First Order Gnosis

Practices · Raja Yoga · Beginner track

Yama and Niyama: ethics as daily self-work

If you came here hoping meditation would be a quiet app, this is the hard part. Yama and niyama — restraint and observance — are the first two limbs of Raja Yoga. They are the hardest. You are not behind if this feels huge. You are standing where every serious student stands: becoming, slowly, your own ethics professor and psychologist.

Watch Glorian’s foundation lecture Open the first 14 days

This track maps Glorian’s teaching. We do not host the lectures. You will leave this site for the real work.

What these words mean

Yama is restraint: what you stop. Niyama is observance: what you keep. Together they are the first two of eight sequential limbs. Later sitting assumes you did not skip them. The credited glossary and lecture are on Glorian; the list below is orientation in plain English, with ordinary examples, so you can recognize the work in a kitchen and a phone.

You do not have to finish ethics before you sit. You also do not get to skip ethics because sitting feels more interesting. That is the bridge. Sivananda, quoted on Glorian’s Raja Yoga (glossary) :

Do not wait for perfection in Yama and Niyama, in order to take up the higher practices of Asana, Pranayama and meditation. Try to get established in Yama and Niyama, and at the same time practice Asana, Pranayama and meditation as much as you can. The two must go hand in hand.

The more time you spend in the first two steps, viz., Yama and Niyama, the less will be the time needed to attain perfection in meditation. It is the preparation that takes very long.

Swami Sivananda, quoted on Glorian’s Raja Yoga glossary

The five yamas — restraints

Watch Glorian’s chapters rather than treating these cards as the teaching. Timestamps open the foundation lecture.

  1. Restraint 1 of 5 · 31:12

    Ahimsa — Do no harm

    Not only “don’t hit people.” Harm includes the sharp word, the inner sneer, and the way you treat the body you sit in. The lecture names this restraint first for a reason.

    In ordinary life. The cutting remark you rehearse in the shower. The comment you type and delete — or send. Driving as if other people were furniture. Harming yourself with contempt because the sitting was messy.

    Journal. Where did I cause harm today — including to myself — and what was I protecting?

  2. Restraint 2 of 5 · 32:23

    Satya / Satyam — Do not lie

    Truthfulness starts before speech. The first lie is usually to yourself: why you skipped the sitting, why you “needed” that scroll, why you are already advanced.

    In ordinary life. Padding the spiritual résumé. “I’ll start Monday.” Agreeing out loud while the mind already has a different plan. Calling a fantasy a vision so you do not have to stay with ethics.

    Journal. What did I tell myself today that was not quite true? What would the true sentence be?

  3. Restraint 3 of 5 · 32:40

    Asteya — Do not steal

    Stealing is taking what is not given — objects, credit, time, attention. A quiet form is using another person’s life as material for your envy or your story.

    In ordinary life. Pocketing office supplies. “Borrowing” and not returning. Taking credit in a meeting. Harvesting someone’s attention they did not offer. Streaming hours you would not defend as given.

    Journal. What did I take today that was not given — time, credit, attention, or a thing?

  4. Restraint 4 of 5 · 33:09

    Brahmacharya — Sexual purity, as this school teaches it

    Glorian’s glossary names brahmacharya as sexual continence: no orgasm, no lust. That is this school’s yoga, not a clinic’s protocol. Porn, fantasy loops, and using people as images are the everyday form many beginners actually meet.

    In ordinary life. Porn as a nightly exit. Scrolling bodies the way other people scroll envy. Lust at work dressed up as “just looking.” Using sex to numb a mood you will not sit with. This is spiritual psychology — not sexual-health advice.

    Journal. When did lust, porn, or sexual fantasy run the next hour? What was I refusing to feel? (If this touches trauma or compulsion, stop and speak with a licensed professional — see the disclaimer.)

  5. Restraint 5 of 5 · 33:51

    Aparigraha — Have no desires / non-grasping

    Not a vow of poverty for its own sake. Grasping is the mind that cannot sit because it is still shopping — for objects, identities, and techniques.

    In ordinary life. Cart-full of teachers. Clutter you will not release. Refreshing a feed for a life that is not yours. Wanting a “better” meditation instead of the one that happened. Collecting methods the way other people collect shoes.

    Journal. What was I grasping for today — a thing, an identity, or a spiritual result?

Ahimsa is the first restraint. If exploding at people is why you arrived, start in plain English on I want to stop exploding — then return here. That path is not anger-management therapy.

Brahmacharya is the fourth. If stopping pornography is why you arrived, start in plain English on I want to stop watching porn — care first, the action path toward ending porn and masturbation, then this ethics door. That path is not a clinic and not beginner sexual magic.

