are inherently honest because truthfulness is an expression
of your commitment to a spiritual life. The short-term
benefits of distorting the truth are outweighed by the dis-
comfort that arises from betraying your integrity. Ulti-
mately you recognize truth, love, and God to be different
expressions of the same undifferentiated reality.
Brahmacharya, the third Yama, is often translated as
“celibacy.” We believe this is a limited view of this yama.
The word is derived from achara, meaning “pathway,”
andbrahman, meaning “unity consciousness.” In Vedic
society, people traditionally chose one of two paths to
enlightenment—the path of the householder and the
path of a renunciate. For those choosing the path of a
monk or a nun, the path to unity consciousness naturally
includes forsaking sexual activity. For the vast majority of
people choosing the householder path, brahmacharya
means rejoicing in the healthy expression of sexual
energy. One interpretation of the word charyais “graz-
ing,” suggesting that brahmacharya connotes partaking
of the sacred as you are engaged in your daily life.
The essential creative power of the universe is sexual,
and you are a loving manifestation of that energy. Seeing
the entire creation as an expression of the divine impulse
to generate, you celebrate the creative forces. Brah-
macharya means aligning with the creative energy of the
cosmos. Ultimately, as your soul makes love with the cos-
mos, your need to express your sexuality may be sup-
planted by a more expanded expression of love.
The fourth Yama, asteya, or honesty, means relin-
quishing the idea that things outside yourself will provide
you security and happiness. Asteya is being established in
a state of nongrasping. Lack of honesty almost always
34 The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga