"Yama" has different meanings. It may mean "rein, curb, or bridle, discipline or restraints" In the present context, it is used to mean "self-control, forbearance, or any great rule or duty". It can also be interpreted as "attitude" or "behavior". Certainly a particular attitude can be expressed as discipline, which then influences our behavior.
Patanjali's Yoga Sutra mentions five different yama, that is, behavior patterns or relationships between the individual and the outside world.
The prescribed rules are:
1. Ahimsa (Harmlessness).
· The word ahimsa literally means not to injure or show cruelty to any creature or any person in any way whatsoever.
· Ahimsa is, however, more than just lack of violence as adapted in yoga. It means kindness, friendliness, and thoughtful consideration of other people and things.
· It also has to do with our duties and responsibilities too.
· It could even mean that we must fight if our life is in danger.
· Ahimsa implies that in every situation we should adopt a considered attitude.
2. Satya (Truthfulness).
· Satya means "to speak the truth," yet it is not always desirable to speak the truth on all occasions, for it could harm someone unnecessarily. We have to consider what we say, how we say it, and in what way it could affect others. If speaking the truth has negative consequences for another, then it is better to say nothing.
· Satya should never come into conflict with our efforts to behave with ahimsa. The Mahabharata, the great Indian epic, says: "Speak the truth which is pleasant. Do not speak unpleasant truths. Do not lie, even if the lies are pleasing to the ear. That is the eternal law, the dharma." Please note that this does not mean speak lie. Keeping quiet and saying lies are two different things.
3. Asteya (Non-stealing).
· Asteya means - to take nothing that does not belong to us.
· This also means that if we are in a situation where someone entrusts something to us or confides in us, we do not take advantage of him or her.
· We are to refrain from taking that which is not ours by right of consciousness and karma.
4. Brahmacharya (Sense-control).
· Brahmacharya is a movement toward the essential truth. It is used mostly in the sense of abstinence, particularly in relationship to sexual activity.
· Brahmacharya suggests that we should form relationships that foster our understanding of the highest truths.
· If sensual pleasures are part of those relationships, we must take care that we keep our direction and do not get lost.
· Avoid relationships that make us deviate from finding the eternal truth. On the path of serious, constant searching for truth, there are certain ways of controlling the perceptual senses and sexual desires.
· Brahmacharya does not necessarily imply celibacy. Rather, it means responsible behavior with respect to our goal of moving toward the truth.
5. Aparigraha (Neutralizing the desire to acquire and hoard wealth)
· Parigraha means "to take" or "to seize." Aparigraha means to take only what is necessary, and not to take advantage of a situation or act greedy.
· We should only take what we have earned; if we take more, we are exploiting someone else.
· In addition, unearned rewards can bring with them obligations that might later cause problems.
The Yoga Sutra describes what happens when these five behaviors outlined above become part of a person's daily life:
· As we develop ahimsa (kindness and consideration); our presence will create pleasant and friendly feelings in those around us.
· And if we remain true to the idea of satya, everything we say will be truthful. We will become trustworthy. In India, one's word is considered one's biggest asset.
· The Yoga Sutra also states that a person who is firmly anchored in asteya will receive all the jewels of this world. Such a person may not be interested in material wealth, but he or she will have access to the finest things in life. The more we recognize and search for the meaning of the essential truth, the less will we be distracted by other things? Certainly it requires great strength to take this path.
· The Yoga Sutra teaches that the more faith we have, the more energy we have. At the same time we also have more strength to pursue our goals. So the more we seek the truth in the sense of brahmacharya, the more vitality we will have to do so.
· Parigraha is the increasing orientation toward material things. If we reduce parigraha and develop aparigraha, we are orienting ourselves more inwardly. The less time we spend on our material possessions, the more we have to spend on investigating all that we call yoga. We will learn to enjoy what we have rather than constantly seeking things we don't have and never getting satisfied in life. It is a scientific fact that the more money and material possessions we have, the more stressful we become.
Thus, the yamas are the moral virtues which, if attended to, purify human nature and contribute to health and happiness of society.
2. Pranayama (Breath Control)
Pranayama is the fourth limb of Ashtanga Yoga. Pranayama is the measuring, control, and directing of the breath. Pranayama controls the energy within the organism, in order to restore and maintain health and to promote evolution.
Pranayama gives control of breathing processes and control of vital force. When the inflowing breath is neutralized or joined with the out flowing breath, then perfect relaxation and balance of body activities are realized.
In yoga, we are concerned with balancing the flows of vital forces, then directing them inward to the chakra system and upward to the crown chakra or thousand petaled lotus (sahasara).
Pranayama or breathing technique is very important in yoga. It goes hand in hand with the asana or pose.
