YAMA – SATYA

As far as I can remember my parents always taught me that lie is bad. Honest is good – the right thing to do. Yet one afternoon when I was around 7 or 8 years old; the phone rang and I picked up. I remember it was a woman’s voice and she was looking for Mum and Dad. I asked her to hold on for a while. I found Mum (Dad was at work), and told her that this Lady was looking for her. A split of second, she panicked and asked to tell the Lady that Mum just left home. I did was I was told. Afterwards, Mum Praised me for doing the right thing.
23 years fast forward. When I heard the word SATYA and what it means during the yoga philosophy class. I was thinking – WOW, that’s a very dangerous one…
(Un)Fortunately, I get SATYA for our class presentation… I did few research and found an intersting article from yoga108.com. It says:
‘A moralist cares for the results of the truth. So that if a lie must be told in order to bring about the greatest good for the greatest number of people, then this can only be the truth’
Again, it brought me back to think all the white lies I have been telling to my friends and family. SATYA literally means truthfulness. Is it okay to lie for the benefit of the greatest number of people?
Again, I found another quotation from Swami Sivananda – It says:
‘Speaking truth is the most important qualification of a yogi’
But, what if the truth was bringing the negative impact to the greatest number of people? So this could not be the truth?