The Yoga of Patanjali

Lesson - 7 121that you have to feed the animal and the plant first because youshould not accept anything gratis. The leaves of certain treesand plants that are shed naturally are taken, purified with waterand eaten by some disciples who practise Yoga. Roots andstem may be avoided so that we may not kill. You need not gointo the details of all the experiments conducted by the sagesto practise harmlessness. It is enough if your attitude isharmless. Do not kill as far as possible. You can kill whenit is inevitable, while the inevitability is left to yourconscience. Shooting for hunting is strictly prohibited. At acertain stage of evolution the human animal finds pleasurein hunting and killing. This is totally prohibited for a Yogastudent. Pythagoras explained “It does not matter muchwhether you eat the animal food or plant food, the desire tokill and eat should go”.The next item to practise is straight dealing with others.Do not hurt anyone with your word or deed in the name ofstraight dealing. You have no right to do so as a Yoga student.“Speak Truth Speak palatable. Do not speak truthunpallatably. Do not speak a lie for pallatability. “This isthe injunction of the Manu, who has given us the Law. Ifyou do not like something you can make it clear withouthurting anyone. If you like something you can make it clear.Now let us sum up the items. Fiery aspiration on theplane of thought, speech and work. Truth speaking withouthurting others. Stimulate positive thoughts in your mind.Let your attitude be harmlessness. Tranquility of mind andkindness towards others should follow. Then you shouldpractise silence. Silence about things, not needed shouldbe practised. It is more mental than vocal. Vocal silencewithout mental silence leads to hypertension. It is not themechanical silence, but it should be silence as your attitude.The next item is controlled activity. Generally we are prone to