the next ethic is brahmacharya,

Which means the root is Brahman,

Which means the unchanging reality,

Or the universe,

You can call it the God energy.

But this basically means universe or God.

And chariya,

Which is the second part,

Means going after or being engaged with something.

So if you combine the two words,

Brahma and chariya,

This would mean being devoted to God or universe or your spiritual path.

And how this relates to moderation is that when you spend your time and your energies devoted to something greater than yourself,

Like the God energy or finding God or the universe or the truth,

You don't really have time to be focused on petty things like drinking too much alcohol or engaging in binge eating or just different vices that will distract you from your true purpose of finding the universe or within yourself and others or finding God.

And brahmacharya also means the practice of celibacy as well.

And this is because your sexual energy contains life energy,

Your vital life energy,

And they advise for single people to refrain from engaging in sexual activity with other people that you're not really committed to or with yourself as well,

Like self-pleasure.

And if you're married,

You should just be obviously with that partner,

Your husband or wife,

And not go outside your marriage and cheat.

And this is also a reason why a lot of monks take a vow of celibacy because they realize that your sexual energy has a lot of energy within it,

A lot of vitality.

And there is a verse 2.

38 in the Yoga Sutra which says,

Upon the establishment of celibacy,

Power is attained.

And according to Swami Vivekananda in his book Raja Yoga,

He says that sexual energy,

Which is built up through abstaining,

Starts to build up and then travels upwards towards your brain.

And once that energy kind of goes upwards,

So from your first chakra goes all the way up,

And goes up to your brain area,

This is stored as ojas shakti.

And ojas and shakti is basically that strength or that vitality.

So through the act of conserving your energy,

Your sexual energy and fluids,

You start to build that reservoir of energy and power,

And you shouldn't really dissipate it if you don't have to.

And the Taoists also have this practice of abstaining as well.

So they call the sexual energy known as Jing,

J-I-N-G.

And this is their life force energy.

And this is why there are different guidelines in the Taoist practice of abstaining and conserving your vital resources.

And other ways of practicing brahmacharya is through moderation,

Like I mentioned.

So this means being moderate on the foods you eat,

Not having too much spices,

And intoxicants such as alcohol,

And just leading a simple life.

And also eating sattvic foods which are very high in energy,

So light foods such as broccoli and kale and all the leafy green vegetables,

Can help you feel really light and vibrant,

And doesn't cause you to feel really sluggish.

And lastly,

The last ethic is a parigraha,

Which means generosity.

So the term parigraha in Sanskrit means greed or desires,

And that first letter,

A,

So a version of AHA,

Is the opposite.

So the term basically means the opposite of greed and desires.

And what this means is leading a simple life and not wanting more than you need.

And especially in the West,

There's a lot of emphasis on consumerism,

Trying to become the top dog and get as much possessions as you can,

The best car,

The latest clothes,

And you keep buying and buying due to style or fashion,

Rather than just the needs and filling your basic needs.

And there now is a trend where things go backwards.

It's starting to shift to a more minimalist lifestyle.

I think that's something that's really trendy nowadays.

And this kind of relates to a parigraha because you have just what you need,

And you're not grasping for more.

And what you'll find more is all started a lot in Buddhism as well,

Is that when you're striving for more things and more objects and possessions and fame and prestige,

That causes clinking and attachment and aversions.

So now you are creating more mind stuff that causes you to kind of lose your center.

It makes it really hard for you to meditate and lead a very simple life because you are distracted by your thoughts,

Which are obviously consumed by different patterns of grasping for things,

And that's really not the middle way.

So by leading a simple life and by following these different ethics,

You're now in a really good position to start the practice of yoga.

So now your mind is not kind of going all over the place.

You feel really content.

And this provides a very nice and stable foundation where you can now focus on the second limb,

Which is called Niyama.

And Niyama is now your internal disciplines and internal practices.

So while Yamas was outside and focusing on practices you can do relating to the external world,

In the next talk,

You're going to learn about Niyamas,

Which is basically how you relate to yourself and different practices you can take in disciplines.

Thank you.