Niyama

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Niyama (Skt., ‘restraint’).
1. In Hinduism, the second ‘limb’ of ‘eight-limbed’ (aṣṭaṇga) or rāja yoga concerning self-discipline to help purify the mind of impediments (kleśa).

2. In Buddhism, the constraints which control eventualities into their outcomes: (i) bījaniyama, biological or hereditary constraints; (ii) mano- or citta-niyama, unwilled operations of the mental order; (iii) karma-niyama, the consequences of volitional dispositions; (iv) uti-niyama, constraints in the physical environment; (v) dharma-niyama, constraints derived from the transcendental order. From these, it will be seen that events cannot be construed as the simple working out of karma, as though all eventualities must have a preceding karmic cause.

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