The Ten Commandments and Yama Niyama
Guidance From East and West
The laws of the East—the Yamas and Niyamas—and those of the West—the Ten Commandments—offer guidelines that help our true Essence shine more fully through the body and mind.
We are Spirit experiencing a world of duality through a human body. We are not merely human bodies having spiritual experiences. However, we tend to experience life according to how we see ourselves—and this is where suffering enters.
Life can certainly be painful. We live, after all, in a world of duality. Yet there is a difference between pain and suffering. Pain may be addressed, accepted, and eventually overcome in different ways. Suffering often continues by repeating the same patterns again and again.
That subject alone could fill another newsletter.
Laws Help Prevent Chaos
Governments also establish laws within the world of duality. If people want those laws changed, they can petition their elected officials and work through an established system.
Simply disliking a law does not automatically give someone permission to break it. When everyone acts only according to personal desires, disorder and chaos can follow.
Similarly, the laws expressed through the Yamas Niyamas, and Ten Commandments may sometimes interfere with our pleasures or preferred way of living. Yet their purpose is not simply to restrict us. They are meant to encourage harmony, self-control, and respect among human beings and nature.
Although the Eastern and Western traditions use different language shaped by different cultures, many of their underlying moral principles are closely related.
Principles of the
Ten Commandments
Yamas and Niyamas
Nonviolence-Do not murder (gratuitously)-Ahimsa: non-harming in thought, word, and deed.
Truth-Do not bear false witness- Satya: truthfulness, Respect for property.
Do not steal-Asteya: non-stealing.
Purity-Honor sacred commitments and practices- Saucha: cleanliness of body and mind.
Self-control-Do not covet- Aparigraha: non-greed, and Brahmacharya:moderation.
Devotion-Honor God and reject false idols- Ishvara Pranidhana: surrender to the Divine.
Their Shared Principles
Non-Harm
The commandment “Do not murder” relates to Ahimsa, or nonviolence.
Life is affected by nearly everything we do. With every breath and every step—and even when we pull a plant from the ground—some form of life may be disturbed or taken. The teaching asks us not to destroy life unnecessarily or because of greed, hatred, or cruelty.
Truthfulness
“Do not bear false witness” relates to Satya, or truthfulness.
This principle asks us to refrain from lying, committing perjury, omitting essential parts of the truth, or harming others through false testimony.
Respect for Property
“Do not steal” relates to Asteya, or non-stealing.
This includes not taking another person’s property and not allowing ourselves to become consumed by the desire for what belongs to someone else.
Purity and Fidelity
The commandment against adultery protects the sanctity of marriage and fidelity. The call to keep sacred practices holy also shares qualities with Saucha—the cultivation of purity and cleanliness in both body and mind.
Contentment and Devotion
Honoring God, respecting parents and elders relate to Santosha, or contentment, and Ishvara Pranidhana, or devotion and surrender to a higher power.
This means placing God before family, money, prestige, ego, or any other attachment. When these things become more important than the Divine, they can become false idols.
Let Your Light Shine
Entire books have been written about each of these subjects. My purpose is simply to encourage a clearer understanding of what ancient sages, prophets, and more recent saints have given us.
These teachings are not merely lists of restrictions. They are guidance for living with greater awareness, harmony, truth, and love.
Keep the glass of your lantern clean.
Be the Light you are meant to be in this world of duality.
Only Love,
Michael John
All of the above might sound daunting, but that's just the mind unable to understand the unlimited possibilities of Divinity. The value of Spiritually in the world today is needed, which is Love Itself, Being One Spirit, and Unity Consciousness. This results in Peace. Could you make time to be The Peace you want to see in the world?
You can start by joining the weekly retreats, which last only one hour. See below for more information.
Please join the StillPoint community (see below) for our weekly retreat. Until then, be the peace you want to see in the world.
Only Love
Michael John
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