Aparigraha. Non-greed. Do not hoard. Do not accept gifts (Yama)

We live in an era of consumers. Everybody wants more and more better items. People think that the more they buy, the happier they will be. It’s a strange way of understanding life and this world.

Every item uses our energy. To get an item, we need to work, save money, buy the item, and maintain this item. In all those 4 stages, you spend your time and resources. The more items we have, the more energy we spend to maintain them near us.

For example, if you have 5 houses, you need to take care of all of them: clean rooms windows, maintain the surrounding area, and so on.

When you have many items, they start using your time and energy.

Look at the world more rationally. Items should serve us to live our lives. If we start to serve items, we become slaves.

Also, there is one more meaning of Aparigraha – do not accept gifts. It means, that when you get a gift, with this gift you also get the energy of that particular person. For example, if you get a gift from a saintly person, his energy will uplift you all the time. But if you get a gift from a usual modern person who lives a selfish life, this energy will drain you down. It could be hard to understand this for modern people because society has certain social behaviors, so in this situation, better to find conscious ways to deal with the situation.

Benefits of Aparigraha

1) You get much more time.
2) You have much more energy for your projects, ideas.
3) You can easily separate with items.
4) You can direct resources for the well-being of others instead of accumulating.
5) You don’t spend money on items that you don’t need.
6) You don’t create karmic connection.
7) Patanjali Yoga Sutras say, “Established in not accepting gifts, remembers his past lives.”

How to practice Aparigraha

1) Do not be too attached to the items.
2) Spend your money rationally. Buy only things that you need and can use.
3) When buying an item, ask yourself, do you really need it?
4) What items do you have more than you need?
5) Swami Sivananda says, “The mind of the receiver becomes impure by receiving gifts.”

Please remember that it is not the vow of homeless people who don’t have items.

Aparigraha is about the smart use of your money, resources, and energy that could be directed to the well-being of others. When we follow Aparigraha, we remove greed, accumulation, and santosha and harmony come. And, as Patanjali said, you can remember your past lives, that’s very important in yoga practice.