The Fourth Yama: Bramacharya or Moderation

                                         

Welcome to week four of Yoga Month!

This week, our topic is the fourth Yama, Bramacharya (Brah-mah-char-ya). 

If you google this word, you will find a lot of talk about celibacy and restraint of all sensory pleasures. But while refraining from engaging in sensory delights may have been a necessary restraint for the monks, who were yoga's first practitioners, it's not realistic, or even desirable, for the majority of the human race.(Think how quickly the human race would become extinct!) 

So let's start with breaking down the translation of this Sanskrit word and then explore what it can mean for ordinary people trying to live their lives in connection with society.

Literal Translation:

• Brahma = Infinite
• Charya = To walk or to live

So, the literal translation of Bramacharya is Walking into the Infinite.

But that's still not very clear with regard to how to implement this concept in daily life, is it? Let's keep going and see if we can help it make sense.

I like this statement about Bramacharya from Sejal Shah, because I think it explains the essence of the idea nicely:

Bramacharya is detaching from the small things in life in order to connect to the infinite.

SO, The practice of Bramacharya in any ordinary life really means to practice moderation in all things, in order to live a more peaceful, meaningful life.

It means moving beyond the small attachments of life - which can actually become very large attachments and even obsessions and addictions - and toward a deeper connection with the greater divine - or infinity.

Our attachments to sensory pleasures, be they food, drink, sex, drugs, material possessions, wealth, stuff, or habits, are all the small attachments. The pleasure we get from them is fleeting, and we can get caught up in a cycle of needing more and more of something in order to reach the temporary high we crave. 

Our cravings and obsessions originate from a sense of lack - we are trying to fill up something inside us that feels, often subconsciously, empty. Perhaps we feel unloved - by others, but perhaps more importantly, by ourselves. Bramacharya, practiced in conjunction with the other yamas, is  part of the path to self-love and less suffering.

It's important to understand that we are not being asked to forgo the delights of living! Food, drink, loving beautiful things. enjoying physical pleasures, working hard, playing, goofing off, getting exercise, or building wealth for our financial security, are not bad things to be banished! We are not being asked to live in a cave, eat gruel, and toil the land. We are simply being asked not to become so attached to worldly delights that they become the point. 

And remember, moderation implies a kind of coming to the middle. So it's possible to go overboard in the other direction! Perhaps you need to sing, dance, eat, play, and rest MORE!

As Oscar Wilde told us:

As with all the yamas, we can test our behavior back to our primary practice of Ahimsa or non-harming. If our behavior is causing harm, to ourselves or others, then we need to explore the roots of it and work toward making adjustments. It's simply that - to see our habits, assess their meaning in our lives, and make changes as needed. 

We'll meditate on this yama in our Monday Morning Meditation class on September 23rd. Class is online-only, free, and runs from 7:30 to 8:00am ET.

Register via the link: The Yoga Sanctuary