WHAT is ASTHEYAM or Non-stealing in Yoga= why is it Essential? = Its benefits = Yama, the 1st step of Patanjali Yogasutras

YOGASUTRAS 
CH:2.SAADHANA PAADHA 
VS.31 -YAMA

Astheyam

In the last 2 Posts, we examined the first 2 parts of Yama, which is the first step of Ashtanga Yoga. These two parts are Ahimsa (non-violence)  and Sathyam (truthfulness). We will now examine Astheyam, the third part of Yama.

ASTHEYAM

Stheyam means stealing what belongs to others, usually  without their knowledge. Astheyam means Non-stealing.

There are professional Robbers, thieves, dacoits, pirates etc – who have made it their lifelong profession to steal what belongs to others.

But, Astheyam is not limited to the absence of - such small or large scale stealing of things.

Ravana took away Rama’s wife, Sita – when Rama was not present. This too was stealing. All of Ranava’s greatness falls into dust because of this one act.

Today, Corruption is a big issue in many countries including India. What does not belong to someone is taken away by him from others under some pretext. This is also stealing.

Stealing is resorted to under various pretexts – for fulfilling basic needs, for becoming rich quickly, for depriving another of his belongings, for acquiring some fancy items presently belonging to someone else – and so on. These are mere Pretexts. There is no real or valid ground for STEALING at all.

Stealing can be – of money, other valuables, intellectual properties, ideas, and so on.

If we knowingly take away something from another – paying less than the just and fair price for it, that too is stealing.

We hear of many different forms of stealing in different countries and different institutions. Some students write a thesis or article or do some research and innovative work. But, the teacher or Guide claims it as his own! A subordinate does a great work but the boss claims all the credit! These are all various forms of stealing only.

A Doctor gives treatment to his Patient. If it cures, he takes the credit. If it does not cure, the debit goes to either the Patient or even to the almighty!

Thus, stealing can take numerous forms.

Somebody has lost a wad of currency notes on the Road, and you have seen it. Suppose you do not know who has lost it there. What will you do? If you take it – that too is stealing. Even now, we hear that in some Islamic countries, it is treated as a crime to touch such money seen on the road. Let it be there for its rightful owner to come, find it and take it.

What is stolen and how it is stolen -  is not important.  The internal idea in our head, of stealing, is more important.

It reflects  the tamoguna in us. Stealing has huge habit forming potential. Some people cannot just avoid stealing from any one, any where, any thing. It is called kleptomania. The itch to steal is very great in them. Some others do it, when they feel, it is safe.

Stealing is violence. Stealing is untruthfulness. The thief does not care – what becomes of the person from whom he has stolen.

Therefore, anyway, it is against the first 2 principles of Yama.

Tamoguna, lack of self-respect and lack of love for others are at the base of the habit of stealing.

We must rise from Tamoguna to Rajoguna and from Rajoguna to Sathvaguna – to come out of such nasty practices. We must learn the dignity of work and value of contentment with just reward for our work. These must be taught from childhood to all.

Laziness must never be encouraged. A day must not end without working for sufficient hours fruitfully, earning our needs fully. We must not demand or accept rewards in excess of what our work deserves.

If we cultivate love and compassion for others – we will not steal their belongings. When such love is lacking, people steal even from their spouse, children or Parents.

An African-American proverb says – If you will lie, you will also steel; if you will steal; you will also kill. It is a progression from one smaller sin to a bigger sin – and we must avoid them all – telling lies, being violent and stealing.

You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.” Says the Bible

If you have to steal – steal somebody’s heart – says a great ancient saying.

The essential mark of civilization in a country is defined by how honestly its citizens earn their living.

We are all fairly conversant with the evident repercussions of the habit of stealing.

1.           We will get caught some time or other – and face punishment, much bigger than what we thought is likely for us. This is the obvious (dristaphalam) result of our crime.

