Don't Do These

I was raised in The West and I was raised in a Western spiritual tradition.  This is all well and good, and I still consider myself predominately Western in my beliefs.  I think it's hard to tease out years and years of inculcation.  That being said I enjoy traveling and seeing how other people go about things and studying these other cultures, and I've learned a lot about spirituality by doing this; in fact, there are some areas where the precepts are, in my opinion, an upgrade from what I have been doing.

In Buddhism and yoga thought there exists the concepts of Yama and Niyama or "don't do these" and "do these."  I've been thinking about these.  How about a little tour, starting with the "don't do these-ses."

Ahisma

Non-violence.  Not harming other people or other sentient beings.  Not harming oneself.  Not harming the environment.  Tolerance even for that which we dislike.  Not speaking that which, even though truthful, would injure others.

Ahimsa's precept of 'cause no injury' includes one's deeds, words, and thoughts

Ahimsa is inspired by the premise that all living beings have the spark of the divine spiritual energy; therefore, to hurt another being is to hurt oneself.  Ahimsa has also been related to the notion that any violence has karmic consequences.

Most of these ideas start out so gently and then get tougher and tougher.  I find myself thinking: "I never do that.  I almost never do that.  OK, I'm working on that one.  Are you kidding me - everyone does that."  And on and on it goes.  It's one thing to quit taking a swing at a stranger who's pissed me off in a bar; another altogether to practice tolerance for people I don't like.