Ahimsa. Principle of non-violence (Yama)

In Sanskrit, word Ahimsa means: “himsa – violence”, “a – denial, against.”

There are 3 levels of Ahimsa: body, speech, and thoughts.

1) Body level: do not kill or harm other humans and animals.

2) Speech level: do not harm with your words, don’t gossip, don’t talk about information that you don’t know, no judging, and do not curse.

3) Thoughts level: good thoughts, without harm to others, no judging, without hating other people, without abuse, without uttering lies in any way.

The Law of Karma means that whatever bad we do for others, it will come back to us. It means if we say bad words about another person, somebody will need to say bad words for us in the future (actually, it can be our karma from the past, or it could be our future).

Also, Ahimsa means not killing animals, not eating animals. That’s the reason why most of the people who practice yoga do not eat meat, fish, and eggs, they become vegetarians. Nowadays it’s very popular to become vegan.

In the animal world, animals do not kill for satisfaction or to satisfy taste.

Benefits of Ahimsa

1) World becomes peaceful towards you (non-aggressive). It happens because you spread peaceful energy and do not share aggression. Whatever emotions you share with others, you get the same back.

2) You become fearless.

3) You start to magnetize people by your goodness, love, selfless service. It is energy that most of sages, saints were sharing. That’s the reason why people love spiritual teachers, guru. Because of their good attitude towards people, animals, and all living beings.

4) You become merciful.

5) Swami Sivananda says, “The rat and the cat, the snake and the mongoose, and other beings that are enemies of each other by nature, give up their hostile feelings in the presence of a yogi, who is established in Ahimsa.”

6) You keep your balance and calmness. Even if somebody attacks you by speech or in the street, you learn how to defend yourself without showing negative emotions. Swami Satyananda Saraswati in Patanjali Yoga Sutras says that: “In the presence of one who is established in Ahimsa, others control, stop their violence” (stop their desire to do bad deeds).

7) You gain inner strength and confidence.

8) You become much more loving of other people.

In the history of India, there were many great people, sages, who were able with ahimsa to change the worst, most cruel, brutal people. For example, Mahatma Gandhi was an absolutely positive person, but even he was killed. It shows how hard it is to fully establish Ahimsa.

Another example, Buddha. There was a bandit who wanted to kill Buddha, but when he came to do that, Buddha had mastered Ahimsa, and his energy field was absolutely non-aggressive energy, and Buddha with his energy turned this bandit to goodness and kindness.

How to practice Ahimsa

1) Stop physical harm to others from your side.

Stop violence to others, remove anger, aggression, hatred, and abuse. Resist the killing of all living beings. One of the reasons is karma: because everything we do will return to us. If today you’re harming others, so be sure somebody will harm you in the future.

2) Stop satisfaction of selfish desires.

Do not kill animals for pleasure. Stop hunting, fishing, eating meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, and meat of any other animal).

3) Stop harming our own body.

Do not eat harmful food, do not overeat, stop drinking alcohol, stop smoking, stop drinking coffee and energy drinks, and stop using other intoxicating substances because they destroy our body and health, illnesses come, and it ruins our life.

4) Remove ignorance and the desire to impress others.

For example, by consuming items, by consuming cosmetics, and by undergoing various cosmetic procedures.

5) Do not use other living beings for our own benefits.

Stop exploiting people, stop exploiting, killing, and eating animals, and stop using animals in the form of clothing.

6) Stop using animals as entertainment.

Zoos, circuses, hippodromes, dolphinariums, riding on elephants, and camels because in non-natural environments animals suffer. In our society, for some reason it has become usual to use others for our own selfish purposes without thinking how they feel.

People are visiting zoos and circuses and don’t even understand that it’s not natural for those animals to live in those cages. Would you like to live in a cage? Those animals suffer from loneliness. It’s a real prison. Zoos often sell or kill animals that no longer attract people. Zoos and circuses are absolutely not natural for wild animals. Training processes are very cruel for them.

So these are the steps that can help you to establish an Ahimsa practice. Swami Sivananda says that Ahimsa should be practiced by all people of all countries. Ahimsa develops a strong soul, strong will, and strong spirit. So let’s act for the benefit of all living beings!