The Yamas + The Niyamas: Part III of III
Thank you for joining for to recap/close this three part series! This is how I feel it all ties together and becomes life applicable. I also explain my perspective on spirituality and how I honor your perspective as well as my own. That we may not all view life/spirituality/religion the exact same.
Special Thanks:
God
The Bible
The Yamas and The Niyamas book by Deborah Adele
Music by Free Beats on Sound Cloud
Manuscript:
Let’s recap! Shall we?
I believe that all spiritual/religious perspectives somehow parallel at some point. I believe in God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus, his son. I ALSO believe that many religions and spiritual believes are here on this planet. My personal believe does not judge yours. Rather, I am very curious on your life perspective and I honor the light in you. I am a Yoga Teacher. I believe that there is a deep spiritual connection when I step on my mat. For me, that is to myself + the Holy Spirit. I whole heartedly believe that many have paved the way to teach us life principles in many different shapes, ways, and forms. This three part series is my personal view on The Yamas and The Niyamas and how I apply it to my life.
In part one, I break down the yamas and my perspective as it relates to my personal life. The Yamas are basically the don’ts. And in Part II, I keep moving forward with this concept and I break down the Niyamas and my perspective of them as it relates to my world.
Please take the time to backtrack, each episode is only about 20 minutes.
To go over them BOTH:
The yamas are:
avoid violence, lying, stealing, wasting energy, and possessiveness,
And the Niyamas are:
Saucha (cleanliness + purity)
Santosa (contentment, acceptence, optimism)
Tapas (discipline, persistence)
Svadhyaya (self-study, study of sacred scripture)
Isvarapranidhana (devotion, surrender to God)
If you lack a foundation to stand in, use these ethical guidelines as such.
“Without that foundation, you might inadvertently violate other people’s autonomy,” says Sally Kempton, a meditation teacher and Kripalu presenter, referring to sexual and financial scandals involving prominent yoga teachers.
Other’s autonomy has a few meanings:
In conslusion. It is similar to the guidelines given in the bible. And the golden rule. “Do unto others are you would has them do unto you”
In The book of Romans it speaks of rules of “Christian” living:
Romans 12:9-18 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Rules for Christian Living
9 Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good. 10 Love each other as brothers and sisters and honor others more than you do yourself. 11 Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord. 12 Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying. 13 Take care of God’s needy people and welcome strangers into your home.
14 Ask God to bless everyone who mistreats you. Ask him to bless them and not to curse them. 15 When others are happy, be happy with them, and when they are sad, be sad. 16 Be friendly with everyone. Don’t be proud and feel that you are smarter than others. Make friends with ordinary people.[a] 17 Don’t mistreat someone who has mistreated you. But try to earn the respect of others, 18 and do your best to live at peace with everyone.
Again ALL of the coming full circle to treating others with respect + love.
And a reminder that we are all created equal and yet we are also all unique. My perspective is different than yours. And not always, sometimes our perspectives are the same.
I have several people in my life who align with what I feel. And I thank God + the universe for them every day.
There are a few (and far between) remember… I get along with a tree or a tiger. And that is okay, they can go their own way, follow their own path.
It is with Devine timing that people come in and out of my life. Whether they are there to walk life with me OR wether they are there to represent the form of a teacher.
And it is with that, I believe, we should respect the laws of the universe. The ethics and principles that those before us have put into place. And do MORE than respect them…. follow them. They are all good. That darkness exists. And without darkness there would not be light in the same sense that without day there would be no night.
Following the yamas to me is similar to following the 10 commnademnts. The yamas…
avoid violence, lying, stealing, wasting energy, and possessiveness,
And the 10 commandments
The yamas are within… and then, more.
And the Niyamas
Saucha (cleanliness + purity)
Santosa (contentment, acceptence, optimism)
Tapas (discipline, persistence)
Svadhyaya (self-study, study of sacred scripture)
Isvarapranidhana (devotion, surrender to God)
all about continuing to DO THE WORK.
And the work always pays off. Sometimes the work does not feel good. For me, uncovering all my traumatic experiences in life… felt like crap. And as I cleared them, though I began to feel lighter and lighter. I honestly kept digging. Continuing to ask myself the questions. Why I felt the way I feel… why the hurt I felt a year ago continued to come up. Why? What else do I need to learn?
That is the work. That is the effort. And live not in fear shall I. I will always approach it with faith to press on. Faith and hope in the greater good. Knowledge of good and knowledge of evil. Of light and of dark. And trust in the universe that everything happens exactly when it is meant to happen.
The Yamas and the Niyamas are a great study. Read the book by Deborah Adele. Gain more insight. Find more knowledge. <3
