Ahimsa or Nonviolence – the first Yama
By Michelle Taffe
This is the first in a series of articles that will focus on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
Ahimsa, or nonviolence is the first of the Yamas, or moral restraints. The Yamas are the five moral restraints that form the first limb of Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga.
Amisa literally means to do no harm. It is the opposite of himsa – which comes from the Sanskrit root hims – to strike. Ahimsa means kindness and non-violence towards all living things.
So what is nonviolence? Obviously in the first instance, nonviolence is not hurting ourselves or other beings physically. But nonviolence can also be related to the emotional, mental and psychological facets of life. Nonviolence can also manifest as non-judgement of ourselves and others for our own or others’ perceived failures.
Ahimsa does recognize that self-defence is sometimes necessary, and this is not seen as a transgression of the principal of non-violence.
As in any philosophical system, we start with ourselves when considering the teachings. As we move through our day, we connect with ourselves, with our environment, and with others. In the clothes that we wear, the food that we eat, in the ground that we step on and in the people that we meet and the decisions that we make we are constantly interacting with the world.
In just one day, thousands of thoughts are passing through our heads. Some of these thoughts just enter our heads and then leave quickly but then others hang around for long enough for us to grab onto them. Once we have a strong hold of a thought, this can often turn into a judgement or strong opinion.
Some of these thoughts can become strong judgements like – ‘I am not good enough, I haven’t worked hard enough, I will never be … enough’. These thoughts can then turn into – ‘I am a terrible person, I am stupid, I am a failure’. These are violent judgements of ourselves, which if we truly believe them – have a strong negative impact on our life.
Ahimsa or nonviolence towards others includes not judging others around us. Hatred and related negative thoughts about others such as ‘I can’t stand him/her’, ‘he/she is a complete idiot’ ‘they are so annoying’ ‘if only he/she would change, then I will be happy’ are all forms of himsa – or violence towards others, and as such are damaging to ourselves and those we project them onto.
Other ways that we can be violent towards ourselves include eating food that is harmful to our bodies, or conversely by depriving ourselves of the food that our body needs and by not protecting our bodies from the elements. Then there are more obvious methods of self-harm such as physical self-abuse, and drug and alcohol abuse.
In choosing to clothe ourselves adequately, to eat healthy food in moderation, to entertain only the positive thoughts we have about ourselves and others; we are embodying ahimsa, or nonviolence.
The yogic scriptures mirror Buddhist teachings, which state that we should do no harm to any living being – including ants, mosquitoes, and other even tinier insects that the human eye cannot see. But it is not possible to do absolutely no harm to any living creature. To survive, we need to kill some creatures such as harmful bacteria, which left unchecked make us sick.
The live in accordance with ahimsa, we do the best we can every day to practise non-violence in thought and action towards all living beings. The great Mahatma Gandhi applied the principle of ahimsa successfully in all spheres of life including politics.
How do you consciously practise ahimsa in your everyday life?
For a general introduction to yoga philosophy, download The Beginners’ Guide to Yoga.
