Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

tler forms of untruthfulness begin to reveal themselves to his eye. It is a law of Nature
that we become aware of the subtler forms of any vice when we have eliminated its
grosser forms.
Apart from the considerations given above, truthfulness has to be practised by
the Sadhaka because it is absolutely necessary for the unfoldment of Buddhi or intui-
tion. The Yogi has to face many problems, the solution of which cannot be found either
in reference books or conclusions based on correct thinking. The only means at his
disposal to solve such problems is an unclouded or pure Buddhi or intuition. Now,
there is nothing which clouds the intuition and practically stops its functioning in this
manner as untruthfulness in all its forms. A person who starts practising Yoga without
first acquiring the virtue of utter truthfulness is like a man going for exploration into a
jungle at night without any light. He has nothing to guide him in his difficulties and
the illusions created by the Brothers of the Shadow are sure to lead him astray. That is
why the Yogi must first put on the armour of perfect truthfulness in thought, word and
deed, for no illusions can pierce such an armour.
Leaving these utilitarian considerations aside the absolute necessity of leading a
perfectly straightforward life for the Yogi follows from the very nature of the Reality
upon which the Universe and our life are based. This Reality in its essential nature is
Love and Truth and expresses itself through the great fundamental laws of Love and
Truth which ultimately conquer everything. The outer and inner life of the Yogi who is
seeking this Reality must, therefore, conform strictly to these basic laws of Nature if
his efforts are to be crowned with success. Anything which is against the law of Love
puts us out of harmony with this law and we are pulled back sooner or later at the cost
of much suffering to ourselves—that is why Ahimsa is enjoined. Similarly, untruthful-
ness in any form puts us out of harmony with the fundamental law of Truth and creates
a kind of mental and emotional strain which prevents us from harmonizing and tran-
quillizing our mind.
Asteya: Asteya literally means abstaining from stealing. Here also we have to
take the word in a very comprehensive sense and not merely interpret it in terms of the
penal code. Few people who have developed some moral sense will go to the length of
actual stealing but there are very few who can be considered quite guiltless from the
strictly moral point of view. This is so because many indirect and subtle forms of mis-
appropriation are connived at in our conventional life and our rather insensitive con-
science does not feel appreciably disturbed when we take part in these shady transac-