Title:
Yama And Niyama: The Foundation Stones Of Yoga
Summary
Yoga is more popular now than it has ever been. Famous entertainers and other celebrities practice it and thousands or perhaps millions of other people are also doing yoga exercises in one form or another. Yet, despite this widespread popularity, yoga is still misunderstood. Many people think that yoga is primarily a physical activity, something that they can use to get their body in shape. While it is true that yoga has a great role to play in the physical realm, yoga is muc...
Keywords
yoga, morality, yama, niyama
Article Body
Yoga is more popular now than it has ever been. Famous entertainers and other celebrities practice it and thousands or perhaps millions of other people are also doing yoga exercises in one form or another. Yet, despite this widespread popularity, yoga is still misunderstood. Many people think that yoga is primarily a physical activity, something that they can use to get their body in shape. While it is true that yoga has a great role to play in the physical realm, yoga is much more than this.
Yoga is, in its deepest sense, the science of human perfection. It is the means by which a person can attain his or her fullest development: physical, mental and spiritual.
Human perfection? This is a tall order. It does not come with just a few stretches of your thighs. While yoga has its external practices and exercises, its true foundation is proper conduct. Proper conduct means living a life that will put you in harmony with the society around you and with your own inner self.
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When I first began practicing yoga, I told one of my friends about it. He became interested and wanted to begin. I wasnt a teacher at that time so I recommended a book. He looked at me and said, with all seriousness, Where can I steal it!
Well, you cant begin yoga like that because stealing is not a way to get in harmony with society or with yourself. In yoga disciplined or controlled conduct is known by its Sanskrit term, samyama and this controlled conduct has two parts Yama and Niyama.
In many yoga books Yama is sometimes defined as abstinences, meaning things that you shouldnt do. Niyama is sometimes translated as observances, referring to things that you should do. These rough translations are not quite correct.
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A better way to understand Yama is to think of it as a discipline that will help you to find harmony with your external environment. Niyama, on the other hand, are those practices that will help you to attain internal harmony.
Lets look briefly at the various parts of Yama and Niyama. In future articles of this series I will focus in more detail on each aspect of Yama and Niyama.
Yama has five parts. They are as follows.
Aparigraha is defined as non-accumulation of physical objects that are superfluous to our needs. According to your circumstances you should acquire what you need to live your life, but you should not accumulate luxuries that go beyond your real needs.
These are the five parts of Yama.
Just as there are five aspects of yama, niyama is also composed of five principles. Practice these five and you will achieve inner harmony. Briefly, they are as follows:
Iishvara Pranidhana literally means to take shelter in the controller of the universe. It is practiced through daily meditation on the ultimate goal of life.
In the following articles of this series I will explain each part of Yama and Niyama with more detail.