In the Yoga Sutras, the practices of pranayama and asana are considered to be the highest form of purification and self discipline for the mind and the body, respectively. The practices produce the actual physical sensation of heat, called tapas, or the inner fire of purification. It is taught that this heat is part of the process of purifying the nadis, or subtle nerve channels of the body. This allows a more healthful state to be experienced and allows the mind to become calmer.
Pranayama is training in proper breathing. Pranayam can lead us into Meditation to heal our mind, body and spirit.
"Prana" means vital force of energy. And "Ayama" is the storing and distribution - regulation of energy. There is an intimate connection between body and mind. Breathing is a vital tool to control the mind and thinking pattern.
As the cells of organs such as the heart, lungs, brain, blood, muscles and bowel get deprived of oxygen, they start degenerating & disease slowly starts developing. Therefore, it is important to learn correct breathing, and maintenance of correct posture.
Benefits Of Pranayama:
1. Increase in Lung capacity utilization up to 95%.
2. Increase in the life span.
3. Improved mind and body coordination.
4. Increase in energy for day to day activities.
5. Mental peace and emotional balance.
6. Lowering blood pressure, managing respiratory, digestive etc. disorders with regular practice.
7. Complete rejuvenation of body and mind.
8. Reduction in aging process.
3. Pratyahara (Retraction of the Senses)
Pratyahara is the fifth limb of Ashtanga Yoga. Pratyahara means drawing back or retreat. The word ahara means "nourishment"; pratyahara translates as "to withdraw oneself from that which nourishes the senses." In yoga, the term pratyahara implies withdrawal of the senses from attachment to external objects.
What does this mean? It means our senses stop living off the things that stimulate; the senses no longer depend on these stimulants and are not fed by them any more.
Let us look at this concept a little closely. When we see a sunset, first our eyes are drawn to it; the eyes sent a message to the brain; the brain computer will assimilate the information sent by the eyes and form the picture of the sunset. This is the way our senses function normally. But there is also the possibility that the most beautiful sunset on earth will not attract our attention, will not engage our senses, because we are deeply immersed in something else.
We may be concentrating on something without any awareness of what is going around us. Normally the senses say to the mind: "Look at this! Smell this! Touch that!" The senses register an object and the mind is drawn to it at once.
In pratyahara we sever this link between mind and senses, and the senses withdraw. Each sense perception has a particular quality to which it relates: the eyes relate to the form of something; the ears to the sound, the vibration it makes; the nose to its smell.
In pratyahara it is as if things are spread out with all their attractions before our senses, but they are ignored; the senses remain unmoved and uninfluenced.
In effect the brain will disregard all that is received by the various sensory organs and will only accept and process the signals sent by sensory organs at the command of the brain.
Now we have control over our senses rather than being controlled by them.
For example, when we are totally absorbed in the breath during pranayama, pratyahara occurs quite automatically. The mind is so intensely occupied with the breath that all links between mind, senses, and external objects that have nothing to do with the breath are cut off.
So pratyahara is not a state of sleep. The senses are quite capable of responding, but they do not because they have withdrawn or detached.
When the senses are no longer tied to external sources, the result is restraint, interiorization or pratyahara.
Now that the vital forces are flowing back to the Source within, one can concentrate without being distracted by externals or the temptation to cognize externals.
A person experiences this state, to a degree, just before going to sleep or upon awakening. We are aware of what is going on; but, are not overly influenced by what is going outside.
We can achieve a similar condition at any time of the day by practicing pratyahara. It is easy for us to "be in the world but not of it" when we learn to practice interiorization of the sense currents.
We can be aware of the world (at times other than during meditation) but not be attached to it. Practicing this restraint, one soon finds that tendencies and habits are neutralized, because "needs" are abandoned. This discipline allows us to practice meditation any time any place.
Pratyahara occurs almost automatically when we meditate because we are so absorbed in the object of meditation. Precisely because the mind is so focused, the senses follow it; it is not happening the other way around. No longer functioning in their usual manner, the senses become extraordinarily sharp.
Under normal circumstances the senses become our masters rather than being our servants. The senses entice us to develop cravings for all sorts of things. In pratyahara the opposite occurs: when we have to eat we eat, but not because we have a craving for food. In pratyahara we try to put the senses in their proper place, but not cut them out of our actions entirely.
Much of our emotional imbalance is our own creation. A person who is influenced by outside events and sensations can never achieve the inner peace and tranquility. This is because he or she will waste much mental and physical energy in trying to suppress unwanted sensations and to heighten other sensations. This will eventually result in a physical or mental imbalance, and will, in most instances, results in illness.
Patanjali says that the above process is at the root of human unhappiness and uneasiness. When people seek out yoga, hoping to find that inner peace which is so evasive, they find that it was theirs all along.
In a sense, yoga is nothing more than a process which enables us to stop and look at the processes of our own minds; only in this way can we understand the nature of happiness and unhappiness, and thus transcend them both.
Contributed by: harinag49 @ yahoo.co.in
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- How Does the Mind Work? By Shyam Mehta
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