Just as a good and durable house begins with a foundation, so Yama-Niyama must be at the core of any practice. The principles of Yama and Niyama cannot be neglected in any case. They are very powerful in themselves. When they come into the practitioner's life, they reveal and develop the hidden powers of our higher nature and our mind.
YAMA (death)
Yama is a limitation concerning our activity and certain activity of the mind.
- Ahimsa (non-violence). Means non-killing, or non-violence. This first and very important rule applies not only to the physical killing of any living being, but also to thoughts of harm or the reference of negative vibrations to any manifestation of life. Observance of ahimsa gives great strength, when our ahimsa becomes perfect, it is like our shield from negative influence from outside. The power of ahimsa can protect us from unforeseen calamity, from negative emotions and vibrations. If we develop ahimsa in ourselves, controlling violent fantasy and emotions, then our mind becomes very powerful and capable of achieving the set goals, because no one can harm such a person who has conquered his evil tendencies.
- Satya (truthfulness). When the mind is revealed, it stops lying. First of all, you should not lie to yourself. A person often lives in an illusion and a lie that he has created for himself, and the words of such a person have no power. If a person gets rid of lying to himself, life will change radically. In a truthful person, the power of speech and the power of thought increases, the sankalpa of such a person becomes incredibly strong, and whatever is said by such a person, it must happen.
- Asteya (non-stealing). This rule applies not only to the appropriation of someone else's property or things. It goes much further and is related to everything that surrounds a person. A person often takes what does not belong to him and does not even suspect it. A person thoughtlessly uses nature for his own enrichment and triumph of the "ego". Asteia is satisfaction with what we need and what God sends us, not what the insatiable human mind wants. This applies not only to material things. Emotional hunger often pushes a person in love to inappropriate behavior, constantly demanding something from the object of his worship. A self-satisfied person never asks or demands anything, therefore everything necessary comes to such a person.
- Brahmacharya (restraint). Great energy comes from exercising restraint in your emotions and sexual behavior. And this rule primarily concerns mental control and control of one's fantasies and imagination. Chastity makes us like children, and all ways are open to children, and then everything is possible. Sankalpa (thought power) and vikalpa (imagination power) are incredibly powerful in one who controls his passions. It is not possible to get happiness in the turbulent flow of uncontrolled passions.
- Aparigraha (non-attachment). Fear pushes a person to excesses, but we don't really own anything, not even our own body. In order to take inhale it is necessary to exhale air, if we don't let go of something, the new cannot come to us. Those who have let go of everything own the whole world, because they are always open to anything in this world. When you learn to let go, you learn to accept. Often a person holds on to something that he no longer needs. When there is exhalation then inhale will happen automatically, exhale and life will come and love will come.
Niyama (rebirth, resurrection)
Niyama (rebirth) is something that should be done and developed within oneself.
Pain and joy, victories and defeats, gains and losses, all these pairs of opposites accompany us, shaking our entire nature. Lust and desire make you move in a closed circle. All Christian schools say that sinfulness is the cause of all problems, and the cure is confession and repentance. Many people go to confession, but sins don't decrease. Recognizing himself as a sinner, the confessor tries to overcome sinfulness, and this is similar to a person who wants to lift the stick on which he stands (it's not difficult to guess how one succeeds). It's not possible to lift a sin by standing on it and confessing oneself to be a sinner. It's necessary to step aside and, imagining yourself righteous, become one. Confession is needed in order to clean the channels through which the Water of the Lord should flow during the communion in the form of wine-blood and bread-body, recreating our true nature as Children of God.
- Shaucha (purity). Just as a good housewife makes sure that the house is clean and tidy, so a yogi must observe the rules of cleanliness in relation to his body. Every day we clean our physical body from external and internal dirt, and our other nature also needs similar procedures. There is, for example, information dirt coming from various sources. Other people's ideas and thoughts try to penetrate and capture our attention. By keeping our body clean, we protect ourselves from viruses and bacteria. By keeping our mind clean, we protect our subtle nature and our life from the viruses of foreign thought forms. Living the lives of not your own is dangerous.
- Santosha (satisfaction). This state is characteristic of spiritually mature persons. There are persons who are constantly dissatisfied: with the weather, work, neighbors, the government, dissatisfied with themselves. When a person is satisfied, one is happy. Everyone wants to be happy and this is normal, because the divine is characterized by Ananda (bliss). God is completely satisfied, bliss comes from Himself, because He is all fullness and He does not need anything. People also want to feel complete, but often realize it through external enrichment. Their actions are manifested as an uncontrolled and insane accumulation of money, material values, the desire for power and fame is also an attempt to feel full. But fullness is an internal state, and it can be satisfied only from the inside. Saints, having a minimum amount of material things, were a model of satisfaction and bliss. Seek first of all the Kingdom of God and all other needs will be satisfied together with It – said Christ. He also said that the Kingdom of God is within us. Those who implemented these words were and are the true Masters of the world, their power and wealth are always complete. Joy attracts joy, love attracts love. Therefore, if you are satisfied, you will attract to yourself everything that you need. Also, avoid the company of people who constantly show dissatisfaction. And vice versa – look for contact with a person who can give you positive. Environment is very important. Negative information that is launched into society creates egregore, which then works for itself, creating new and new forms of its expression. By spreading negative information, we work for this egregore. Everyone must decide for himself how to behave. The history of mankind is a reality, but it is like clay, so don't let it make you a tool to fulfill other people's desires.
- Tapas (asceticism, heat). The word tapas comes from the root "tap" - to burn. Everything has tapas. The energy of tapas allows a chicken to hatch from an egg. The energy of tapas allows you to realize your plans. Any practice can be tapas. The fire of tapas can melt our entire nature. Tapas arises from regular practice and concentration. When the inward-directed mind lights the subtle fires of tapas, the movement of unidirectional energies begins. The power of thought and imagination increases and can develop into the ability to do incredible things. And when this Power is directed to the center, to the soul, it can reveal our divinity and lead to immortality.
- Svadhyaya (self-knowledge). The word that defines this concept is translated as "study". But the word "sva" is translated as "own", so svadhyaya means self-study or study or knowledge of one's self. One can study the scriptures and in this way get closer to knowledge, but the scriptures don't contain absolute truth. Only self-knowledge can lead to truth. Knowing ourselves, we know our divinity and the divinity of everything that surrounds us.
- Ishvara pranidhana (devotion to the Lord). Ishwara is Lord in Sanskrit. The water in the bucket cannot be the ocean. But when you dip a bucket of water into the ocean, the water in the bucket becomes the ocean. When we are immersed in the Lord (Ishwara), we become the Ocean. We are the Ocean. We must remember this. The main goal of yoga can be achieved when the mind is focused on a Higher goal.