“In the state of Yoga, the different preconceptions and products of the imagination that can prevent or distort understanding are controlled, reduced or eliminated. The tendency to be closed to fresh comprehension or the inability to comprehend are overcome.”

– T.K.V. Desikachar, Reflections on Yoga Sutra-s of Patanjali

 

“You are the Seer who wants to see itself. How? Even in the case of your physical face, if I ask if you have ever seen it, you have to say no, because it is the face that sees….What it sees in the mirror is its image, the seen or the object. If the mirror is corrugated, curved, concave or convex, will you be able to see your true face? No….You will immediately know something is wrong with the mirror. You are seeing a distorted reflection. Only if the mirror is perfectly smooth and clean will it give you the true reflection….If the mind has a lot of waves like the surface of a lake, you will be seeing a distorted reflection….To see the true reflection, see that the water is clean and calm and without any ripples.”

–Sri Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

 

“Once freed from its association with the states of the mind, the soul can abide in its own true nature, the highest state of pure consciousness….To illustrate the nature of the soul as pure consciousness alone, devoid of content, the commentators often refer to the example of a pure transparent crystal…to illustrate the relationship between consciousness and the mind (or between the mind and its object). When a red flower is placed next to the crystal, the flower’s color is reflected in the crystal, and so the crystal itself appears to be red. The true nature of the crystal, howver, is never actually red, nor is it affected or changed by the flower in any way….”

– Edwin F. Bryant, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

 

“What abide suggests is that the Seer will no longer be a visitor, coming with periods of mental stillness and leaving when the mind becomes restless.”

– Reverend Jaganath Carrera, Inside the Yoga Sutras