YOGA SUTRA II.35 AHIMSA PRATISTHAYAM TAT SANNIDHAU VAIRA TYAGAH
The practioner will cease to encounter hostility from others by practicing non-harming and non-violence.

As yogis, we look to the yamas for guidance concerning our ethical behaviour towards others. This sutra describes the powerful effect of total adherence to the first, most important yama - ahimsa.

By becoming completely established in ahimsa, the yogi will cease to encounter any kind of hostility from any being. It is difficult to comprehend what it would be like to have no hostility or animosity coming from us or towards us. At times it is even difficult to understand that these are the same thing. When we refrain from injuring ourselves and all others with our words, thoughts and actions, we remove the causes for injury or hostility in our own lives.

The key to making our own lives less hostile, is to become a refuge from hostility for all other beings. At the most obvious level, this implies that we must stop raising animals to use for food, entertainment or fashion. At a more subtle level, practicing ahimsa means becoming aware of the ways that we could participate in the cycles of suffering from the disease of disconnect. Practicing ahimsa means that you have to be vigilant, radical and willing to look beneath the surface of things. It’s well worth it to transform our world into a place of peace for all beings.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION: LEATHER LOSS
Every year, the global leather industry slaughters more than a billion animals for their skins and hides. Many of these animals suffer all the horrors of factory farming—including extreme crowding and confinement, branding, tail-docking, and dehorning—and cruel treatment during transport and slaughter.

When dairy cows’ production declines, their skin is made into leather. The economic success of slaughterhouses and dairy farms are directly linked to the sale of leather goods. Therefore, when you buy leather goods, you are supporting the systematic cruelty of the meat and dairy industry.

Hundreds of thousands of dog and cat skins are traded in Europe each year (with an estimated 2 million dogs and cats killed in China to meet the demand). Many are bought by unsuspecting consumers, because the products made from dog and cat fur are often deliberately mislabeled and do not accurately indicate their origin. When you buy leather products, you may unknowingly be purchasing leather from dog and cat tanneries. Although leathermakers like to tout their products as “biodegradable” and “eco-friendly,” the process of tanning stabilizes the collagen or protein fibers, so that they actually stop biodegrading.

There are many alternatives to leather, including cotton, linen, rubber, ramie, canvas, and synthetics. They are easily and readily available and often cheaper than leather.