The five niyamas — observances

If yama is what you stop, niyama is what you keep. Same lecture, other side of the foundation.

  1. Observance 1 of 5 · 36:05

    Saucha — Purity

    Glorian’s niyama glossary names saucha as purity, including the elimination of desire. Begin with the room, the feed, and the motive — not with a costume of holiness.

    In ordinary life. A sitting corner that is not a laundry pile. What you pour into the body before you ask the mind to be still. Motives that are actually vanity wearing a robe. Cleaning one surface instead of buying another course.

    Journal. What did I allow into the room, the feed, or the motive that I would not call clean?

  2. Observance 2 of 5 · 36:49

    Santosha — Be content

    Contentment is not pretending life is fine. It is refusing to let comparison run the sitting. The lecture’s word is “be content.”

    In ordinary life. Scrolling envy — other people’s practice, bodies, homes, “progress.” Measuring your day against a stranger’s highlight. The part that cannot sit because someone else seems further along. Wanting their life instead of inhabiting yours.

    Journal. Who or what did I compare myself to today, and what did that comparison cost the sitting?

  3. Observance 3 of 5 · 37:10

    Tapas — Accept penance / accepted discipline

    Tapas here is not self-punishment. It is accepting the heat of a discipline you chose: showing up when you do not feel like it, without turning pain into a brand.

    In ordinary life. Keeping the hour when the mood is ugly. Not bargaining the sitting away because work was hard. Accepting an honest inconvenience — earlier bedtime, less noise — without a speech about how spiritual you are.

    Journal. Where did I refuse a small, honest discipline today, and what excuse did I use?

  4. Observance 4 of 5 · 38:51

    Svadhyaya — Study that actually comprehends

    The lecture’s word is comprehension, not collecting PDFs. Study that changes you is slow: one chapter, then a walk, then the same chapter again.

    In ordinary life. Five tabs of lectures and none of them lived. Highlighting a sentence you will not try. Shopping for a new author because the current one got close. Reading about self-observation instead of observing the reader.

    Journal. What did I study today, and did it change a single action — or only the bookmark list?

  5. Observance 5 of 5 · 39:59

    Ishvara-pranidhana — Self-remembering / remembrance of the Divine

    Not a belief you perform. Remembrance of something higher than the mood, the feed, and the “I” that wants credit. The glossary names continual remembrance of God; this school also calls it self-remembering.

    In ordinary life. One second, in the kitchen, of not being only the complaint. Remembering you are in a body, in a room, before a Presence you do not own. Forgetting all afternoon, then noticing you forgot — that noticing is already work.

    Journal. When, if at all, did I remember something higher than my mood? When did I live as if nothing higher existed?

“Am I being true?”

Keep one question in the pocket, not ten. Glorian’s chapter Karma is Negotiable — How to Stop Suffering gives it: Am I being true? — and with it, How am I spending the day and the night? Glorian’s chapter treats ethics as the way to stop feeding the causes of suffering — not as a personality upgrade. The question is from that chapter’s reading of a Buddhist scripture. Ask it in the moment; do not turn it into a slogan.

Ask it when you are about to lie to yourself, feed envy, open porn, or skip the sitting with a spiritual excuse. Who is the “I”? True to what? The chapter is the place to sit with those questions. We do not reprint it.

A handheld first 14 days

One restraint or observance to watch per day. If a day is too fast, stay a week. This is not a streak and not a vow. Miss a day, write that, continue. The aim is to become a master over years — not to finish a fortnight.

  1. Day 1: Ahimsa — do no harm

    Live the day as usual. Watch harm in speech, driving, inner commentary, and how you treat the sitting when it is messy. Sit anyway, even briefly. Do not wait to become kind first.

    Journal. Where did I cause harm today — including to myself — and what was I protecting?

  2. Day 2: Satya — do not lie

    Catch the story you tell yourself about why you did or skipped the work. One true sentence in the journal is enough.

    Journal. What did I tell myself today that was not quite true? What would the true sentence be?

  3. Day 3: Asteya — do not steal

    Watch taking: objects, credit, time, attention. Include the quiet theft of scrolling through a life that is not yours.

    Journal. What did I take today that was not given — time, credit, attention, or a thing?

  4. Day 4: Brahmacharya — sexual energy as this school frames it

    Watch lust, porn, and fantasy as energy leaving the sitting. This is observation, not a medical plan. If it becomes compulsive or touches trauma, get care and keep the disclaimer close.

    Journal. When did lust, porn, or sexual fantasy run the next hour? What was I refusing to feel? (If this touches trauma or compulsion, stop and speak with a licensed professional — see the disclaimer.)

