Hindu prescription for Life

[Surya Deva]

My Hindu brothers and sisters, I want to help you guys out by sharing the little knowledge I have. It is better out than in me, so I am going to be posting regular topics on Hinduism. I am not doing this for personal gain or interest, I genuinely just want to share the knowledge I have collected myself for the use of others.

The Hindu prescription for life is Yama and Niyama. The Yama and Niyamas are possibly the best way one can lead life and live a very noble life. They are the first rung of Ashtanga Yoga and the noble 8-fold path, and they are also enumerated in the Upanishads.

In a sense you could say they are like the Hindu moral commandments, but that is actually false. They are guidelines to healthy and noble living as opposed to a list of thou shall nots. They are flexible as opposed to rigid.

Yamas

Yamas are morals and they are universal. If you breach the Yamas you will necessarily incur negative karma according to Hinduism. The Yamas are:

Ahimsa or Non-harming

You should not harm others in thought, actions or speech. This does not just include people, it includes animals, plants, environment, things. Yes, it necessarily includes vegetarianism. But you could say but we cannot not harm completely(Jainism takes ahisma to the extreme) after all we have to harm something to live; we have to cut down the trees for tables; we have to take plants and fruits; we have to swat the annoying mosquitos and flies. And what about people, sometimes we have to harm them as well, maybe in self-defence, maybe by telling them a bitter truth. Yes, Hinduism recognises this, and says that it is all in the intention. To act with the intention to cause the minimum amount of harm. An animal does not incur negative karma if it kills, because it has no bad intention; it is simply acting out from its nature. But a human being if it does someting wrong suffers guilt. Hinduism is very direct about this, anybody be it even the most henious killer, will experience that guilt, they will know deeper down that what they are doing is wrong.

Thus intention is everything. If you can cause someone harm without intending it you are free from that karma. I may save a child who will grow up to be a mass murderer, does that mean I am partly responsible? No, because as far as I am concerned I did my dharma by saving the child. Had I known that the child was going to grow up to be a mass murderer and still saved it, then I would be responsible.

Do you know there are stories in Hindu lore that if an enlightened person commited a crime they would be punished more severely than an unenlightened person. Why? Because the enlightened person acts in knowledge and unenlightened person acts in ignorance. Just as we pardon the crimes of a child, likewise karma pardons the crimes of an ignorant person, but a knowledgeable person it does not.

We enter into the the karmic loop as soon we consciously harm others. Indeed even the law pardons the criminal who acts from a less than conscious state, it is called diminished responsibility. Now did Arjuna not consciously harm others by slaying his kin? No, because his consciousness did not see that as harm, it saw that as dharma/duty and it was perfectly aligned with divine will. There was no guilt. He did what was right. This is the pecularity in the Hindu Ahimsa, that sometimes harming others is the greatest act of unharming - like killing a mass murderer or killing one to save 10,000.

Now I am sure you can understand just how open to misintepretation this is and indeed the doctrine of the Gita has been used to devestating effect by Hindu extremists. They are doing the divine will by killing Muslims, raping nuns ---- that is what they say. But even the most fanatical of extremists will have an understanding that what they are doing is wrong, their conscience will not let them have a moments peace. They act with intenton and knowledge, so they become subject to karma.

Therefore Ahisma is simply living your life with the intention to not harm others in your actions, your thoughts or your speech and doing your best to maintain that.

 

[Surya Deva]

By no means is what I say exhaustive; the Yamas and Niyamas have hundreds of books on them and more are being written, I am just adding a drop to an ocean. Please chip in with your opinions and interpretations. The more the better

Satya

My Sanskrit speaking friends will all know Satya means truth and therefore as a moral it means being honest and true - honesty is the best policy, so they say. But is it really? Should you tell somebody with a heart condition some bad news? Should you be honest if somebody with the intention to harm one of your friends asks you where your friend is? Nothing in Hinduism is as it seems, honesty sometimes means telling a lie; cheating. It was Krishna himself that said he is the greatest amongst the cheaters and liers. He made Yudu****ra lie to his Guru Dronacharya that Ashwadhama(his son) was dead, when he wasn't, which caused Dronacharya to become distraught, lose all will to live, and then his mortal enemy sprang forth from his chariot and beheaded him.

It may sound like I am really giving Hinduism and Krishna a bad rep on this forum --- killing family, lying, deceiving, cheating, I am confirming for those who are convinced it is a religion of Satan, their prejudices - but I'm just being honest. Hinduism is not one of those black and white religions, where one side is good and one side is evil, even the Gita leaves its reader confused on who was good and who was bad. Does Krishna himself not say, "Good and bad are two sides of the same coin" this is because Hinduism is a transcendental religion. It makes you strongly question common sense notions like lying is bad and honesty is good; cheating is bad and playing fair is good. It literally is that religion that forces you out of the box, and pretty eveything we imagine and conceive puts us in a box, even what we consider to be higher ideals. Sure every religion says "love everybody" but do they all mean the same thing? A question worth asking oneself.