2.           The sin of stealing -  results in a huge Adristaphalam (unseen result). We will never be able to link a huge catastrophe in this birth itself or even in a future birth - that may befall us – with the stealing that we have done today. We cannot escape the cause-consequence cycle inherent in our Karma.

3.           No thief can ever be a happy and fearless man.

4.           No one can trust and respect a thief.

On the other hand, Astheyam (non-stealing) – creates huge happiness and joy in us. Astheyam creates in our minds the necessary environment – for Yoga. You are happy with what you have, with what God has given you as your just reward.

Gita says – what have you brought along with you to this birth, which you can claim as your own? What will you take along with you when you go, as your own? Nothing.  So Indian culture considers stealing as one of the worst SINS.

Buddha says – all of our life, we are gathering dust around us in many forms (as money, ornaments, property etc) – until we become dust our self. He discourages even other forms of hoarding wealth, apart from stealing.

Essentially, People commit theft – due to total lack of clarity in Life Goals.

But, Kings and Governments have their duty – of ensuring ASTHEYAM by all  of its people.  No one in the country must steal. It is not merely a step in Yoga. It is what a king must ensure in all of its people – whether someone is a Yoga Sadhaka or not. No society can survive when stealing is widely prevalent in it.

One beautiful aspect of these three  parts of Yama which we have examined so far is – they are the bridges between you and the rest of the society. When you follow them, you become a trusted, loved and honoured member of the society. If you do not follow them, and are either violent, untruthful or stealing, you cannot be an acceptable member of the society.

At the personal level, You lose something very precious when you steal – your happiness, your joy, your self-respect and your only chance to become equal to the divine. Astheyam restores all this back to you.

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Truthfulness = what is it & what is it not? = Why Be truthful? = Yama, the1st step in Patanjali Yoga Sutras

PATANJALI

YOGASUTRAS

CH:2.SAADHANA PAADHA - VS.31

YAMA - TRUTH

In the last Post, we have talked about non-violence or Ahimsa. When you are non-violent in thought, word and deed, you are the very epitome of LOVE.

When yoga sadhakas start on their Yogic Journey, they are still thinking and feeling about every thing that crosses their life. Thinking and feeling are natural processes. If you are non-violent, it is not that you don’t have any feeling towards all around you. You are truly non-violent, only when your mind is full of love and compassion - which are not two independent things really. It is then that you are truly following non-violence as “ahimsaa paramo dharmaha” – meaning, non-violence is the most sacred of duties.

The second stage in Yama is “Sathyam”. Mundaka Upanishad says “sathyameva Jayathe” – meaning, only truth triumphs. What is truth and what is it not?

Ancient sages have given a simple prescription – “satyam brooyaath; priyam brooyaath; na brooyaath sathyam apriyam.”

This means – “Tell truth. Tell that (truth) which is pleasant. Never tell that truth which is unpleasant.”

Truthfulness means – being authentic. Whatever you actually see; actually hear, actually think (Not what you feel) – that, in that way only, must you speak without distorting, exaggerating or underplaying.

We have already said – that we must be totally non-violent in whatever we do. That is the first and foremost sadhana in Yoga. In truthfulness which is the second part of Yama, how can we be violent, hurting, damaging and creating sorrow? Truthfulness can never be violent.

There are some beautiful sayings and stories in many Indian languages – about truthfulness. I will summarize them here:

Ø  Tell the absolute truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Ø  Tell that truth (the one qualified as above) which does good to all (or at least to all good people).

Ø  Tell that truth (the one qualified as above) which is pleasant to listen, in a pleasant way.

Ø  Tell that truth (the one qualified further as above) when it is the right time to tell – when it can do the maximum good.

Ø  Tell that truth (the one qualified further as above) before the right persons – and not before the wrong persons.

Ø  Tell the truth – only if you are the right person to tell it.

Ø  Learn also to remain SILENT – when you cannot tell the truth as above.