  5. Day 5: Aparigraha — non-grasping

    Watch wanting: clutter, carts, extra techniques. One restraint is enough today. Do not add a new method because grasping feels spiritual.

    Journal. What was I grasping for today — a thing, an identity, or a spiritual result?

  6. Days 6–7: Review the five restraints

    Do not start a new vow. Sit. Ask which restraint was loudest. Read Glorian’s “How to Stop Suffering” chapter and keep the question handy: “Am I being true?”

    Journal. Am I being true? How am I spending the day and the night? Which yama actually ran the week?

  7. Day 8: Saucha — purity

    Clean one surface of the sitting room. Notice the feed you swallow. Purity here includes motive, not only soap.

    Journal. What did I allow into the room, the feed, or the motive that I would not call clean?

  8. Day 9: Santosha — be content

    When comparison or scrolling envy appears, name it. Contentment is not a pose. It is refusing to let someone else’s highlight steal the hour.

    Journal. Who or what did I compare myself to today, and what did that comparison cost the sitting?

  9. Day 10: Tapas — accepted discipline

    Keep the hour you already chose. Heat is showing up, not inventing a harsher rule. If you miss, write that — then sit the next day without a speech.

    Journal. Where did I refuse a small, honest discipline today, and what excuse did I use?

  10. Day 11: Svadhyaya — comprehension

    One chapter or one lecture segment. Walk afterward. Study that does not change a behavior is still collecting.

    Journal. What did I study today, and did it change a single action — or only the bookmark list?

  11. Day 12: Ishvara-pranidhana — remembrance

    Several times, remember something higher than the mood. Forgetting all day and noticing at night still counts as data.

    Journal. When, if at all, did I remember something higher than my mood? When did I live as if nothing higher existed?

  12. Days 13–14: Ethics and sitting together

    Sivananda’s bridge: do not wait for perfect yama before you sit, and do not skip ethics because sitting feels more interesting. Watch the foundation lecture’s “Conscious Ethics and Self-observation” chapter. Sit. Journal both.

    Journal. Did I use ethics as a reason not to sit, or sitting as a reason not to watch my life? What would hand-in-hand look like tomorrow?

Each evening

At the end of the sitting, and again before sleep: what actually happened? Which restraint or observance was I honestly on? Where did I decorate? Write that. The question underneath is still “Am I being true?”

Spoken support, if you want a voice in the room: Chicago Gnosis — Guided practices — relaxation and retrospection sit beside this work. They do not replace it.

Ethics and sitting go together

Do not wait until you are pure before you sit. Do not use the cushion as a hide from the day. The eight-limb map is still the path; this track is how you enter limbs 1 and 2 without drowning. When a minute on the cushion is the wall, use First concentration — then return here. Ethics remains the floor of concentration.

Watch and read (Glorian, unless noted)

Broad outbound stack, credited. Open the publisher’s page. No shop links.

  1. Steps One and Two of Meditation; the Foundation That Ensures Success in Meditation

    Glorian

    Series lecture for steps 1–2. Open at the eight-step overview, then the Yama and Niyama chapters. We do not reprint the teaching.

  2. Raja Yoga (glossary)

    Glorian

    Eight limbs in order, Sivananda on why the first two take the longest, and why sitting and ethics go together.

  3. Yama (glossary)

    Glorian

    The five restraints as this publisher lists them, including brahmacharya as sexual continence.

  4. Niyama (glossary)

    Glorian

    The five observances in short form.

  5. Observation of Oneself

    Glorian

    Chapter from Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology: observing is not the same as knowing about yourself.

  6. The Knowledge of Oneself

    Glorian

    Lecture: incessant self-observation as the way to see what you actually are.

  7. Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology

    Glorian

    Parent book for the observation chapters. Spiritual psychology, not a clinic.

  8. How to Stop Suffering

    Glorian

    Karma is Negotiable, chapter 14 — ethics versus morals, and the question “Am I being true?”

  9. Self-observation and self-remembering

    Glorian

    Beginning Here and Now: daytime companion to the cushion.

  10. Beginning Here and Now

    Glorian

    Course cluster on Glorian’s archive. Start at the beginning of the course, not a random lecture.

  11. Chicago Gnosis — Guided practices

    Chicago Gnosis

    Spoken support: relaxation, retrospection, self-observation sittings. Support for ethics-and-sitting, not a skip past yama.

When you are ready

One next sitting is enough: watch the foundation lecture, then live tomorrow’s restraint. The eight-limb map waits without hurry.

Start at Glorian — Yama Eight-limb path

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