In Hinduism Satya is that which fully in consonance with eternal law and the divine will. That which emanates from the core of being it is true, and thinking that, speaking that and acting that is the Yama of Satya. Everything else is a lie. We are all lying through our teeth constantly; the religious person is a hypocrite that speaks of higher ideals and does the opposite; we try to be nice to others, when actually deep down we hate them. We say we love others, but actually we are just using others for our own interests. We create rules and laws and promise to abide by them, but actually constantly break them. We have such elaborate self defense mechanisms to protect our self from truth, because the truth threatens our existence.

The ego hates the truth, because that truth would extinguish it. The real truth, according to Hinduism, is that which comes from our being itself. That is immutable, a categorical imperative, it is our atman dharma. The Yama of Satya is thinking, speaking and acting that truth. They who acts from that truth have power in what they say, what they say comes true. This is why the ancients feared the wrath of the Risis, because the Risis's curse would actually come true because it was coming from being itself. Alternatively, they seeked the blessing of the Risi or the Guru, because that blessing was real. Somebody operating from truth is indomitable and powerful, their speech, their words can penetrate deep into your being.

If you've understood this you may know understand why Krishna would tell Arjuna to lie and why Krishna would cheat. These are not coming from pure being, these are man-made laws and thus they apply to the only the realm of the society that created them, not to the realm of Krishna, not the realm of the transcendent.

The greatest way of practicing the Yama of Satya is live your life according to the highest truth and never to hestitate from doing that.

 

[Surya Deva]

Aparigrath - non possessiveness

We live in a very greedy culture today, constantly wanting new things - objects, knowledge, power, fame. How many of us can say that we are happy and content with what we have? Even more importantly, how many of us can say we own what we have? Ever heard the phrase, "Does it have your name on it?" nothing we think we own has our name on it, it does not belong to us. All of this belongs to that supreme being alone, not to us. We are just using it. This is what Hinduism says. As soon as we think we own it and grow attached to it that is when reality hits us, and can hit us very hard. I am sure you have heard stories of those really filthy rich people who end up losing everything and end up on the street. The same could easily happen to us, everything we think we own, can be lost in a single moment. Do you remember how the Jews in Germany, a highly affluent and prosperous people, were stripped of everything by Hitler? Or what about India, once the most richest, respected and prosperous nations in the world, became one of the most poorest and disrespected.

As soon as we starting hoarding things and claiming ownership over them that is when karma kicks in. It is no coincidence that the rich and powerful ALWAYS become a target. The Aristrocrats were exterminated by the revolting peasents, they never would have guessed the horrors of the revolutions. Even today America being the richest and most powerful, attracts nothing but utter contempt of the world.

The nature of capital is to flow and when it stops flowing that is when huge economic crisis takes place. That is the huge contradiction in capitalism, because capitalism is to monopolize and monopoly means there is no flow. When there is no flow there is massive crisis. Karl Marx was right to predict that capitalism will end in revolution and we are seeing it unfold before our very eyes. What will happen in America if there is an economic depression, civil wars, the rich and powerful will become the enemy. If only America practiced this Yama of Aparigrah, then this crisis would not have happened.

I hope you can see the virtue and the wisdom behind this Yama. It would work for a whole nation, then it would work for an individual as well. This Yama says be content with what you have and appreciate it as long as you have it, if you lose it later and get something else, then be content with that and appreciate that. The more you will appreciate what the world is giving you and less you try to possess it, the more the world will give to you. This is true, people who do try to covet things, find that things keep coming to them, opportunity is always knocking on their door.

Thus the Yama of Aparigah is living a humble life, acceptings things as they come, and not mourning when they go. That person lives outside the karmic loop which greed causes and is always blessed by wealth.

 

[Surya Deva]

I think I will finish the Yamas for today(there is only one more after this one) and do the Niyamas tomorrow. I hope you are finding the reading interesting, I am trying to keep it as brief as possible, so as not to innundate you with loads of text!

Asteya - non stealing

Those of you familiar with Hindu epics and especially charitable characters like Dhanveer(the victor of giving) Karna from the Mahabharata, will be familiar with the idea of debt. Karna would never take from anyone, because he knew taking involved debt to whom one has take from. This is how a noble character like Karna got trapped by Duryodhana, because Duryodhana offered him an entire kingdom which he did not deserve by birth, and in return he give Duryodhana his unconditional loyalty for as long as he lived. In Indian culture there are many debts we have pay back: the debt to the teacher(gurudakshina) the one who educates us; the debt to our ancestors by furthering the human race and continuing the good work they did and remembering them; the debt to our parents, the ones who have brought us up, we need to be there in their retirement age to look after them; we also have a debt to nature, because we take food from nature, resources from nature, and that debt is to be paid back by looking after nature like our own mother; the debt to the animals for providing us milk, ghee, better, honey, plants.

