The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali: A New Edition, Translation, and Commentary

ego is the root of attachment, just as ignorance is the root of ego; consequently, ego precedes attachment in the list of kleśas as ignorance precedes ego.

since the vicious cycle of action and reaction for just one solitary momentary act is potentially unlimited, and since one has to act at every moment of one’s life (even blinking or breathing is an act), the storehouse of karma is literally unlimited.

one—friendliness, compassion, etc., from I.33 must be cultivated in all instances.

Sāṅkhya provides the metaphysical infrastructure for Yoga and thus is indispensable to an understanding of Yoga.

All aspects of mind, intellect, and cognition in Yoga psychology are external to or distinct from the true self, or soul. As will become clearer, the soul, which is pure consciousness, is autonomous and separable from the mind, and lies behind and beyond all forms of thought.

the soul becomes aware of the outside world when images of sense objects are channeled through the senses, sorted by the manas, the thinking and organizing aspect of citta, and presented to the intellect.

very goal of yoga and of human existence in the Yoga school is the very cause of bondage and ignorance in Buddhism.

if the mind is fully fixed and absorbed without distraction on the practice of āsana, for whatever motive, it can still attain fixity and stillness.

Cultivating the higher qualities of sattva is a continuous and constant requirement of the yogic path and spills over into all aspects of life’s affairs and social interactions.