New to Yama/Niyama

[Rudy]

I will be trying (Key word) to live my life more acording to the Yama, Niyama's. For those of you that are converts how did you start living your life acording to these ethics? Where did you start? How did you remember them through out the day? Any usefull tips?

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam Rudy: For me, you are talking about the big jump from intellect to practice. For some, it can be huge. But first you need the basic understanding.

The first yama can be considered the leader, and the rest sort of follow. For me bhakti has always had a softening effect, so that's where I am. Do the bhakti, feel the energy, immerse, if only temporarily in that.

When rougher thoughts occur (and they do, as we're not perfect) go back to the mantra or bhajan resonating in the mind. The thought goes away, is dissipated by the energy.

Another view is we are consciously moving awareness from one place to another, using will. In the case of the first yama, it is consciously shifting from hitting the mosquito to blowing it off your arm.

One earlier discussion: http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/sho...ht=yama+niyama

Aum Namasivaya

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté Rudy,

Any usefull tips?

If you read them ( yama and niyama) note the order they are in... there is a sequence to this brilliance.
Note the 1st yama is non-injury. The 1st niyama is cleanliness. There is a reason to start there, as these then become the baseline for the next set in the list.
Now the ~advanced technique~ for these. Read the yama and niyama's often as you can during the week. Note the fruits that are to come from these actions. Just read them, understand them the best you can without straining.

The point to be made... avoid boiling the ocean. Take them a step at a time. If you try to do all the practices at one time, this causes only angst. Get comfortable and confident with each before moving on.

Our memory seems to have a 1/2 life - we read them and we are infused with vigor and focus. Then a few days later this inspiration tends to dissipate, so its time to re-fill the focus again. Like that we move forward.

Also - a good copy of patañjali’s yogadarśana ( yoga sūtra-s) will be beneficial. I have several books yet the one that I keep going back to is by yogāchārya svāmi hariharānanda āraṇa (founder of the Kāpila Monastery). You will find the yama's and niyama's competently explained therein.

praṇām

[sunyata07]

Namaste,

EM points out something that can be easily missed. There is a difference between reading about the yamas and the niyamas and then actually living them each day. It can be made easier if you start off with one you can focus on, and then to improve your conduct from there. I second Yajvan's advice on seeking a good translation and commentary of Patanjali's yoga sutras. It's one of those works you should dip into every now and again to refresh your understanding of the observances. With practice and devotion, observing these guidelines should become easier.

Om namah Shivaya

[Ramakrishna]

Namaste Rudy,

It is good that you'll be actively striving to live according to the yamas and niyamas. They really are the foundation of Hindu morality, the "Ten Commandments" of Santana Dharma, so-to-speak, although much more profound.

A good point has been raised here that actively striving to live by the yamas and niyamas is going from the intellectual side to the practical side of it. As Sunyata says, it's one thing to just read and think about them, but it's another thing to live by them. You will also see that each tenet is also very widely encompassing and there is much more to it than you may initially think. Just take ahimsa, for example. It is much more than just being a vegetarian and not killing animals. It also encompasses our very thoughts and words, not having violent thoughts in our mind or spewing violent rhetoric.

EMji started a series of threads last year on the different yamas and niyamas and how we each try to live by them. They are scattered throughout the Pantanjali subforum. You can remember them throughout the day just by remembering God throughout the day. Remember and think of God and Sanatana Dharma in everything you do and through that you will remember these timeless tenets of ethics and morality to live by.

Jai Sri Ram

[WTyler]

When ever I have a list of lifestyle rules given to me--before following them I spend an entire month breaking all of them. You know, just to see what the other side would be like.

I was straight edge once, so the month before I went on a month long bender of Opium and Kool-Aid. I ended up in Thailand with a very strange tattoo and a very peculiar scar. My name had also been legally changed to Sergio Enchilada. Odd, yes. But needless to say, my straight edge-ness meant so much more to me.

So I would say, go crazy for a little bit, don't shower start lying, be really greedy. Then just go head in with the good stuff. It's what I did.

It works 80% of the time, ALL the time.

(I'm totally joking).

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: I think that unintentionally Swami Satchidananda did a disservice to the proper spread of SD in the west when he appeared at the rock festival Woodstock, when by his presence, he condoned (again unintentionally) many of the behaviours going on there. Rampant drug use and sexual promiscuity, mostly.

SD starts at Yama 1, not at the Vedas, or Advaita Vedanta. The study of Vedas and Advaita or other deeper beliefs are natural outcomes. And within yama 1 is vegetarianism.

Aum Namasivaya

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namast�

more on yama and niyama here:

• yama of ahiṁsā - http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2956

• 5 niyama-s http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2970

praṇām

[Rudy]

Yes I realize trying to live by even on would be hard in the very begning but what the heck it's like learning to play the banjo (my musical instrument ) I'm geussing start sooner and practice it every day and you get better (but start small).