Basically whatever we take brings us karmic debt and if we do not give it back, we are, as Krishna says categorically in the Gita - thieves! Krishna also says that he who takes without giving will have what he has taken be destroyed(by karma) Capitalism hates Hinduism, because Hinduism completely goes against what keeps Capitalism alive --- debt! It is said in Hinduism the worst state to be in is in debt, always avoid debt if you can. If you do not pay it back, you will come back again to repay it, be assured of that.

What kind of debt? If you abandon your parents like many do today you have a debt towards them. If you do not repay your teacher back by using that knowledge for advancement, then you have a debt to your teacher. If you extract from earth all her minerals and resources, you have a debt to the earth. If you take somebodies idea and do not credit them, you have a debt to that person. If you steal somebodies limelight you have a debt to that person.

You will have to repay your debt and karma will work in very mysterious ways to restore the balance. Therefore the wisdom of the Asteya Yama is don't get yourself in debt in the first place, and if you have to, make sure you only take as much as you can give back. Thus the wisdom of this Yama is don't just take, give as well.

To practice the Yama is Asetya in life always be aware of what you have taken and humble yourself to that supreme being for what he has given you. If you have enough then give a little to those who don't have enough. Be more green and look after the environment. Respect and honour your parents. Listen to others, don't just talk, the greatest gift we can give another person is to listen to them, allow them to express themselves. I know how much I appreciate when somebody sincerely listens to me, and I know how much others appreciate me when I listen to them. There have been times when I have encountered a complete stranger, who is distressed, and simply by being there for them and listening to them, I help them so much. They later thank me for being there for them, and all I ever did was just listen to them.

In a nutshell Asteya is about giving back what you have taken.

 

[Surya Deva]

This post concludes with the final Yama

Brahmacharya - mind-control

Brahmacharya is often translated as celibacy. This translation is indeed one of the translations but it is limited. The literal translation of Brahmacharya is, "the disciple of Brahma" which means sublimating your little self into the Self(Brahma) by controlling your mind. In Hinduism it is said that the mind is the source of all suffering and pain, and the purpose of Hinduism is yoke that mind to the Self through Yoga. The practice of attuning your mind to the higher mind and this can only be achieived by gaining mastery over your own mind, rather than it being the master of you. Many of us do not think of ourselves as the slaves of the mind, because we identify with the mind, and we identify with its craving and desires. If mind says, "You hate this" we say, "I hate this" if mind says, "you want" you say ,"I want" You completely misidentify yourself with your own mind and becomes subordinate to it. The mind is nothing more than a machine, a material thing, it is a thing of habits and more you identify yourself with your mind the more robotic you become and the more habitual your life becomes. One can really appreciate this in people who are actually insane, they identify with their mind so much that they begin to believe in its fictions, "I am in contact with the Zeta aliens from planet Zog!" and mind is capable of such utter absurdity that Einstein was right to say that its stupidity is infinite. Aren't we sometimes shocked by the behaviour of people in the world, and we say "Now I've seen everything!" The mind is simply a processor that sorts and makes associations and sometimes it gets those associations terribly wrong. All forms of racism, sexism, elitesm and fundamentalism are malfunctions in the mind. In Psychology we say that the subject has failed to discriminate. Thus mind is actually a very dangerous thing if not controlled and can destroy a person completely. Hence why Hinduism tells us to practice the Yama of Brahmacharya.

Brahmacharya is about bringing our senses under our control by reinging them in. The senses at present are pointed outwards seeking their objects of desire, but actually nothing out there in the real world will satiate our desire. It is like trying to quench our thrist with a mirage. The world 'out there' is just shifting forms, and what we seek - happiness - is not out there, it's within us. But as long as those senses are pointed out there, we can never attain happiness. Krishna explains in the Gita that it is desire that causes all suffering. It begins with a desire, when we do not obtain our object of desire, we become angry, when we become angry it leads to depression and depression kills memory and that dulls our intelligence. When our intelligence is dulled we lose the connection(it becomes clouded) with our higher mind and we begin to besucked in into a world of mindlessness and spiral into oblivion. How true is this? Well think about it. Have you ever been in a situation where you are really angry and you cannot think straight? You are angry because you desire a certain outcome and it has not transpired as you wanted it to be, this has lead to your intelligence being clouded, and in such a state you are capable of acting completely mindlessly. This is when you literally have become a slave of your mind.

Perhaps you can see the wisdom in this Yama of Brahmacharya now and why it is necessary to gain control over your own mind. By having control over your own mind you can literally design your own life, conquer your fears and anxieties, increase your intelligence and be more happier and proactive. It is all about putting you back at the centre of your own life. Putting you in control. How is it done? The hardest part of practicing Brahmacharya is you have to regulate your desires and this is a very difficult task for many people, it is hard as giving up an addiction. You need will power and the ability to say no. It said that it takes 40 days for an old habit to be replaced by a new habit provided for 40 days you continue that habit without fail. So suppose for example the habit you want to develop is more mindfullness, then you will need to continue to practice that habit for 40 days without fail to fully ingrain that habit.

