Yama & Niyama

I think nothing about yoga could be more sadly misunderstood than the principles of Yama and Niyama. As you may already know, according to an ancient and widely accepted system set down by the yogi Pantanjali, there are 8 "limbs" (astanga) of yoga, which are arranged in an order suggesting that they might be steps towards the ultimate goal of union with God. Considering that the translation of the sanskrit word "yoga" is "union", that assumption seems reasonable. Problems arise however in the assumption that the beginning limbs/steps of yoga are more easily understood. They are certainly the most familiar concepts to us: the first limb being moral restrictions and the last limb being complete merger with God.

Yama and Niyama are often called &quot;the Ten Commandments of Yoga.&quot; Each one of these Five Don'ts (Yama) and Five Do's (Niyama) is a supporting, liberating Pillar of Yoga. Yama means self-restraint in the sense of self-mastery, or abstention, and consists of five elements. Niyama means observances, of which there are also five. Here is the complete list of these ten Pillars as given in Yoga Sutras 2:30,32: Ahimsa (non-violence, non-injury, harmlessness), Satya (truthfulness, honesty), Asteya (non-stealing, honesty, non-misappropriativeness), Brahmacharya (sexual continence in thought, word and deed as well as control of all the senses), Aparigraha (non-possessiveness, non-greed, non-selfishness, non-acquisitiveness), Shaucha (purity, cleanliness), Santosha (contentment, peacefulness), Tapas (austerity, practical spiritual discipline), Swadhyaya (introspective self-study, spiritual study), Ishwarapranidhana (offering of one's life to God).<br />
All of these deal with the innate powers of the human being-or rather with the abstinence and observance that will develop and release those powers to be used toward our spiritual perfection, to our self-realization and liberation.<br />
These ten restraints (yama) and observances (niyama) are not optional for the aspiring yogi-or for the most advanced yogi, either. Shankara states quite forcefully that &quot;following yama and niyama is the basic qualification to practice yoga.&quot;

Yama and Niyama are the do's and don'ts, or ethical disciplines, which have existed in the human race since the beginning of civilisations.&nbsp; Yama and Niyama are traditional whether one is from the civilisations of the East or the West.&nbsp; By following these traditional precepts, with are closely related in many ways to the Buddhist Eight Fold Path, we work towards individual development of the body, mind, and soul.<br />
Yama is the foundation of yoga.&nbsp; It is the first step in the Eightfold Path of Patanjali.&nbsp; Yama tells us what to avoid doing because ti would do harm to the individual and that of society.&nbsp; The observance of yama disciplines the five organs of action which are the arms, the legs, mouth, the organs of regeneration, and the organs of excretion. <br />
Niyama is religious observance.&nbsp; It is the second step in the path of the Eightfold Path of Patanjali.&nbsp; The five principles of Niyama control the organs of perception, which are the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue and the skin.&nbsp; It consists of purity, both internal and external (Shaucha), contentment (Santosha), the practice of austerity (Tapas), the study and learning of religious books (Svadhyaya), and self-surrender to God (Atamivedana).

The genuine yoga tradition unveils a completely different approach in love and sexuality, highly more positive and plenary, unlike the confused and grotesque vision proper to most of the western people, either intoxicated or improperly educated.<br />
The ancient philosophies acknowledged that the high pleasure shared between the two lovers in continent lovemaking, if wisely refined and controlled is a powerful means of consciousness broadening, bound to enforce spiritual evolution to each of them. The ancient world&rsquo;s Chinese very well knew that and used to practice it just like other eastern peoples, including the Indian Tantra followers as well.<br />
There are countless temples adorned with erotic sculptures of exquisite beauty, in India, China, Japan, Nepal, Tibet, Thailand, etc.&nbsp; There are many religious and spiritual symbols in the East bearing an erotic connotation: the famous Shiva Lingam or the statues representing couples in intimate fusion, just to quote the best known.