Appendix

Although yamas and niyamas can be found in other authentic cultures, they were formulated by yogis in the past. A yogi knows that the mind should never be forced to accept anything. They can be cultivated with the help of spiritual effort, and when they become spontaneous, there will be no repression. By keeping yamas and niyamas in mind, they will develop naturally. Any new work may seem very difficult to do, but when one goes through the right process of doing it, one finds that it is easier. In this way, you need to start following the yamas and niyamas, bringing them first into behavioural patterns and allowing their understanding to deepen. Gradually, they flourish by themselves.

Over time, the yamas and niyamas become part of the meditative transformation the yogi experiences. Purity, saucha, contentment, santosha, study and self-analysis, svadhyaya, are experienced in meditation. Meditation becomes a process of purification from all the residues accumulated over time, which is a form of tapas. Meditation becomes a tool to learn how to surrender and surrender to the Divine, Ishvara pranidhana. Meditation becomes a tool for living sincerity, Satya. With this purification of one’s own nature, the intensity of violence withdraws from the personality and non-violence, ahimsa, springs spontaneously. Keeping in mind our highest goal, the Immortal Divine Self Atman, asteya, non-theft, aparigraha, simple living, non-possessiveness and sexual continence brahmacharya, become natural.

Periodically, when you feel more relaxed, with increased vitality and concentration, return to the yamas and niyamas. Anyone who practices a little medicine can be called a doctor, but to qualify as a doctor there must be specific training. Similarly, to become a yogi, you need this specific training, and the yamas and niyamas will become essential for meditation and Divine Samadhi ecstasy.

This is the true approach to yoga practice that reveals and leads us to the fulfilment of our true destiny.