LET'S TALK ABOUT THE 8-LIMBED PATH AND AHIMSA

Hello and welcome to the Awareness Village Blog. I thought I would do a series on some of the points of yoga philosophy, starting with the elements of the 8-limbed path, or Ashtanga.

The sage Patanjali codified yoga practice in approximately 200 BCE in India, as the Yoga Sutras, a collection of aphorisms which, among other things, detail the eight different limbs of the complete yoga practice. The description of the limbs is collectively known as Ashtanga, meaning eight limbs in Sanskrit. (This definition of Ashtanga is not to be confused with the style of yoga practice known as Ashtanga Yoga, developed by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and followed by his school and students.) Most people in our society are familiar with the limb called "asana." Asana is the physical aspect of yoga, also known as yoga postures. One theory says that asana was created to keep the body comfortable while the yogis sat in meditation. Asana allowed them to comfortably sit for longer periods of time.

The first limb is yama, which is comprised of the five moral restraints, ethical standards which forge a sense of integrity in the practitioner. The yamas are ahimsa (nonharming/nonviolence), satya (nonlying), asteya (nonstealing), bramacharya (nonlusting), and aparigraha (nonhoarding).

In today's blog, we will talk about the first one, ahimsa. Ahimsa is the rule of conduct that means to do no harm, injury or violence to any living being, and, obviously, no killing.

Many people choose to be vegetarian to practice ahimsa, since eating meat and other animal products harms animals.

But there is more than physical harm, violence, or killing, to the interpretation of ahimsa. Being rude, hateful or cruel harms others. So does gossiping and speaking harshly. Not keeping a confidence can be against ahimsa. Failing to relieve another's pain is a violation of ahimsa.

When you think about ahimsa, and the other yamas, think about how living beings can be harmed by way of thought, word and/or deed. If there is any thought in your mind of "oh, I shouldn't have said that" or if you "cringe" because you did something you feel uncertain about, you probably violated ahimsa. If you say anything you wouldn't want to get back to someone, you probably violated ahimsa. But,what if you have judgmental thoughts about someone? Just because thoughts may not be spoken, it doesn't mean they aren't harmful. Those thoughts may affect how you deal with someone or may affect what you say about someone to other people.

It is also necessary to practice ahimsa with yourself. For example, taking good care of your health, or positive self-talk, is practicing ahimsa with yourself. Be kind to yourself!

When we practice ahimsa, we are not at odds with anyone or any being. It is said that if you consistently practice ahimsa, none of the animals of the forest will fear you and you will have no fear of harm from the animals of the forest.

Your assignment this week (if you choose to accept it) is to think of all the ways ahimsa can be violated. What are the ways living beings can be harmed?

Next week we will talk about satya (nonlying).

Namaste,
Julie