If you’ve started upon your spiritual path, maybe you have gotten an inkling of the need to eliminate distractions. No sooner do you get started than mundane things suddenly conspire to distract your attention and focus.
It’s not your imagination! It’s a predictable phenomenon: the world compensates for your attempt to rise out of thralldom. In fact, the higher you climb up Mount Abiegnus, the harder the world tries to pull you down. Have no fear, however. You can win the peace that allows to focus. To do so, all you need are
- a strategy to maintain your focus on spirituality and
- the discipline to follow it.
Many religions give their members moral codes to help them stay on track. After all, if there’s a religious prohibition against doing something and you’re serious about your spirituality, you won’t waste energy debating it: you’ll avoid that activity. If you need help avoiding it, you’ll probably seek the assistance of a clergy member or spiritual counselor to keep you “honest”.
However, those of us on the Thelemic spiritual path don’t have the luxury of following generalized moral codes. We follow the law of Thelema, or Will. We Thelemites set out with the intent to realize our innate divinity—yoga, or union with the divine core of our Self. The cost for doing so is going it alone. Because each of us has the potential to channel the Will in our own unique way, we must find our own law and stick with it regardless of what others are doing. To do so takes courage!
[T]he exercise of liberty means that you have to think for yourself, and the natural inertia of mankind wants religion and ethics ready-made. … There are not going to be many Yogis in England because there will not be more than a very few indeed who will have the courage to tackle even this first of the eight limbs of Yoga: yama.
–Aleister Crowley, “Yoga for Yahoos”
Yama: Avoiding What You (Personally) Must Avoid
Spirituality—Yoga (Union with God)—requires concentration. Just for a start, to Know Thyself and follow one’s unique destiny up the mystic mountain takes calm self-observation, canny maneuvering, and daring commitment to walk away from the crowd when necessary. Not to be confused with the fitness practice derived from it, “the ultimate Yoga which gives emancipation, which destroys the sense of separateness which is the root of Desire, is to be made by the concentration of every element of one’s being…” (Aleister Crowley, “Yoga for Yahoos”).
Alas, the world automatically disperses our attention. Natural entropy and inertia scatter the energy and focus that we need to Know Thyself. Social pressure, even when packaged as ethical or spiritual, tries to get us to serve something other than Spirit. Don’t fall for the hype; listen to your inner voice.
Yama is the first of eight steps of union, or Yoga, of one’s outer self with the divine Will. Yama means self-control in accordance with one’s individual law. In other words, Yama means finding out and heeding what you, personally, must avoid to stick to your spiritual path.
You have a unique destiny. That is, you incarnated with a specific intent to assist all humankind in the way that only you can. However, if you allow others to dictate your actions and monopolize your energy, you will fail to individuate. Being false to yourself in this way is the one sin in Thelema: “So with thy all; thou hast no right but to do thy will” (AL, I:42).
Anyone who possesses a function has only one duty to that function, to arrange for its free fulfillment. –Aleister Crowley, “Yoga for Yahoos”
The first and biggest obstacle to embarking on your spiritual journey will be other people. Unless you refuse to be moved, your relationships will torpedo your efforts. I guarantee it. Whether it be your mate, children, boss, or friend, if you allow others to determine how you spend your time and energy, you are screwed.
Social existence of any kind renders any serious Yoga absolutely out of the question; domestic life is completely incompatible with even elementary practices. –Aleister Crowley, “Yoga for Yahoos”
Now, plenty of successful Thelemic practitioners have significant relationship. But every such success story begins and ends with the ruthless refusal to allow others to dictate their agenda. You can be polite and flexible, if that suits you. But you must have zero-tolerance for manipulation or force. You must maintain your spiritual practices regardless of what else is going on. Don’t try to live an incompatible lifestyle just to suit others.
The second obstacle will be you. You will be tempted to avoid hard work, seek ease, and curry approval. Don’t. You must
- keep a journal,
- note anything that distracts you from your spiritual focus,
- and eliminate it.
For example, you say your job doesn’t allow you to focus? Bullshit. Charles Stansfeld Jones did his spiritual exercises while living with his wife in a tent on the outskirts of Toronto and commuting to his job every day. But if your job destroys your focus, you should find another one. You alone are responsible for finding a compatible livelihood.
Summary
Yama is the art of adapting yourself to your spiritual requirements. No one can tell you how to do it. No one can force you to do it. It’s entirely your responsibility. The reward of yama is freedom—freedom to fulfill your potential.
Your object is to perform Yoga. Your True Will is to attain the consummation of marriage with the universe, and your ethical code must constantly be adapted precisely to the conditions of your experiment. –Aleister Crowley, “Yoga for Yahoos”