Getting Yoga Ready (3) -Astheya

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Astheya means non stealing. And I felt, wow! This is one observance that I have always followed. But, as always, there is more than what meets the eye. Of course, the most obvious meaning is not actually stealing things, money etc from others. Most of us don't do it, simply because it is not in our upbringing. It is beyond our capacities to even entertain thoughts of stealing. The masters say that even bringing stationary and other items from office for personal use is stealing.

When I feel that someone is having something that I desire -be it money, jewelry, things, fame, power -and I don't have the capacity to fulfil this desire, I try to obtain the same by using shortcuts -the easiest one is to steal it from someone who already has it or who has it in excess, so that he won't notice that some of it is missing.

As an extension, we can also interpret astheya to mean not cheating or manipulating others and use their possession (power, money, property etc) for our own personal gains. And this is hard, because manipulation is done in so many levels without even pausing to think it through -right from office politics, influencing opinion of others against someone, twisting the truth to our advantage and so on. Ultimately, the principle behind this restraint is to train our mind to not covet things that belong to others.

But, there are so many other things that I steal, without being aware of it.

I steal someone else's time when I am not being punctual or if I don't meet my deadlines. I steal someone else's ideas when I don't give credit to them. I steal someone else's happiness when I don't follow right thought, speech and conduct. I steal someone's opportunity when I am not making use of the one given to me to the full extent. I steal the time, talent, effort and money of so many people when I watch pirated movies. But, more than all these, I steal so much from myself.

When I don't pay attention to my food habits, when I don't exercise, when I don't sleep enough -basically, when I am not taking good care of myself, I rob my body of its good health. When I am not paying attention to the thoughts going on in my head, when I am not understanding my emotions, when I get carried away with hatred, jealousy and all other petty feelings, I rob myself of inner peace. When I loose myself in surfing the net, when I procrastinate, I rob myself of my time.  

What do I gain by practicing astheya?
To practice non stealing / cheating / manipulating, I must first develop a sense of contentment and fulfilment within myself. I will do all of the above, only when I feel what I have is not sufficient. However, when I am happy with what I have and with what I am, I naturally don't covet that which belong to others. I only feel happy at the success of others. And once I reach this state, I don't have any jealousy or greed driving my actions. My intentions become pure and my words and actions become free from manipulative tendencies. And with this, peace descends.

Om....peace...peace...peace!

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