First Stage of the Eight Limbs of Yoga – Yama
These disciplines or commandments are ageless and timeless, Universal rules of morality for society and the individual, which if not obeyed, create conflict, chaos, violence, untruth, stealing and obsessive desire. The root emotions involved when the Yamas are not followed are greed, desire and attachment, all of which may be mild, medium or excessive and only bring pain and ignorance. Yama can be thought of, in its most simplistic form, the yoga practitioner’s attitude towards others and the World around him or her.
There are five Yamas:
1) Ahimsa (non-violence):
The word Ahimsa is made up of the ‘a’ which means ‘not’ and the noun ‘himsa’ meaning ‘killing’ or ‘violence’. Although its literal translation can be taken as “non-violence”, it is much more than that and instead has a wider positive meaning – Love. This Love embraces all of creation the same for we are all the product of the same Creator. Ahimsa arises from the belief and understanding that every creature has as much right to live and the yogi believes that he is born to help others as he looks at creation with eyes of Love. Ahimsa is not only about not doing harm to others but also but practicing the art of kindness to one’s self and others.
Along with Ahimsa go Abhaya (freedom from fear) and Akrodha (freedom from anger). Freedom from fear comes only to those who lead a pure life.
2) Satya (truth):
Satya is the highest rule of conduct or morality. Just as fire burns impurities and refines gold, so too does the fire of truth cleanse the yogi. If the mind thinks thoughts of truth, and the yogi speaks words of truth and if the yogi’s whole life is based on truth, then one becomes fit for union with the Infinite. Satya presupposes truth in thought, word and deed. Truth is not limited to speech alone. Untruthfulness of any form puts Sadhaka (the individual practitioner) out of harmony with the fundamental law of truth. The four sins of speech are: abuse and obscenity, dealing in falsehoods, telling tales and lastly, ridiculing what is sacred to others.
3) Asteya (non-stealing):
Asteya (‘a’ = ‘not’; ‘steya’ = ‘stealing’), includes not only taking what belongs to another without permission, but also using something for a different purpose to that intended, or beyond the time permitted by the owner. Asteya refers not only to material objects but also to other’s ideas and other forms of possessions.
4) Brahmacharya (continence):
According to the dictionary brahmacharya means the life of celibacy, religious study and self-restraint. But, the concept of Brahmacharya is not one of negation, forced austerity and prohibition. Patanjali places stress on continence of the body, speech and mind. This does not mean that the philosophy of Yoga is meant for celibates. Instead, Bramacharya means to move toward the truth and to achieve self-control, abstinence or moderation especially regarding to sexual activity by not giving in to our ego’s excessive desires or taking nothing in excess.
5) Aparigraha (non-coveting):
Parigraha means hoarding or collecting. To be free from that is Aparigraha. It is thus another facet of Asteya (non-stealing). Just as one should not take things one does not really need, so one should also not hoard or collect things one does not require immediately. Neither should one take anything without working for it or as a favor from another, for this indicates poverty of spirit. By observance of Aparigraha, the yogi makes life as simple as possible and trains his mind not to feel the loss or the lack of anything. Then everything he really needs will come to him by itself at the proper time.