Yoga demands that every yogi be honest, we ought to be honest to others, we ought to be honest to ourselves, and we ought to be honest to the powers we worship. Without Honesty there would be absence of knowledge, vast misunderstandings, and darkness would prevail. The second Limb of yoga which is Niyama, dictates that every person who practices yoga needs to follow the rule of honesty. But as all of us have come to learn through experience this rule is easier to preach than to practice. To succeed in our quest for nirvana however, honesty is a decisive factor and cannot be overlooked. We must find ways to bring our urges and our desperation to heed and learn to be truthful throughout our lives.

The importance of honesty in yoga

If the law of honesty in yoga practice is broken the yogi and all those who interact with him suffers at a spiritual sphere. Smooth disclosure will be hindered by chaos and misconceptions. Yogis who must ideally be spreading love and receiving love would be bound by their own inhibitions and fear and would be held back from doing so.

Dishonesty in spirituality = Chaos

If you are Dishonest to yourself and to your brethren there will be no trust. Any spiritual structure without mutual trust and understanding would not survive. Hiding facts about the truth also causes confusion among learners. Honesty would form a clear and solid base of facts and principles that can be used by every yogi and yogic subsystem to formulate codes and ideologies.

No Honesty, No Love

It is hard to love people that you don’t trust, same goes with spirituality and the yogic life. If you have doubts about a teacher or his teachings you may not be able to put all your efforts into living by and expounding the ideas he stand for. Even the love among the brethren in a yogic system or a faith calls for utmost truthfulness and transparency.

Dishonesty obstructs progress

The growth and evolution of beliefs and believers depends widely on the spread of knowledge, the absence of transparency precludes the spread of knowledge and hence keeps a yogi or a seeker of the truth from making any advancement in his spiritual pursuits. Lack of transparency also affects the evolution of beliefs.

Dispelling Dishonesty

Just like all our urges the urge to be dishonest can only be overcome thorough patient and persistent effort. The world has come to a juncture where a person cannot stay honest without being abused or exploited. Desperation and lack of discipline or principles has caused us to be liars in our professional lives and in our domestic lives. We are bound to be dishonest because society and culture does not allow us to stay truthful and make progress in life at the same time. And for an intelligent person who considers success to be as important as spirituality it becomes hard to keep up with life. But, as humanity has come to learn from its eventful past… everything is possible. We believe that social evils like Dishonesty and desperation can be wiped out of our daily lives through perseverance and careful strategy. Every individual can put the principle of truthfulness to practice in his or her life and spiritual luminaries can use carefully drafted techniques to bring about cultural changes that promote honesty and authenticity.

Refuse to bend

Resisting your untruthful nature requires you to be strong and incorrigible. Say no to every enticement that the world tries to distract you with. Set a number of rules that you would keep at any cost.

Swim against the current

Our cultures have been manipulated in such a way that we have turned blind and have unlearned what life has taught us about  what is right and  what is wrong. A person striving for a truthful life might be looked upon by modern societies as gullible and incompetent. If honesty is as important for you as being socially and economically successful then you will risk being looked upon by society and hold on to your principles though out your life.

Flee from dishonesty

Try to be as evasive as possible of situations that might cause you to be dishonest. If you can avoid going to a meeting during which you are sure to have to lie, then keep away from it. If a business opportunity or collaboration looks like it could cause you to give up on your principles, cancel it. Sync your conversations and your style of talking to the notion of truthfulness. Be tactfully evasive of dishonest conversations and steer every form of disclosure towards openness and authenticity.

Check yourself

While’ making the climb out of dishonesty’ you are sure to find yourself in situations where you are tempted to back down… Since you have gotten used to being less than truthful in your daily life you could be at the risk of falling back into patterns of life that lead to corruption. Be alert and keep track of your feelings and reactions while making conversations and doing business. Make sure you harness your impulses to become dishonest at your work and home.

Stay open minded

Individuals and faiths could learn volumes and take giant leaps in evolution by staying open minded. Once a community or society begins to make open minded, authentic conversations there would be no need for anyone to hide anything. Understanding every person and idea and trying to absorb what is good would make it possible for every person to be widely honest. Once there is mutual understanding and compassion there would be no place for untruthfulness.

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