These are all inviolable rules for truthful behavior. There is no truth, which cannot be told in a pleasant way by the right person to the right person at the right time.

Some one has committed robbery. To whom will you tell the truth? To the King, of course. To that person, who can and should punish the robber. But, not to the Robber himself.

The Police is searching for a murderer. Would you tell that to the murderer? No.

You are the Doctor diagnosing a Patient who has serious cancer. If you tell the truth to the Patient, he may die in 3 months in hopelessness and desperation. If you tell his near and dear people the same fact in such  a way that makes them take much better care of him and give him much more love too - the Patient may live for a few years also happily. So, what is truthfulness here? The latter of course.

Again – in the name of truthfulness, you are not required to go on unmasking all others in the world. Some body may be short or long or ugly or unintelligent or  may have some disease or disabilities and so on. Your judgment and your words are not required to tell them that. They already know it.

If you are in the habit of telling such Bitter truths to others – sooner or later, others will tell you many bitter truths about your self.

A flower is golden yellow in colour. Another is black. Are they both beautiful to your eyes? If so, you can mention their colours. You will be authentic and truthful. But, if you do not like yellow or black – your truth is coloured by your prejudices. Now, what you say is not the truth at all.

What you see; what you hear; what you smell; what you touch; what you taste – are the only inputs to you to know and speak truth. Individually, no sense organ can give you a fair truth. Eyes see but a small fraction of the truth. You have seen some one holding a knife at the stomach of another injured person. You have seen only this. You do not know whether he knifed him – or is merely removing the knife. You do not know the previous happenings – and the subsequent ones. You also do not know whether it is a knife at all. But, you jump to conclusions and judgments. Your Judgments are not truths. When you judge – your authenticity goes into thin air.

Can you say – what you have actually seen? Even this is very difficult. That is why SILENCE is Golden most of the time. But, not always. An authentic man must tell the truth – subject to the above conditions.

A truthful person is also the most fearless person and  the most loving and non-violent person. He is therefore the most authentic person.

In the ancient ages – it was said that, if an authentic man tells a lie (obviously - unknowingly), it tends to become the TRUTH. Therefore, an authentic person must not curse others. If he says – X will die, X may as well die. Nature ensures that the authentic man remains authentic, by carrying out his words as orders to it.

In India, it is therefore customary to go to sages and seers – and seek their blessings. It is done – so that the blessings of such seers and sages may come true for the blessed ones.

When Lord Krishna blessed Draupadi and Subhadra saying “deergha sumangalee bhava” – he had to ensure it later - by bringing back a dead Arjuna – to life again. Many ancient sages went to great lengths to keep their words authentic.

It is for this reason that India had adopted the words “sathyameva jayathe” in its national Emblem also. The Nation must therefore make all out efforts to live up to these words.

What are the benefits of being truthful and authentic?

1.           Let us understand that in nature, man only is capable of truthfulness and untruthfulness. Untruthfulness makes him impure, untrustworthy and worse than animals. Truthfulness, on the other hand makes him almost divine. Other beings can be neither truthful nor untruthful.

2.           Truthfulness makes us very happy and light hearted. There is no burden in our head when we are truthful.

3.           Truthfulness makes us strong and courageous.

4.          Truthfulness in the background of non-violence –is the greatest punyam. It takes us from one birth to another higher and higher – and closer to Kaivalya.

5.           The whole nature loves the authentic, non-violent person and becomes his obedient servant.

No effort is needed to the authentic. Authenticity is effortless. To be untruthful – huge effort is required lifelong. 

Readers – must start being authentic – in the true sense of the term. We are well on our way to being Great Yoga Sadhakas.

