Introduction to Ashtanga Yoga (the Eightfold Path) and Yama and Niyama

Raja Yoga, the Eightfold Path.

Swami Nishchalananda fields a question about the ‘Yamas and Niyamas’, putting them into context as the first two stages of the Eightfold path, Ashtanga Yoga, talked about in the ‘Yoga Sutras,’ by Sage Patanjali. A review of the eight stages of the path follows, those stages being Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi.

Swamiji emphasises that what we usually call meditation, we actually mean Pratyahara and maybe Dharana, concentration. These are activities that we do, techniques to internalise the senses and to focus the mind. What Patanjali calls Dhyana, Meditation, is actually a non-doing; a flow of Consciousness. This is fully explored in this satsang; we may believe that we are ‘doing meditation’ but how can that be when Dhyana, Meditation, is a letting go into the flow of Awareness. Swamiji emphasises this point strongly, it’s an important understanding.

We may believe that we are ‘doing meditation’ but how can that be when Dhyana, Meditation, is a letting go into the flow of Awareness.

The whole first stage of this session is a ‘Condensed Masterclass’ on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and although the question was on Yama and Niyama, this section puts those stages beautifully into context.

If you practice the Yamas and Niyamas without any understanding, it can lead to suppression, which is actually counter to the Yogic path.

Returning to the earlier stages, texts such as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika state clearly that Hatha Yoga is a preparation for Raja Yoga and the ‘inner‘ path. Swamiji explains that Yamas and Niyamas are for people who have already gone deeply into Yoga. This is quite radical, as many see them as the first stages on this path. But if you practice Yamas and Niyamas without any understanding, it can lead to suppression, which is actually counter to the Yogic path. A moral code performed without the deeper understanding, without the freedom to make mistakes which is so important in the learning process. Have you ever seen a baby learning to walk without falling over!

Yama means ‘Rule’. Do This! Don’t do That! It’s for people who have made mistakes, awoken some clarity, and now can see the sense in following the Instructions; they crystallise out the person’s growing understanding. The five Yamas concern our relationship with others around us, and the five Niyamas concern our relationship with ourself.

The Five Yamas

First of the Yamas is ‘Ahimsa’, non-violence. This is not to be equated with passivity. Swamiji refers to the Bhagavad Gita where Krishna exhorts Arjuna to fight. The context suggests that it is a just war, but Arjuna has a dilemma because he knows the precept of Ahimsa. Similarly with us, we often find ourselves in a situation where passivity is not the way forward. The key is to not hold hatred in the heart even if you have a confrontation with someone. And such an attitude can come about through a deeper understanding brought about through Yoga or a similar practice.

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Next is Satya, honesty. If we have the habit of lying, it creates a confused environment within which it would be difficult to progress spiritually. The mind is all over the place if we have to cover our tracks, often with more lies. But again, the lines are blurred because sometimes not telling the whole truth may be more appropriate in a caring sense such as knowing how to handle the situation when someone has a terminal disease.

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Asteya is not stealing. The same applies, it allows an easier life and a quieter mind to be able to do practice. But suppose for example your family is starving, would it not be moral to do what you can to stop them dying of hunger, to steal food for them? So in fact it’s not necessarily black and white.

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Brahmacharya literaly means being open to Consciousness moment to moment. It is also taken to mean celibacy, though Swamiji says he doesn’t know why it has aquired this meaning. It may be that at the stage where the practitioner is sincerely trying to follow the eightfold path, involvement in sex may be not conducive to a simple harmony.  But in itself, sex is completely a part of the richness of life and Yoga does not deny that. Context is everything. Swamiji also points out that a year or two of celibacy, when trying to go deeper in Yoga, can divert significant energy into one’s practice. But there must not be suppression.

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 The final Yama is  Aparigraha, non-possessiveness. This is a reflection of the fact that actually nothing is yours, not even the body. Life ends, and it is all gone.

The Five Niyamas

Shaucha is cleanliness, in a physical  sense and also purification in the sense of our thoughts. Which includes honesty in our thoughts, not pretence as to certain attitudes when they are not true. 

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Santosha litarally means contentment, but again it’s a question of context. Life is up and down, but through any periods of one’s life santosha implies trust and acceptance that everything is as it is. An acceptance that everything is teaching us.  

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The next one, Tapa, means to burn.  In the old traditions it is translated as austerity, but Swamiji prefers the term ‘simplification’. Not taking on board all the exhortations of contemporary culture that we need this and that. Cutting out the inessential.

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Svadhyaya, literally studying ones own self, the mind and emotions. It also means study of Yogic texts; ones which serve to inspire and imbue wisdom. Texts which resonate and open one to inherent wisdom which actually may be from any source as well as Yoga.

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Isvarapranidhana, literally means trust in God. At least to have the recognition that there is something greater than our understanding and perception, and having trust in that which underlies everything.