Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

ing about the necessary changes in the character of the Sadhaka. The practices in-
cluded in Yama are, in a general way, moral and prohibitive while those in Niyama are
disciplinal and constructive. The former aim at laying the ethical foundation of the
Yogic life and the latter at organizing the life of the Sadhaka for the highly strenuous
Yogic discipline which is to follow.
This difference in the general purpose of Yama and Niyama involves a corre-
sponding difference in the nature of the practices themselves. In the observance of the
Great Vow connected with Yama the Sadhaka is not required to do anything. Day after
day, he is required to react to the incidents and events in his life in a well-defined
manner, but the number and character of the occasions which will arise in his life re-
quiring the exercise of the five virtues will naturally depend upon his circumstances.
If, for example, he goes and lives alone in a jungle as an ascetic there will hardly arise
any occasion for putting the virtues into practice. The Great Vow will be binding on
him always, but if we may say so, will remain inoperative for want of opportunities for
its practice.
Not so in the case of Niyama which involves practices which have to be gone
through regularly, day after day, whatever the circumstances in which the Sadhaka is
placed. Even if he is living alone completely isolated from all social relationships the
necessity for going through these practices will remain as great as when he was living
in the busy haunts of men.
Sauca: The first element of Niyama is Sauca or purity. Before we can under-
stand how the problem of purifying our nature is to be tackled we should clarify our
ideas with regard to purity. What is purity? According to the Yogic philosophy the
whole of the Universe, seen or unseen, is a manifestation of the Divine Life and per-
vaded by the Divine Consciousness. To the Enlightened sage or saint who has had the
Divine vision everything from an atom to the Isvara of a Brahmanda is a vehicle of
the Divine Life and therefore pure and sacred. From this higher point of view nothing
can therefore be considered impure in the absolute sense. So, when we use the words
pure and impure in relation to our life we obviously use them in a relative sense. The
word purity is used in relation to our vehicles, not only the body which we can cognize
with our physical senses but also the superphysical vehicles which serve as the instru-
ments of emotion, thought and other spiritual faculties. A thing is pure in relation to a
vehicle if it enables or helps the vehicle to serve efficiently as an instrument of the
Divine Life expressing through it at the particular stage of evolution. It is impure if it