The ancient Hindus entered Brahmacharya from the age of 5-7 during the education phase of their life and continued it until the age of 24. In that period they regulated their desires with such precise discipline that people today living in a consumerist would consider them superhuman. But by practicing Brahmacharya for such a long period they did indeed become superhuman in their intelligence. Some even continued Brahmacharya for their entire life and many of them became Risis, who went onto to reveal the Hindu wisdom we know today.

Why is celbacy associated with Brahmacharya? The true Brahmachari did not engage in kind of sexual activity their whole life, they spent their entire life doing meditation and living a spiritual life. In Hinduism it is said that our life energy is very closely linked to our sexual energy, and everytime we deplete our sexual energy, we deplete our life energy significantly. It is said in the Kamasutra that if one can observe celibacy for a long period of time will develop great charisma and magentism. They will become incredibly desirable to the opposite sex. Those who want to develop higher faculities and psychic abilities called Siddha observe celibacy. Those who are not at all interested in the material world, in psychic powers and abilities, observe celibacy purely because they have no desire for sex.

So how should one practice Brahmacharya? In the age we are living in practicing Brahmacharya like the ancients completely driven by the desire to attain god is for a superspartan, for us practicing it in moderation is good enough, it simply means a few more lifetimes before we make it to the superspartan stage So what that means is take the middle path, do not deny any of your desires, but at the same time do not fulfill all your desires. Instead fulfil those that are necessary that meet real needs, but do not desire for false needs. Prioritize your desires e.g., "Should you really go out with your mates, when you have some work to submit the next day" , "Do you really need to have sex everyday, when you could in fact make it more special and have it every week or fortnight?", "Do you need to get yourself a new Iphone, when your old one is working well" -

Brahmacharya is about developing discipline in your life, bringing the mind under your control. It develops character and gives you depth.

 

[Surya Deva]

Moving unto the Niyamas

Niyamas: Personal observances

I am sometimes confused as to what is the difference between Niyamas and Yamas. I have opined the difference is that while Yamas are social observances, Niyamas are personal observances. The practice of Yamas will win you rewards in the world, while the practice of Niyamas will win you personal rewards like good health and faciliate your personal development.
The Yamas are sometimes called morals and the Niyamas are called ethics, now go figure what the difference is, but I think Yamas tend to have a more universal character about them, whereas the Niyamas are for the indivividual alone. If you breach Yama you incur negative karma in the world and if you breach Niyamas you incur negative karma personally.

Now begins an exposition on the Niyamas:

Saucha - purity and cleansiness

In Hinduism the body is seen as a temple of god and the mind as the conduit. To invite god into our temple we need to maintain a certain standard of cleansiness. To host the most divine entity himself within us we need to be pure ourselves. Indeed not even god, if we want any kind of divinity within us in the form of wisdom, blessings, confidence, intuition, health we will need to maintain cleansiness.

We know that where there is uncleansliness disease is not far away. Germs and negative energies thrive in environments of uncleansiliness, especially in the air. This is why the Hindus conducted special rituals called Yagnas, also known as Agnihotra or Homa, a fire sacrifice whereby food-stuff like rice, ghee, fruits were given into a fire along with recitation of highly positive Sanskrit Mantras, the effect was and this has also been scientifically studied today, the fumes released from the sacrifice would have a medicinal and purifying effect on the air, and have an anti-germ and bacterial effect, making the surroundings germ and bacteria free. It also been studied with respect to pollution and radiation and again it has been observed that it has a healing effect on both. Today Homa therapy which uses ancient Vedic Yagnas is used to purify the air in places and it is highly recommended that Hindus have Yagnas done in their home once in a while.

For those who do not have access to Homa specialists, there are alternatives; aromatherpahy, burning essential oils; burning incense; burning scented candles. It is important that fire be present because fire has the activating energy which has a destructive effect on the germs in the air and it aids in the dispersion of the of the fragrant substances. This is declared many times in the Veda. It is the Agni or fire principle which brings about all purification and it is with Agni that all other principles are activated, without there being any expending of heat energy, nothing can be produced or destroted. In a sense there is an echo of the third law of thermodynamics in the Vedic injunction. The Vedas see fire as the the messenger deity that carries our offerings into the celestial and brings back its fruit. I understand it to be none other than the E = Mc2 of relativity. The energy that is produced is a an exact transformation of the substance which is being transformed at the speed of light both ways(the transformation of matter into energy and energy into matter).

When you are meditating it is especially useful to burn some kind of essential oil or fragrant substance as it creates a particular atmosphere conducive to meditation. It is also important that one should regularly burn incense, essential oil and/or fragrant candles in their home. It will purify the air and also dispell negative vibrations, leading to a much more positive and cleaner home.

The other consideration to take is Vaastu or what many would be familiar with as Feng Shui. Vaastu Science is a highly developed architectural science and basically all Hindu temples are designed as per this science. It is strongly beleived in Vaastu that certain geometrical forms channel energy more effectively than others, such as forms that are effective channels of energy are pyramids and domes. Some Hindus have their homes designed as per the principles of Vaastu. What a Vaastu designed structure has over a non-Vaastu designed structure, is that Vaastu works with a higher science of spiritual energy or prana. It understand that everything is made of this subtle energy and uses this energy to flow in productive ways in the home to be beneficial. But not many of us have the luxury of investing in Vaastu built homes, but we can take some tips of redesigning our homes or even our rooms according to Vaastu principles to make energy flow better. I am not an expert in Vaastu, so I can only suggest if you are interested in how to utilise Vaastu principles, then do some research on it independently. But there are definitely some common sense ideas from Vaastu that we can employ:

1) Get rid of clutter; all clutter leads to energy being scattered
2) Get rid of things you don't need; papers, catalogues, paranphanelia; this lightens the load in ones home and frees up energy
3) More space is better; this does not mean live in a empty room, but make sure that you have enough space to breath in
4) Keep your house tidy
5) Install something like a fountain in your liviing room; this promotes flow of prana. Have plants, especially something like Basil in your home, because they produce clean oxygen and Prana.

So far I have covered only the cleansiness of the environment. Even more important than that is personal cleansiness, especially of body and mind. Ayurveda was the science that Hinduism developed to deal with the body and mind, to rid them of toxins(even mind has toxins) and because this is such a vast subject, again I cannot cover it here and encourage those who are interested to do independent research on Ayurveda. But here are some tips I can share from Ayurveda

1) Eat healthy: The most healthy food is fruit and vegetables. Secondary to that is dairy and honey. This is all considered sattvic food, it that which promotes the highest quality of prana in the body and mind, and is good for both. If you are non-veg, try to include more vegetarian options in your food intake and limit the non-veg. Also limit the intacke of passion-inducing food(rajasic) such as chocolate and caffine. Try to avoid inertia-inducing food(tamasic) like alcohol, nicotine.

2) Exercise: The best forms of exercise for the interests of promoting Prana is Yoga Asanas and Taichi. The Yoga Asanas have been designed especially to unblock pranic pathways to get the Prana flowing again through the body. Hence why Yoga Asanas are an essential limb of Ashtanga Yoga and prescribed. Another Yogic technique for improving the Prana flow is Pranayama, Yogic breathing, and the most simplest technique of Yogic breathing is deep and controlled breathing. Pranayama is especially good for mind-control, because the mind is nothing more than a field of prana and the movement of the mind is manifest in ones breathing. Irregular or laboured breathing is a sign of mental ailment. Thus why anxiety is controlled with breathing.

3) Din acharya(daily regiment) the Yogic cleaning and purifying process is vigorous and extensive, and if you are interested please do research on it. I will share only a few tips, which must of us should be doing anyway:

1)Wake up early in the morning: Cleaning your teeth, scrapping the tongue of mucus buid up overnight, washing your face and clearing mucus from your nose, having a shower or bathing
2) Emptying your bowels
3) Self-massage: Administrating to the body medicated oils to relax it and remove tension, give it a nice frangrance and sheen(the kind of herbs one should use are based on ones body constitution type in Ayurveda)
4) Pranayama and/or Meditation
5) Study or read
6) Breakfast
7) Prioitizing your work for the rest of the day and doing that
8) Lunch
9) Going out for a walk amongst nature or socialising with friends
8) Unwinding in the evening
9) Dinner(lightest meal)
10) Meditation
11) Sleep

It is very important to have this discipline in Hinduism. The aim is not to make one robotic, the aim is to give one structure in their life which is in harmony with the rhythms of the body, mind and nature. One still has a lot of freedom within that structure to do what they want(what they eat is their choice, the work they do in the day is their choice, how they unwind is their choice, how they mediatate is their choice, what they read and study is their choice, how they socialise is their choice).

This kind of daily regiment built up on Ayurvedic principles has scientifically been shown to be highly effective in promoting health and well being. If you think about it the daily regiment we have currently in our modern culture completely goes against all the natural rhythms of body, mind and nature. The night-life culture we have in particular happens at a time when one should be sleeping , this damages our sleep patterns and this leads to stress, anxiety and the improper functioning of mind. Another problem is the food we take at random times in the day, this leads to all kinds of gastric problems.

The ancient Hindus were very healthy and lived up to 100 years of age and many past that. Today in many countries the average age is low as 60. So surely we can see that the Hindus must have been doing something right to be so healthy, and surely we can apply that wisdom to our own life to improve our own health.

 

[Surya Deva]

CONT.