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NON-VIOLENCE = what is & is not = Its Benefits = Vs.2.30.Patanjali Yoga Sutras

PATANJALI

YOGA SUTRAS

CH:2.SAADHANA PAADHA

 

VS.30 - YAMA

Ahimsa – Sathya – Astheya –

Brahmacharya – Aparigrahaa – yamah

Ø  Ahimsa : Non-violence

Ø  Sathya  : Truth

Ø  Astheya  : Non-stealing

Ø  Brahmacharya : Abstinence from Sex; turning to the Path of Brahman

Ø  Aparigraha : Not taking more than what we need; Not taking from others without paying its Value

We are now entering the MOST IMPORTANT PART of Patanjali Yoga Sutras. We are trying to understand the very core of ASHTANGA YOGA.

Ashtanga Yoga means Yoga with Eight Limbs or Eight Steps.

Looking at them as Eight steps, we must acknowledge that Each step must be gone through before you can reach the next step. Reaching each preceding step is a pre-qualification to the next step. Each step takes you nearer to the final Goal of Liberation or Kaivalya.

The first step is YAMA. Yama stands for Self Restraint. But, Self Restraint consists of five important Parts. These five parts are (i) Ahimsa (Non-violence) ; (ii) Sathyam (Truthfulness); (iii) Astheyam (Non-stealing); (iv) Brahmacharyam (Abstinence from Sex; & treading the path of Brahman) and (iv) Aparigraha (not taking anything from others without paying its appropriate value).

Do we remember some Great Personalities of History  when we think of the first 2 Parts of Yama? Yes.

The most recent is Mahatma Gandhi, who steadfastly propounded the twin principles of Ahimsa (Non-violence) and Sathyam (Truthfulness). His whole life is a great example of adherence to these two principles. He never relinquished Social life and was also a Great social crusader. But, he never relinquished his twin principles in his life. His words show a complete understanding of Yoga. Truly, Gandhi was a Great Yogi of our times.

Earlier to him was Jesus Christ. He also followed the twin principles of Truth and Non-violence in an admirable manner – like a Great Yogi.

The Great Buddha and Mahavira wove their religious Ethics  around these twin principles.

Adi Sankara was the very Epitome of Yoga in his times. We can recount Great Yogis like Ramana Maharshi, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Vivekananda who are well known Yogis from India. There are of course many other unknown and lesser known Yogis – who may be just as Great as any of the above Masters.

Lord Krishna was perhaps the Greatest TEACHER of Yoga, through his Bhagavad Gita. One’s Yogic knowledge remains incomplete if one has not read and understood Bhagavad Gita. It is not that one does not attain enlightenment without reading the Gita. Or, for that matter, even Patanjali’s Yoga sutras. Nature is waiting to give this wisdom to any one – who seeks it ardently enough. If the question is deep in you and the seeking is sincere enough – you will receive the answer. It happens automatically.

Now, let us examine Yama, the five principles of self restraint, one by one. These principles have a common thread in them. You adhere to them – by not doing CERTAIN NEGATIVE DEEDS. Positivity enters into your life automatically, when the Negative things are avoided.In this post, we will examine NON-VIOLENCE or AHIMSA :

Ashtanga Yoga Sadhana starts with Non-violence. If one is not non-violent, he cannot be a Yoga Sadhaka. One may practice Asana, Pranayama etc – which are taught in Yoga schools – but, he remains far away from the goal of  Kaivalya or even from the other lower steps that will be described later.

But what is Non-violence? And, what is violence? This needs to be understood clearly.

We commit violence in three ways – through thought, word and deed.

We commit violence against - our own self, our near and dear ones, unknown persons who are neither friends nor enemies, people whom we consider as enemies, animals, birds, insects etc and other living beings like trees.

Is it possible that we can be violent against non-living things. Yes. It is. We consider earth as non-living. But, it is actually a living being. The earth is in fact a living being of a higher order, a Goddess. So are the five great elements, the stars, the planets, sub planets etc. Just as the white Blood corpuscles and red blood corpuscles are not aware that they are part of a Higher living being called man, we are also unaware that we are part of higher living beings like the Earth.

