When we started out our yoga practice, most likely the reason is it is because of ourselves. We may have thought "I want to be physically fit" or "I want to find a way to exercise" or "I want to find peace of mind". Hardly is it that we started our yoga practice because we wanted world peace. And that's okay. That is how we start. But did you notice how much that may have already changed? Starting from the "me" mentality that brought us to yoga, our practice has evolved so much that the natural effect is that our relationship with others has changed as well.
In yoga philosophy, we speak about 5 ethical precepts or what are called yamas. Although it is often thought of as a code of conduct in which to guide how we treat others, another way to look at the yamas is to see that these precepts naturally become our default as we progress in our practice. In effect, it is not necessarily that we have these "yoga commandments" to follow; rather, our own evolution makes us become the kind of individuals who would not have the desire to hurt others, or steal from others, or speak of lies, or sexually exploit others, or take more than what we need.
Evolution is our natural progression to be better than we were before. We can use the yamas as a guide, as indicators to check how deep our yoga practice has become. Maybe we find that we no longer have the desire to eat animals, not because we were forced to by the yoga police (or the vegan police), but because it makes sense to us to not harm others. Maybe we find that we want to be more on time when we keep our appointments, not just for the sake of discipline, but also because we realize being late is one way that we steal from others-- we steal the time they can no longer take back. Maybe we find we have less and less desire to gossip, because we'd rather speak not only of truth but truth that lifts others up. Maybe we no longer want to eat eggs, because we realize that eggs are the end-products of exploiting the sexuality of females-- even if they belong to another species. Maybe we have curbed our addiction to shopping, because we realize we do not need excessive things.
As we evolve, our interests change, our priorities shift, and we start to gravitate towards living the yamas. Our yoga practice transforms from being about us to becoming a practice of how to live peacefully with others. We evolve from being selfish to being selfless, and we find that world peace is no longer just a catch phrase we throw around; it becomes our way of living through our own choices-- our own thoughts, words, and actions. We evolve to become the embodiment and the living example of Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu.
In yoga philosophy, we speak about 5 ethical precepts or what are called yamas. Although it is often thought of as a code of conduct in which to guide how we treat others, another way to look at the yamas is to see that these precepts naturally become our default as we progress in our practice. In effect, it is not necessarily that we have these "yoga commandments" to follow; rather, our own evolution makes us become the kind of individuals who would not have the desire to hurt others, or steal from others, or speak of lies, or sexually exploit others, or take more than what we need.
Evolution is our natural progression to be better than we were before. We can use the yamas as a guide, as indicators to check how deep our yoga practice has become. Maybe we find that we no longer have the desire to eat animals, not because we were forced to by the yoga police (or the vegan police), but because it makes sense to us to not harm others. Maybe we find that we want to be more on time when we keep our appointments, not just for the sake of discipline, but also because we realize being late is one way that we steal from others-- we steal the time they can no longer take back. Maybe we find we have less and less desire to gossip, because we'd rather speak not only of truth but truth that lifts others up. Maybe we no longer want to eat eggs, because we realize that eggs are the end-products of exploiting the sexuality of females-- even if they belong to another species. Maybe we have curbed our addiction to shopping, because we realize we do not need excessive things.
As we evolve, our interests change, our priorities shift, and we start to gravitate towards living the yamas. Our yoga practice transforms from being about us to becoming a practice of how to live peacefully with others. We evolve from being selfish to being selfless, and we find that world peace is no longer just a catch phrase we throw around; it becomes our way of living through our own choices-- our own thoughts, words, and actions. We evolve to become the embodiment and the living example of Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu.
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