So far I have covered only the the most gross of the physical part for cleansiness, but perhaps more important to that is the cleansiness of the non-physical, our thoughts. In Hinduism some thoughts are considered defilements such as thoughts of hate, envy, greed, lust and pride. They are the mental toxins. Naturally, how can one expect pure divinity to be manifest in a mind full of such toxins? But purifying these thoughts is not as easy as purifying the air, improving pranic flow, physical exercises or following a daily regiment. These problems are a lot more insidious and pervasive and while physical considerations like the aforementioned will help towards dealing with them, more profound considerations need to be made to deal with these issues directly. Hinduism has any answer to this: Vivek and Vairagya, what we today known as positive thinking. We are to select only positive thoughts and abandon all negative thoughts, and this process is not an easy one and takes a lot of commitment and determination. Most often the mental defilements we have are the result of many years or even lifetimes of impressions, and thus dealing with them is going to be a long process. Fortunately, it does not have to be as long as many years, the good news is that within months one can free oneself from these maladies, but only with sustained and determined practice of positive thinking.

The technique is very simple. When a negative thought arises, recognise that it is a negative thought and replace with the exact opposite positive thought. For example, suppose you feel envy because of someones ability or their accomplishment(maybe they got a promotion or you didn't, or maybe they are more liked than you are) then recognise your envy as a negative thought and replace it with a positive thought which equal and opposite it, and that thought is congratulating that person. I am always getting negative thoughts, I cannot begin to describe how depraved these thoughts can be, but now instead of reacting with distress everytime a negative thought happens, I react with humour at just how twisted my mind can be. After a while the vritti(thought waves) in the mind that is causing that thought begins to weaken and eventually completely disappears. Thus revisiting the example above, if you continue to congratulate the person that envy is associated with, with sustained practice of replacing that envy thought with congratulations, your mind will lose that association of envy with that person.

Another consideration to help purify your thoughts is to work directly on your speech. Is your speech littered with obscene words or negative and depressing words? Do you say "I think life is a pain in the arse" or do you say "I think life is fantastic, what an opportunity! Revamp your vocabulary and replace every word with a life-affirming and positive word. There are so many positive words one can inculcate in their life. Fantastic, brilliant, great, awesome, splendid, glistening, glowing, warm, compassionate, serene, peaceful, calming, exciting. The more you fill your vocab with words of such high vibration the more you will raise your own vibration.
This is the secret to neuro-linguistic programming; you can reprogram your mind by simpling changing the words.

Hindu Yoga psychology is a really beautiful and highly effective tool for all self-development. I really encourage everybody to integrate its principles in their life. It will transform your life.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Yama is abstentions, what one should forcefully keep away from; and Niyama is observances, something to be done regularly and made into habits.

"(1) Yama (The five "abstentions"): non-violence, non-lying, non-covetousness, non-sensuality, and non-possessiveness.
(2) Niyama (The five "observances"): purity, contentment, austerity, study, and surrender to god." (Wikipedia - Yoga)

I would agree to all, except the last of Niyamas (Surrender to God), since I am an atheist. I would replace that with contemplation of non-duality.

 

[Surya Deva]

Santosh- Contentment

Those of you have read the spiritual classic, "The Power Of Now" will fully understand what this Niyama is all about. Living in contentment is about living the here and now, being present and mindful of every moment. The Buddhists will tell you, and so do the Yogins, that this reality is impermenant, constantly changing, nothing ever remains the same here. If you identify with this constantly changing reality, then you will never be content, because it itself will never be still. We identify with this constantly changing reality all the time. Here is an everyday example, you've made good friends with somebody and are having a good time with each other, then all of a sudden your friend finds another friend and is no longer spending as much time with you, in fact perhaps they are even spending more time with the other. You resent this new friend and you resent the situation for this new friend arising. This is the story of many lives, in some form this example has played out in our life. How many times do we have think to our selves when somebody we don't like walks in, "Oh no, it's him/her" but can we have any control on where they go? No. The fact is we cannot have any control on anything outside of us in live, and if we think we are in control, reality will hit us at some point. The fact is the world is an impermenant place, it is constantly changing, nothing will ever remain the same; things will come and go; people will come and go, even our personalities will come and go.

The hardest pill to swallow is the breavement of a loved ones. It is hard to accept it has happened, but at the same time it is a reality of life; what is born must die one day. Some of us are unfortunate to see our loved ones leave sooner that we would like. That is when reality can be very cruel, but we have to accept that, as difficult or impossible as it seems.

I remember counselling someone online once who was threatening suicide. The reason for this was trivial, their spouse had left them. They had only known their spouse for a few years, but the pain of break-up was so strong, they were going to end the life they had lived for many more years for that one relationship. Again, I understand that break-ups are tough, but they are also a fact of reality. Again we do not have control over the other person and what is going on in their.

Being content means that we develop an attitude in our life that becomes indifferent to the rising and falling of pain and pleasure. Come what may, we remain in a steady state of mind, accepting that reality is impermenant and accepting every moment as it comes and being fully present within that moment. When you're walking; you walking; when you're sleeping you're sleeping; when you're listening, you're listening; when you're talking, you're talking. You put more consciousness into every event that is happening in your life and become that event. This happens all the time when we are fully conscious and immersed in something, when we are watching a movie we are really into, we forget that we are watching the movie. The experience of the watcher, watching and the watched become one and we become the movie. If there is a sad scene in the the movie it makes us cry; a funny ones makes us laugh; a thrilling one brings us to the edge of our seat. Imagine if you could live just like that, so immersed within what you are doing, that you become what you are doing. Then you can never be discontent, because irrespective of the moment, you become that moment. You flow with nature, every experience becomes a new experience and life becomes an endless self-discovery.

