CONTINUING THE JOURNEY, as we WHEEL through THIS DAY, embracing the 3rd YAMA: ASTEYA, or: nonstealing...which invites the question: HOW DO I STEAL? and immediately the response, reaction can be: I DON'T STEAL! (I don't shoplift....etc., etc.)
And yet, YOGA, as always, gently encourages us to explore this YAMA a little more deeply, for ASTEYA is a WAKE-UP CALL...ASTEYA nudges us to recollect ALL the ways, minute & major ways, that we DO STEAL: not claiming all our income on our taxes; RE-using our 'old stickers' to transport our bikes from the mainland, to the island; NOT RETURNING borrowed items to those to whom they belong; the 'shortcuts' we take at work: arriving JUST A LITTLE LATE, LEAVING JUST A LITTLE EARLY, NOT CLEANING UP AFTER OURSELVES....and once we get THINKING ON THIS, the LIST GROWS & GROWS....
And, then, the realization that, 'HEY, MAYBE I DO 'STEAL'!!!' confronts us center stage....
Recently, while studying at the Chopra Center, another definition was introduced to me for ASTEYA: HONESTY (also: NON-STEALING)...and, I found myself reflecting on Patanjali's YOGA SUTRAS, and how the 2nd YAMA IS: SATYA, which translates in our vernacular to mean: HONESTY....and the train of thought wheels along this path: 'ALRIGHT, THEN, HONESTY IS A BIG DEAL to be emphasized in TWO of the FIVE YAMAS!'...inviting us ALL to contemplate, a little longer on HOW, WHY, WHEN, WHERE, WITH WHOM I am sharing honesty? and, again, WITH WHOM, WHAT, WHERE, WHY, and WHEN am I 'stealing'?
Rolf Gates, in his beautiful book, MEDITATIONS FROM THE MAT, slips into this discussion that ASTEYA is "our first encounter with nonattachment. When we look honestly at the ways in which we have been stealing, we come to understand that in each instance, there is an attachment to a specific result that overrides our deeper values." Because "I WANT what I want, when I want it, I can so easily JUSTIFY lying about a friend or co-worker, and STEAL and try to sully their reputation...." "It's alright for me to steal from this employer, because of an attachment to the outcome." Or, in the words of a famous cliche', THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS....and, thus, it's not so much what I do, but HOW I GO ABOUT DOING IT that is dishonest, that is stealing, that no longer allows me to LIVE YOGA...
And, again, at the end of each day, we're invited to ask ONE QUESTION: 'DID I LOVE WELL TODAY?' According to the 3rd Yama, with stealing, with honesty, the answer is very simply~very clear: I DID, or I DID NOT! ....and again, as a compassionate witness to ourselves and others, as we WHEEL through THIS DAY, I have a choice to make amends when/wherever necessary; and I can continue to rationalize my thoughts, words and actions into righteousness...
Yoga is clear. The Yamas are clear. Choose honesty/nonstealing, or not...always, ALL ways, the choices are ours, as we travel on this road in life: do I take the honest fork in the road, or not...it's my life, my choice....it's your choice, your life....we cannot control one another's choices...we are each responsible for our OWN souls...and, again, we can ask: AM I LOVING WELL, thus far, this day?
Wishing you peaceful contemplation on this journey...
Om shanti, om peace,
Lee Ann
