DAY 21 : JUNE 2
Asteya
non-stealing, non-appropriation, honesty
अस्तेय
The third of the yamas is asteya (non-stealing, non-covetousness,non-appropriation, honesty). We are not to steal or covet others possessions. This extends to not taking credit for other peoples work, not dirtying up the city which we all pay taxes for, not stealing peoples time, and not ruining the Earth for future generations by stealing from nature.
“To aquire some insight from the sages or from the tradition without paying something back with a corresponding responsibility is theft.”
~ Ravi Ravindra
The opposite of stealing is giving. A yogi practices generosity. When grounded in asteya the yogi all precious gems (not necessarily material) come to the yogi.
“There is a kind of vegetable in Vietnam called he (pronounced “hey”). It belongs to the onion family and looks like a scallion, and it is very good in soup. The more you cut the he plants at the base, the more they grow. If you don’t cut them they won’t grow very much. But if you cut them often, right at the base of the stalk, they grow bigger and bigger. This is also true of the practice of generosity. If you give and continue to give, you become richer and richer all the time, richer in terms of happiness and well-being. This may seem strange but it is always true.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
According to the Indigenous teachings I’ve received, being generous and charitable is a very important way of being. My elder said what every we give comes back seven-fold. Remember the Da Da Da story from the Upanishads (Day 2). In that story the human beings were told by the Creator to one thing: to practice Dana (to give, to be charitable).