 

[Surya Deva]

Tapsya - Austerity, will power


I am going to admit this is the hardest Niyama I find to practice and yet by definition it is the most easiest. One does not require volumes of explanation for what austerity and will power is.
I recently started a thread requesting the real experts of Hinduism(myself being the pseudo expert) to help me with this one, but realising in the end, I already know what to do. The Hindu scriptures have already prescribed what I need to do, but the problem is doing what Hinduism prescribes, requires will power to do it! There is no magic formula, no set routine of Pranayamas and Yogic Asanas, no special diet, no amulet or crystal to wear, no theory that can develop will power for you. This how I've been thinking for years and years, suffering from performance anxiety and extreme procrastination, but and it hasn't happened. I thought I would just learn all the theory involved and then when everything becomes clear, the will power comes automatically. Nope, I was a fool to think that. Will power is not something that is developed; it is realised by doing alone. That is it, the secret of will power is doing. You just do whatever needs to be done. You make a sanpalkh or resolve, and then just do it. I know just how hard that is, well for me at least because I suffer extreme procrastination, I tend to leave everything to the last minute and then I have to do it or very bad things will happen. But if I was wise enough to do what needed to be done when I knew It had to be done, then I would not be in such a mess near the deadline. Again there is no magic pill to give oneself will power, doing is a necessary sacrifice and austerity that we have to undertake, no matter how painful it is. None of the Yamas or Niyamas can be applied in our life without doing them. Some of you wlll read about them, think to yourself, "oh what a good idea" and never look back again. It is the nature of the ego to do that. It's like buying a book and then never reading it(I do that all the time!) Many of us start meditation practice and give up because we just cannot keep the will power to keep going. Again I have started meditation and Yoga practice, done it for a while, then stopped and gone through many cycles of that. Iv'e done the same with the Gym. I know I am not the only one(maybe more extreme than others though) and the solution is very simple: keep going. I remember reading this in 'Conversations with God' as well, the secret of the masters is that once they resolve on something, they keep at it.

Try to break the pattern sometime. Pick up a book and read it from start to finish and enjoy it. Do not put it down until you have read it. This is the practice of the Niyama of Tapasya(and when combined with the Niyama of Santosh it is very effective tool to succeed in life)

 

[Surya Deva]

Swadhyaya - introspective self-study, spiritual study

This Niyama can be summed up with the latin phrase, "Know thyself" This does not pertain to any kind of outer knowledge, say of physical sciences or social sciences, it pertains to the inner-self, it pertains to life itself. Krishna tells us in the Gita that Jnana(self-knowledge) is what the Yogins pursue, not for the sake of knowledge in and of itself, but to act in knowledge. To live life one must become conscious of what life really is, they must find out who they are and what this duties are and how to live more artfully, before they live. We don't have the luxury of retiring into a cave or monestary to study life, and while this is encouraged by certain sects of Hinduism and Buddhism, Krishna in the Gita repudiates it strongly, as does Guru Nanak dev ji of Sikhism. Instead the Gita and Sikhism say that Jnana/Gnosis should be a progressive endeavour and a part of worldly life itself. Guru Nanak in particular prescribes that life should be divided equally between personal, religious and social pursuits. In fact, I would argue, that what Guru Nanak is prescribing is the best way to learn about yourself. How can you learn about yourself by bordering yourself up from the rest of the world, then you only learn one aspect about yourself, you don't learn what you are in a world context. It is interactions with the world that enable us to learn about ourselves, it is moment of crisis in the world where we learn about ourselves, it is the world's challenges to us that enable us to learn about ourselves.

How to learn about oneself? The Niyama of Swadhaya tells us that we learn by a combination of self-study by constantly inquiring into "Who am I?" by self-observation, noting the evolution of our desires, beliefs and personality and the quality of interactions with the world. This should not be mere intellectual exercise like psychoanalysis, but by actually living life and becoming an observer of our own thought processes, without any attempt to judge what is going on. The other method is to study spiritual literature like the Upanishads, Gita, Vedas, Buddhist Sutra texts, Tantras, Gnostic texts, because they help us understand what we are observing.

Swadhaya is also best done in meditation when we can study who we really are in the light of meditation and more conscious awareness. Thus Swadhaya can actually turn life into a meditation itself, learning about ourselves constantly through wordly experience, our interactions with others, through scriptures and through actual meditation itself. A tool that really helps to practice this Niyama is keeping a diary or a journal, recording within it everything you find out about yourself.

 

[Surya Deva]

This will now conclude the final Niyama and thus conclude all the posts on Yama and Niyama.

