Asteya – Not Stealing, No jealousy

One of 5 Yama (don’t do) that sounds easy but is actually meaningful would be Asteya, not-stealing or no-jealousy. Those feeling come from the thought that you do not have enough of something and want more. It sounds easy if you think about not stealing someone’s physical possessions as it could be a criminal offence. But it is not all about someone’s physical belongings but sometimes abstract belongings as well.
 
For example, let’s assume you and I are very close friends and I am full of jealous feelings about everything. I am not satisfied by the way I look, about jobs, boyfriends, or anything else I have. Every time you meet me, I just compare how inferior I am, how my job is not satisfying and how others seems to be in a better position. If you say all girls talk like that and that is why her friends are there for there, ok,, I respect your point of view. Thank you for listening!!! However, every time when I complain and speak about these jealous feelings to you, I would say this is negative energy, you might feel that your energy is replaced by my negative thoughts and energy, and in the end, you might feel like the time I have with you is totally wasted!
 
This might be a very exaggerated example, but we can see that Asteya is not practised not only in a physical way in my story. Because of the feeling that I do not have enough of anything, I tend to compare myself to others and have a lot of jealousy. I steal your positive energy and your precious time unintentionally as I take advantage of our relationship as friends.
 
In this scenario, I would need to appreciate and satisfy what I have and convert these negative thoughts to positive ones. I should appreciate what I am given, the job I have which some are still struggling to find, the time my friends share with me. Or, I could probably study myself further and find what is my capability, limitation, weakness, and strength, then I could find a solution or way to satisfy myself to remove the feeling of not having enough.
 
It sounds easy to practice Asteya, get rid of your ‘more’ in your mind, but the more you try, the more you have the ‘more’ desire to remove!
 
Hyunjoo
200Hr YTT Weekday Sep 2015