A yama (Sanskrit), literally a “restraint”, is a rule or code of conduct for living virtuously. The yamas comprise the “shall-nots” in our dealings with the external world.
Ten Yamas are codified as “the restraints” in numerous scriptures including the Shandilya and Varaha Upanishads, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Gorakshanatha, and the Tirumantiram of Tirumular. Patañjali lists only five yamas in his Yoga Sutras.
Nonviolence, honesty, nonstealing, moderation, nonhoarding.
Ahimsa: abstinence from injury, harmlessness, the not causing of pain to any living creature in thought, word, or deed at any time.
Satya: truthfulness, word and thought in conformity with the facts.
Asteya: non-stealing, non-coveting, non-entering into debt.
Brahmacharya: divine conduct, continence, celibate when single, faithful when married.
Aparigraha: absence of avariciousness, non-appropriation of things not one’s own.
“The yamas are in many ways the hardest work on this path, for they confront us with the enormous challenge of re-channeling our spiritual energies…. Before encountering the yamas, we are prey to the whims of our minds. Our minds tell us we are good, so we feel good, our minds tell us we are bad, so we feel bad. Our orientation is outward; we continuously compare ourselves to others, and most of the time we find ourselves lacking. We search outside ourselves for the validation we crave. And since we have no control over this validation, we can never truly be at peace or gain access to our true power in this life…. The yamas are the fundamental renunciation of a life based on fear. They are the change. — Rolf Gates Meditations from the Mat
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beautiful reminders…i often attend lectures at the Buddhist
Temple in Richmond after meditation:)