Ishwarapranidhana: Surrender to god

Krishna says in the Gita that one who surrenders him to him becomes completely liberated and free of all karma and duality. He says that Krishna loves that soul that surrenders his will to him completely. The act of surrendering is submitting that control we have to god itself and letting god direct our life, we then become nothing more than instruments of the divine will. The metaphorical message pervades the Mahabharata where Arjuan submits his control over to Krishna and then Krishna leads him to victory. The is the greatest sacrifice the ego can make, letting go of all control, its own wishes and desires, it's own sense of selfhood. To many this Niyama is a repugnant suggestion. But it is the ego that finds this repugnant. The ego wants to preserve itself own self, it wants to preserve its individiduality, but Hindusim directly says that it has no self of its own and no light of its own, it is just like the moon, it shines because of light of the sun, and not because of its own light. Once all the thoughts have been ceased by the practice of Yoga(chitt vriti nirodha: all thoughts-waves ceased) then there is no longer a mind or an ego, then the realisation dawns that the divine will is the true will. That the divine is the true controller and hence is Ishwara(supreme controller)

The concept of god will vary for each individual; some will see it as anthromorphic forum, some will see it as energy, some will see as an abstract, infinite and perfect. Whatever ones concept of god, the Niyama of Ishwarapranidhana is subverting yourself to that. To have intense love for that only and to let that drive your life. Everything one does should be only for that and nothing else. This Niyama cultivates the quality of supreme humility and makes you realise that the universe and you are not separate, but part of each other.

 

[Surya Deva]

Now to tie everything up into a lifestyle, the Hindu way.

The Yamas and Niyamas lay down the foundation to the Hindu way of life. Many people here who are Indian will probably know about Indian values like respecting your parents and your elders, being humble and accepting of whatever life gives you and living in harmony with the world. The Indian way of life even today stresses these values, especially of living in harmony with the world. But it is missing some parts that enable one to understand why we live like that, and this is where knowing about the Yamas and Niyamas comes in. It can tie all the loose ends together neatly and give a prescription for life which is very effective and when followed sincerely will guarantee success.

The Hindu Yamas and Niyamas are not like the religious moral commandments in other religions, which tend to be vague and never really explain why one should adhere to them. The Hindu Yamas and Niyamas are based on sound scientififc principles and an undestanding of exactly how life works beyond the mundane. e.g., an understanding of the law of Karma underlies all of the Yamas, and that and an understanding of psychology and biology, underlies all of the Niyamas.
You should experiment with these Yamas and Niyamas and see what they bring you in life. Take for example Asetya; if you give you will receive. Practice giving, with honest intention with no expectation of anything in return, and watch yourself how life will start giving to you. Do Tapasya; watch how just the act of doing itself builds will power. I gurantee you that you do these practices and your life will take a turn for the better.

Now here is how Hinduism would recommend you live your life, taking into account every Yama and Niyama. You should live your life with humility and simplicity, being humble to the world, accepting whatever you have and being content with that you have. You should have an attitude that the world is transitory and nothing will ever remain, so whatever you get appreciate it, but don't become attached to it, because it is nature of things to dissolve. This includes all relationships you have, even people come and go. You should not covet things and desire things that you don't really need, learn to regulate your desires by practicing brahmacharya, rise above your desires and become self-sovereign and the master of your mind. Have an ideal in life and let that ideal be whatever concept of god you have, submit eveything you have, your entire being to the realisation of that ideal. Live by that truth and make it your highest truth, and never go against that truth, even if you have to renounce everything. To host that divinity within you purify yourself; practice vivek and vairgya to replace all mental defilements with positive thoughts; keep your mind and body very healthy and let your home be a clean and tidy place, full of positive vibrations and fragrances. Live your life according to the higher principles of Yamas and be disciplined and remain in harmony with the rhythms of your mind, body and nature. Such as sleeping at night. Make your diet a sattvic diet and include more fruit and veg and eat at the right times(breakfast morning, lunch afternoon, and dinner evening) devote at least one slot in the day to studying and reading spiritual literature and try to do meditation at least twice a day for as long as you can. Become a detached observer of your own life and witness eveything and take note it down in a journal or diary at the end of the day so you can know yourself better, this will always give you the clue as to what to do next in life.

Do practice giving to others and the greatest gift you can give to others is simply to listen intently to them, everybody appreciates being heard. If you take, take only as much as can give back, because remember the Yama of Asteya, everything we take is a karmic debt. So give back to others by appreciating them and listening to them. If you have surplus money, give some of it to those who need it more than you. Remain environmentally friendly and live a green life, look after nature and the animals, as if they were your own family.

Finally, remember again that the world is transitory, everything is impermenant, including the body you live in, which you will have to give up at some point. Therefore live in the here and now, in the moment and live as consciously as you can so that you become that moment. Become indifferent to pain and pleasure, see them for what they are seasons whih come and go, and be steady in mind.

This is in short what a Hindu way of life is and in my opinion a very noble way of living life.