and certainly cheating always brings about its own downfall, as it ex
iles us from our own soul. Ethics are a compromise solution by which
we aspire for the best, but realistically we are aware that everyone does
not play by the same rules
Yoga makes a sincere practitioner into an integrated personality.
Ethical living aids the harmonious development of body and mind. It
develops a feeling of oneness between man and nature, between man
and man, and between man and his Maker, thus permitting the expe
rience of a feeling of identity with the spirit that pervades all creation.
So it is that action mirrors a man's personality better than his words.
The yogi has learned the art of dedication in all his actions to the Lord,
and so he reflects the Divinity within him. Integration depends on in
tegrity, and without it fragmentation will occur. I have mentioned ear
lier that our conscience faces our soul and therefore reflects its truth.
To draw closer to one's soul is also to live more and more by the dic
tates of one's conscience.
Ethics are designed to make life bearable. They are not the dictates
of an authoritarian God, but principles based on an Absolute capable
of reconciling the One with the Many. In fact, it is better not to believe
in God and act as though He existed, than to believe in Him and act
as though He did not exist.
Ethics is philosophy in action from giving a customer the right
change to not wasting food. No spiritual improvement is attainable
without an ethical framework. In yoga it is not a question of accep
tance of God or not. Normally, when we question anyone about
whether he believes in God or not, we reduce God to a material thing.
We reduce Him to the level of matter, to something that can be believed
in. Therefore it becomes a matter of belief. As the Universe, which is
beyond the reach of our consciousness, is unknown to us, so the entity
that is "God," which is beyond the reach of our consciousness, is un
known to us. God is felt but cannot be expressed in words. Patanjali's
description of ( ;od is one who is free from afflictions as well as from
backadmin
(backadmin)
#1