by Dada Vedaprajinananda

(this another article in our Yama-Niyama series)

Many years back when I was just beginning the practice of yoga, someone came to me and asked how he could begin yoga. As I was not a teacher at that time, I recommended a popular book with yoga postures. My friend looked at me and in all seriousness said, “Where can I steal it.”

Well, you can’t begin your practice of yoga with an act of theft as good conduct is the base for all yoga practice. It is impossible to attain harmony with others and inner peace if you ignore the fundamental principles of morality. In yoga, as in many other traditions, non-stealing is an important element of proper living. Let’s take a look at Asteya (non-stealing) as seen by yoga.

Not to take possession of goods that belong to others is called Asteya in Sanskrit. We all know that if someone goes into a shop, takes something and leaves without paying, then it is stealing. But how about the case where someone goes into a shop and has the idea of stealing something but refrains from doing so when he sees a guard looking at him? My guru, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, in his book A Guide to Human Conduct, says that not only should we refrain from actual theft, but that we should also from the mental form of stealing.

Taking or plotting to take something that belongs to someone else is one kind of theft, but there is another kind of indirect stealing which we should also not do. If you deprive someone of something that is due to them then that is also a theft. You did not take anything from them, but you didn’t give them something that they were supposed to get.

For example, if you ride on the bus without paying, you have deprived the transportation agency that runs the bus the fare that they were supposed to get. If you do not pay the proper amount of taxes then you have deprived the government of an amount that they were owed. Actions like this are also against the concept of Asteya, or non-stealing and should not be done.

Finally, if you mentally plan to deprive someone of what is due to them you are again violating Asteya even though you may not physically carry out your plan.

According to Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, the easiest way of practicing Asteya is through auto-suggestion. If you remember the items of the code of conduct, such as non-stealing, right from childhood then you will be able to remind yourself what is correct and what is not correct all through your life, even in the face of the temptation to get “get rich quick” with direct or indirect theft.

So, of course you can’t begin yoga by stealing a yoga book, and you can’t attain inner peace if you do actions that are harmful to society.