The Hinduism has a rigid code of behavior by which its followers abide in their daily lives. It consists of ten restrictions or yamas and ten observations or niyamas. This is the ethical and moral discipline of the religion of Sanatana Dharma, without the support of which, the spiritual progress will be absolutely impossible.

 

             YAMAS OR RESTRICTIONS 

1. Ahimsa: non-violence, or not to harm or assault any living being, neither verbally, mentally or physically, to practice amiability, compassion for one self and for the others. To live while taking into account that everything and everyone of the living beings are, in one way or another, different manifestations of The Divine, to respect and love the others as we love ourselves.
   
   
2. Satya: to live in the truth, to be truthful in the level of though, word and communication, to maintain our promises, not to keep secrets from our beloved ones. To always tell the truth, but to be very conscious and careful not to cause harm or pain to others, unnecessarily. That is to say, that our fulfillment of truthfulness should not be incompatible with our vow of ahimsa.
   
   
3. Asteya: not to steal, not to take what belongs to another. Theft is the result of believing that we miss something or that we do not deserve something, which demonstrates ignorance. It is important to get used to see the beautiful in us, to watch our own inner richness, to understand that the attitude of desiring what belongs to others is a product of a lack of internalization. It is also not to use tricks or illicit means to obtain benefits.
   
   
4. Brahmacharya: sexual moderation, conservation of the energy, abstinence, celibacy. To avoid the excesses in our sexuality, before marriage to use the energy in study and training, after marriage to remit only to sex inside the marital frame and only with the objective of procreation. Sex is not, in any case, a mere means of satisfying the senses. The practice of brahmacharya also includes the complete abstinence of conversations and jokes about sex, photographs and films of pornographic character, and to try to communicate with the opposite sex in a decent manner.
   
   
5. Kshama: patience, to be patient and tolerant the others. We cannot try to adjust the whole world to our own ideas, every person has a certain character and habits according to the way they were influenced in his childhood and his life. It is important to be compassionate and patient and try to understand others, to be patient with the family and the children, with the neighbors and co-workers. Every follower of the Sanatana Dharma religion has to be an example of patience and tolerance for persons and with the different circumstances that life presents.
   
   
6. Dhriti: constancy, power and firmness of character. It is necessary to try to be persevering and constant in our life in order to grow and develop in any field we choose. A mature person that knows what he wants in his life will not surrender easily facing any kind of difficulty.
   
   
7. Daya: compassion, it is one of the most important virtues in our spiritual development, it is born in our vision of the world and of every living being as an Divine expression and manifestation, which moves and drives us to see the ones around us not as objects, but as beings, souls.
   
   
8. Arjava: honesty, not to cheat the others, to be honest both with the others and with ourselves. To renounce deceit completely, both of those who surround us and of ourselves.
   
   
9. Mitahara: moderation of the appetite, it is important to eat to live, and not to live to eat. It is very different, eating healthy food and leading a healthy life, than transforming the process of eating in a simple activity of sensual satisfaction or addiction. It is recommended to eat in regular hours, not to eat meat, eggs or fish, and to accept only foods that have been offered to The Divine, that is, only prasadam. It is not recommended to eat in restaurants, or foodstuff that we do not know how, or by whom, it was prepared.
   
   
10. Shaucha: cleanness or external and internal purity. This refers to the care of our own body and its surroundings, in a very high level of hygiene that characterizes every follower of Hinduism. Our environment reflects our interior, that is to say, the emphasis on cleanness and order of our environment will have a sattvic influence on our inner world. Cleanness draws The Divine closer to us. It is also very important to maintain cleanness, order and purity both in the verbal and mental levels.
    
    

             NIYAMAS OR OBSERVANCES

1. Hri: remorse, to be modest and express our shame and disagreement facing our own errors and inappropriate behavior. It is important to develop enough modesty to be able to apologize for our faults in front of others. We must not let time go by without really exerting ourselves to grow, evolve and develop.
   
   
2. Santosha: contentment with what God has assigned for you as your quote, the attitude of accepting what there is and what you have, which indirectly leads to the gratitude for life. Santosha consists of living content and grateful, not with a negative attitude of being exploited. Make wise use of anything in your disposition and do not live in unnecessary lamentation for whatever you do not have.
   
   
3. Dana: to give, referring to not seeing our efforts as our own, but as belonging to The Divine. However, it is not advised to give to any person without common sense, we do not give cigarettes to the smokers, meat to meat eaters, alcohol to the drunkards and drugs to the drug addicts,  we do not give money without discrimination to a one who we know to spend it on beers. It is about helping with a part of the fruits of our labor to religious and spiritual organizations. What the humanity really needs is spiritual wisdom, because the disconnection of the humanity from God is the real reason of all the problems.
   
   
4. Astikya: faith and confidence in oneself, in our spiritual path, our religion, our revealed scriptures, in our master Guru maharaja and in God. To develop confidence in the words of the revealed scriptures, as well as of the previous acharyas and of our own spiritual master.
   
   
5. Ishvara Pujana: worship, to do whatever possible to separate some place in our home, or if possible a room, destined for worship. To arrange an altar with our Ishta Devata and some portraits of our guru, to burn there incense, to maintain this place clean and very much in order. To offer daily worship under the guidance and instruction of our spiritual master and more advanced swamis. It is of vital importance that, as a family, we will try to create more homes that will grow and develop devotion for God.
   
   
6. Siddhanta Shravana: to listen to conferences and lectures about the revealed scriptures, we have to look for a wise guru or bona fide spiritual master and follow his instructions, trying to attend his classes about the Vedic scriptures regularly. The study of the scriptures in direct association with saints, sages and more advanced god-brothers is a powerful aid to purify our mind and intellect.
   
   
7. Mati: wisdom, under the guidance of an authentic spiritual master, to exert oneself to spiritualize our intellect and will, to comply with the daily sadhana recommended by our spiritual master.
   
   
8. Vrata: sacred vows, we should be very serious concerning our sacred vows and commitments with our religion, our guru and God, basic vows like no to eat meat, no intoxications, avoiding illicit sex and no games of chance are important and very serious observations which are actually a spiritual commitment that we take with our parampara or line of masters. It is important to be very strict with vows like marriage, loyalty to a spiritual line, vegetarianism, celibacy, etc. etc. To be very strict in the sadhana and spiritual practices recommended by our own guru.
   
   
9. Japa: repetition of the mantra. This is considered the broom of the mind, in the same way that you bathe and clean yourself daily, the name of God sweeps and cleans all the low and negative, therefore japa is a kind of spiritual hygiene, it is a very important means to maintain ourselves in tune with the Divine and transcendental.
   
   
10. Tapas - austerities. This refers to the discipline and maturity to know how to accept uncomfortable situations that life presents. To happily and enthusiastically take to fasts, worships, pilgrimages to holy places. To live with a spirit of austerity without looking for excessive luxury or extravagances. Not to surrender indiscriminately to the exaggerated satisfaction of the senses.