The Yamas: A lighter path
These ancient ethical principles are invitations to live with less rigidity and more grace. Life is art. Joy is the compass. If your spiritual practice makes you more rigid or judgmental, something has gone sideways. Peace lives underneath the striving, and within the space of recognizing there is no gap between perfection and who you are here and now.
AHIMSA (NON-VIOLENCE) Ahimsa is pure compassion for yourself and all beings. It means meeting yourself with gentleness when you stumble and extending that same gentleness outward. We cultivate it through acceptance, forgiveness, and gratitude. When we stop being violent with ourselves through harsh judgment and relentless striving, compassion flows naturally to others. This practice, like all others, can always be more subtle. There is always a smaller form of life or more inner part of ourselves to which we can extend compassion. Mastering Ahimsa alone, according to Dharma Mittra, takes care of the rest automatically.
SATYA (TRUTHFULNESS) When we stop lying to others and ourselves, fear has less room. Truthfulness requires compassion, otherwise truth becomes a weapon. Living honestly humbles us and opens our hearts to how things actually are. It creates trust in ourselves, in others, in this moment as it is.
ASTEYA (NON-STEALING) Stealing comes from believing there isn't enough, that we aren't enough. We steal attention, energy, time, and joy from ourselves through comparison. When we practice non-stealing, we practice contentment. A flower doesn't steal beauty from the flower beside it. It simply blooms.
BRAHMACHARYA (CONTROL OF DESIRES) This is about not being controlled by desire. When we pause before following every impulse, we create space to choose. We can ask: does this serve me or others, or am I just restless? We channel our energy toward what matters instead of scattering it toward everything that sparkles.
APARIGRAHA (NON-POSSESSIVENESS) The tighter we grip, the smaller our hands become. Open hands mean enjoying what's here without needing to own it. You can love something fully and still let it be free. You can work hard without clinging to outcomes. Joy lives in the light touch, the ability to receive and release without making it all so serious.
