Yoga and Ethics

The word yoga brings to mind, especially in the West a system of exercises or meditation to keep the body and mind healthy. But yoga is actually a philosophy, one of the six ancient schools of philosophy in India. The literal meaning of the word is union and the aim of yoga philosophy is the union of the individual soul and the Super-soul usually called God. The goal is to evolve the individual human being to spiritual perfection following a long and arduous path of self-discipline. The most authoritative book on yoga is Yoga Sutra of Paatanjali who expounded the philosophy. Yoga is also a science as most of the concepts discussed in Yoga Sutra are rational and even compatible with the views of modern science.

The system of yoga described in Yoga Sutra has eight components and thus it is called ashtaanga yoga. The first two components are called yama and niyama. Yama can be expressed as 'vows of self-restraint or abstention'; niyama may be understood as 'binding rules that must be observed'. The next two components belong to the category of exercises that most people are familiar with (aasana and praanayaam. The significance of putting yama and niyama even before the exercises is crucial to the understanding of the philosophy.

In order to start on the spiritual path it is essential that a person has the moral and ethical foundation for the endeavor. The first two components therefore provide the steps for character building. Each of these consists of different but related sub-components. Yama has five - nonviolence (ahimsaa), truthfulness (satya), honesty or lack of tendency to misappropriate (aasteya), sexual continence or restraint (brahmacharya), and non-possessiveness (aparigraha). Niyama also has five and they are: purity or cleanliness (shaucha), contentment (santosha), austerity (tapah), self-study leading to the knowledge of the Self (svaadhyaaya), and complete surrender to God (Ishwar-pranidhaan).

It may be seen that the elements included in these two components define the traits of character that constitute ethical behavior in modern civilized societies. The practice of these elements has the common purpose of character building in the person starting yoga training. However, there is a subtle difference in the nature of practices involved under each component. Those under yama are moral and prohibitive in nature, while those under niyama are constructive and disciplinary in nature. Yama lays down the foundations of an ethical life and niyama helps the practitioner in making life organized and disciplined.

We thus see that the very basis of yoga is character building with emphasis on moral and ethical behavior. It is of course possible to start directly with exercises and meditation; that will certainly keep the body and mind healthy but will not take the person on the path of spiritual uplift. In this sense we can define two types of yoga - physical and spiritual. The former includes exercises and meditation (non-transcendental). It can also include practices of some adept yogis who may have acquired special psychic capabilities like clairvoyance. These are physical in the sense that they deal mainly with the phenomenal world. The spiritual yoga, on the other hand, deals with the inner world and strives for the lofty goal of Self-realization; having the proper ethical and moral foundation is a prerequisite for attaining this goal.

Dharmbir Rai Sharma is a retired professor with electrical engineering and physics background. He maintains a website cosmosebooks.com cosmosebooks.com devoted mainly to philosophy, science, and self-development.