The principle of non-violence enunciated in India therefore includes all these beings.

The principle of Non-violence is not limited to a particular time, place or section of living beings. It is applicable to all beings.

Non-violence is not merely an external practice. It is an internal attitude.

When we think violent thoughts, they generate violent thought waves all around us. They affect our own self first. Then, they may affect many others around us, who come under their influence. These are unseen waves. Therefore, we underestimate their influence.

What is known to all of us is – we hurt each other extensively through WORDS – SPOKEN and WRITTEN. Words can please. But, words can also hurt. And we tend to hurt more than we try to please. This is the paradox. When someone uses pleasing words to us – we are pleased. But, there is no immediate feeling in us that we must also reciprocate. We may. Or, we may not reciprocate at all.

But, in response to hurting words hurled at us by others – we become instantly agitated and feel a Great Urge in us to reciprocate in GREATER MEASURE – meaning, that we want to hurt the other person more than he hurt us. We may still not be satisfied – and we may use hurting words towards many other unconnected persons, who will never understand the connection between the earlier incident between you and the person who hurt you and the subsequent incidents in which you start hurting many others.

This vicious cycle is going on all the time in the world. The spoken word  is Bad enough. But the written word is more atrocious and long standing.  A Book containing Hate words against any one, any sect, any religion, any nation or Race – can become a permanent source of violence in the world between one group and another. And, we have several of them! Some people believe them ardently and foolishly and become the cause of hurting many people – who in turn are forced to hurt them back. No amount of reasoning can ease such situations.

The last method of hurting is of course through ACTION or DEEDS. This is preceded by violence in thought and word invariably. But, the most permanent damage is done by violent actions. All wars, all battles and all fights,– are violence in action.

NON-VIOLENCE, which is the first stage of the first step of YOGA  is – avoidance of violence of all the three forms, at all times and at all places, against all beings. It is an attitude, not An Action. It calls for the Greatest Self Restraint.

Hurting our own self is also violence – and is prohibited.

But, NON-VIOLENCE is not merely a passive avoidance of violence – but, is active practicing of those acts which avoid future violence or result in greater good of the person receiving our actions.

A Parent may have to punish the child mildly – to make it study, eat or do the necessary things for it to grow as a healthy child.

A Doctor may have to do injections, surgery etc on a Patient – to make him well.

A teacher may have to punish erring students to some extent – to correct them and make them better individuals.

A King punishes a robber or a terrorist – to save innocent people.

There are prescribed punishments for various crimes – and they avert future crimes.

These are all not considered as VIOLENCE – PER SE.

We eat food of various types. The food, even of the vegetarian variety, is coming from living Trees. This is not considered as violence. But, elaborate forms of pleasing such trees is suggested.

We do Tapas, Vrats and so on – to purify ourselves. Within certain limits – these are not taken as violence. But, beyond the limits, even against SELF, hurting and torture methods are VIOLENCE only.

NON-VIOLENCE is  a Saathvic concept. VIOLENCE is a Rajasic concept in some forms and a taamasic concept in others.

Even a small action – of staring at someone, or some one’s food – can be  VIOLENT ACT. It is the ATTITUDE that matters.

When we start practicing NON-VIOLENCE, we turn inward, correcting our every violent thought, word and action – and become highly sensitive Individuals.

We will avoid all causative factors of violence like – anger, hatred, Jealousy, vengeance, careless words and actions. We derive immense benefits from the practice of non-violence in thought word and deed.

Our life becomes much more enjoyable. More and more people will turn to respecting and loving us – and our practice of non-violence becomes much simpler.

The other steps of Yoga become that much more easier for us.

Ashtanga Yoga is ACTION PACKED. It is a Path towards a great – Goal. Rather – the Greatest Goal there is for a Human Being. All through the practice, there are great benefits to be derived even in ordinary life – which are more than proportionate to the practice.

So, readers may start becoming Sadhakas forthwith. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.

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