Morals, Ethics, and Embodiment on the Yogic Path

In Yoga, we find something that looks similar to the Ten Commandments: the 10 yamas and niyamas.

They are commitments and restraints, attitudes to cultivate, and moral behaviors to live by—contentment, non-violence, honesty, and so on.

The way they should be understood, contrary to modern interpretations of the Ten Commandments, is not as something dictated upon us by some god in the sky or as something that will grant us a place in heaven or punishment in hell.

As Yoga is a system focused on spiritual enlightenment, these are the qualities that are understood to naturally shine forth in an enlightened being.

To mimic these behaviors, even before the insights of enlightenment have dawned, is the practice of Yoga: the gradual path toward enlightenment.

More immediately, these principles create heaven and hell-like states within us, right here and now, rather than in an afterlife. By embodying—or failing to embody—these commitments, we either cultivate a sense of connection or create more mental suffering.

In the end, our heart never lies.

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अहिंसासत्यास्तेयब्रह्मचर्यापरिग्रहा यमाः ॥ २.३० ॥

जातिदेशकालसमयानवच्छिन्नाः सार्वभौमा महाव्रतम् ॥ २.३१ ॥

शौचसंतोषतपःस्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि नियमाः ॥ २.३२ ॥

ahiṃsāsatyāsteyabrahmacaryāparigrahā yamāḥ || 2.30 ||

jātideśakālasamayānavacchinnāḥ sārvabhaumā mahāvratam || 2.31 ||

śaucasaṃtoṣatapaḥsvādhyāyeśvarapraṇidhānāni niyamāḥ || 2.32 ||

Yama consists of nonviolence, truthfulness, non-stealing, wise use of energy, and non-greed.

These great vows are universal, not limited by class, place, time or circumstance.

Niyama consists of cleanliness, contentment, austerity in practice, self-study of spirituality and surrender to the higher intelligence.