I became more knowledgeable and wise, I gave up meat and haven’t eaten it in ten years. The reason I did so was simply because I believe in the sanctity and integrity of all life forms. The second yama is Satya, whose translation from Sanskrit is truthfulness. It requires one to respect the truth in thinking, action, and speech. Satya is a very large concept. It means that you should not say something that you know is false. It also means that you should not lead others into error by making them believe that you know something when you only presume. Saying the truth is extremely difficult, for, before telling the truth you must know it through personal experimentation; you must discover the truth about yourself and release false pretenses. The way I live truthfulness in my heart is to be truthful to myself and to my heart. I need to do that before I can open up the truth to everyone else. One of the ways in which I practice truthfulness to myself is by knowing and respecting my abilities and limitations. For example, I am very aware of my knowledge of other subjects. In some subjects such as math and physics I excel, however, in others, such as politics or history, I am not as capable as other people. So, when discussions of subjects in which I am not so competent come up, I don’t pretend to act knowledgeable or well-versed in that subject. Instead of being fake and inferior, I try to let others take the lead and step back and listen in order to absorb more information and to increase my understanding. By doing so, I stay true to myself as well as to others. The third yama is Asteya, whose translation from Sanskrit is non-stealing and non-coveting. In order to fully practice Asteya, you must realize that at this moment, you are whole and complete. You must work with what you have today, feel a sense of contentment with what you have, and have no concern for the future. This implies not to take something th...
