The Yamas
The Sanskrit word, Yama, translates to “control” or simply “the don’ts.” There are five Yamas. They are Ahimsa or Non-Violence, Satya or Non-Lying and Truthfulness, Astayna or Non-Stealing, Brahmacharya or Non-Sensuality and Aparigraha or Non-Greed and Non-Attachment.
Ahimsa
Ahimsa is known to many through the life of Gandhi. Through living Ahimsa and Satya or Truthfulness, Gandhi and his followers brought independence to India. It is said that the practice of Ahimsa will send harmonious vibrations out into the world.
The practice of Non-Violence is both a physical and mental. If you avoid harmful thoughts, you avoid the behaviors. We’re working from the inside out.
As magicians, Ahimsa is not harming others with jokes or situations that cause people to be uncomfortable, foolish or disrespected. It is how we use our power as magicians. Magicians are powerful women and men. All one has to do is look to the literary and mythic archetypes of the magician to see that the magician is endowed with great power and abilities.
As performance magicians, are we helping or hurting? Are we bringing joy, wonder and astonishment or are we playing a fool that recites trite stock lines and making audience members the brunt of the joke? Are we seeking to remedy the dis-ease in our world or unconsciously create more?
The choice belongs to each of us. Being unconscious and following old patterns – patterns that may not even be outs but one’s that we unthinkingly copied – is the easy way. Practicing Ahimsa is the difficult way for it takes thought and awareness to break these patterns.
Violence to our audience may be subtle. How many presentations have you seen or have you yourself performed where the spectator is shown to be wrong? An example is the “classic” effect “two in the hand, one in the pocket.” By design, it creates an adversarial relationship between you and the audience: “How many are left in my hand? Wrong!” We are making them lose and we all know how good it feels to lose. At the end of the trick, the spectator may smile but secretly thinks the magician to be a jerk.
Reflection In Action:
- Analyze your routines and effects. Are there elements that could make a person feel uncomfortable, disrespected or foolish? Ask others if they can spot any. Ask them to be ruthlessly honest.
- Be vigilant in how you label others. Do you see people who make comments as hecklers or someone who wants to join the fun? Do you judge by how someone looks or dresses? What stories do you make up about others?
