Meditation helped me understand and implement the other six limbs. The journey is an ongoing one, painful at times, difficult too at times, but the results outweigh everything, and I am steadfastly moving forward on the path.
I started meditation to help me cope with my anger. It was the very bane of my existence. It blinded me to the good that was happening in my life. It distanced me from my own self, and I was making hasty decisions in the heat of the moment.
The first step on the eight-fold path as prescribed by sage Pathanjali is Yama! To get rid of or be the lord of death to your vices. How do I get rid of them when I am unaware of my own follies? Till the time I did not start meditation I always thought my anger was justified, even if it was directed at myself, I had a rationale for it. Meditation gave me the awareness. And that was the starting point, my first step in my inner journey.
The constant war with the self was weakening me from inside, and my behaviour on the outside reflected what was within. How could I expect to be smiling and pretend all was well until I did not put my heart back in the right place, calm and rhythmic?
“The word ‘Yama’ has different meanings. In Sanskrit, it means ‘regulation’ or ‘self-discipline’. Ram Chandra of Fatehgarh wrote, “Giving up untrue feelings and untrue thought is Yama. Yama means to give up. Yama is the giving up of unwanted things from the heart.” So, Yama is the removal of everything that is unnecessary for our spiritual journey. - https://heartfulness.org/magazine/yama”
Pathanjali describes and explains Yama differently, but my learnings come from my experiences whilst practicing heartfulness meditation, and that is what I have tried to share😊.
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