That said, I do feel that the usual American Yoga approach to Yoga philosophy is way out of whack in giving a vast majority of attention to the Yama and Niyama, which, afterall, are only a very small part of the Yoga Sutra.

And, in my opinion, the Yoga Sutra gets 90% of the attention at the expense of the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads, which is also way out of whack. I hope I can make some small contribution to changing that with my eBook.

Thanks for writing. I've enjoyed this exchange.

Bob Weisenberg
http://YogaDemystified.com

Bob Weisenberg–Anytime, Chris. I don't mean to say they are equivalent, only that when I first read the Yamas and Niyamas they seemed so familiar and intuitive to me that I just skipped right by them to the things I found to be different about Yoga spirituality.

I do have to give some credit to my teachers for that, but my parents were also super-kind people who exhibited a very high degree of Yama and Niyama type morality in their everyday life.

The nuns taught us that the Ten Commandments were just shorthand for all morality, and they expanded the meaning of the Ten Commandments to be at least as broad as the Yamas and … See MoreNiyamas. That's why they seem so similar to a good Catholic school boy. Perhaps it's different in other forms of Christianity, or less orthodox Catholicism.

I need to write a blog about this to generate some more discussion. This has been a great start.
Fri at 8:09pm

Chris Courtney–Bob, I asked myself the same question years ago and found the Yamas and Niyamas are more expansive than the 10 commandements and more vital to our soul. Ahimsa demands more compassion than "thou shalt not kill" (which seems restricted only to not killing humans), aparigraha asks us not to take and hoard more than we need while the 10 cmdts only … See Moreasks not to covet your neighbor's stuff (or wife). Its hard to know whether those 10 cmdts were once more similar to the yamas and niyamas but I've found the latter to be a more promising path than the former. Peace, Chris
Fri at 7:06pm

John Morrison–Bob I think this is an interesting observation & one Im not prepared to answer without looking a bit further. From the perspective of Buddhism some of the code if conduct looks quite similar to Christianity, but beneath the surface and the manner in which practitioners apply the teachings in modern life, is quite different and I wonder if the same might not be true in this instance?
December 16 at 9:33pm

Bob Weisenberg–Thanks for you thoughts, John. Perhaps you are right. But it seems to me that once one gets into actual practice and "adherence" there are very wide variations in all religions, from the best to the worst.
December 16 at 11:27pm

Here's an interesting and perhaps provocative question. How do the Yamas and Niyamas compare and contrast to the ethical precepts of Judeo/Christianity? I have deep backgrounds in both Catholicism (raised ultra-traditional) and Judaism (married into a Jewish family and raised kids Jewish).

When I first started studying Yoga and the Yoga Sutras I kind of skipped over the Yamas and Niyamas because they seemed pretty much the same as what I had already been taught since I was a kid in parochial schools. In fact, the Yamas and Niyamas seemed like an almost one-for one match with the Ten Commandments.

So I went past them to the parts of Yoga which were new and different to me–the asana, the meditation, the pranayama, the advanced consciousness, etc. The Yamas and Niyamas receive only a cursory mention in my eBook: "Yoga scriptures have strong and clear moral teachings which are similar to any religions."

Recently I've come back the Yamas and Niyamas and wonder if I've missed the boat a little (or a lot!). What do you think the Yoga Sutras add to what we've already learned about ethical behavior if we were raised in a strong Judeo-Christian tradition?

I'm guessing reading Michael Stone's books will help me figure that out.

Bob Weisenberg
http://YogaDemystified.com

Here's an interesting and perhaps provocative question. How do the Yamas and Niyamas compare and contrast to the ethical precepts of Judeo/Christianity? I have deep backgrounds in both Catholicism (raised ultra-traditional) and Judaism (married into a Jewish family and raised kids Jewish).

When I first started studying Yoga and the Yoga Sutras I kind of skipped over the Yamas and Niyamas because they seemed pretty much the same as what I had already been taught since I was a kid in parochial schools. In fact, the Yamas and Niyamas seemed like an almost one-for one match with the Ten Commandments.

So I went past them to the parts of Yoga which were new and different to me–the asana, the meditation, the pranayama, the advanced consciousness, etc. The Yamas and Niyamas receive only a cursory mention in my eBook: "Yoga scriptures have strong and clear moral teachings which are similar to any religions."

Recently I've come back the Yamas and Niyamas and wonder if I've missed the boat a little (or a lot!). What do you think the Yoga Sutras add to what we've already learned about ethical behavior if we were raised in a strong Judeo-Christian tradition?

I'm guessing reading Michael Stone's books will help me figure that out.

Bob Weisenberg
http://YogaDemystified.com