The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali—Integral Yoga Pocket Edition: Translation and Commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda

3Then the Seer (Self) abides in Its own nature. You are the true Seer. You are not the body nor the mind. You are the Knower or Seer. You always see your mind and body acting in front of you. You know that the mind creates thoughts; it distinguishes and desires. The Seer knows that but is not involved in it.

Tapas also refers to self-discipline. Normally the mind is like a wild horse tied to a chariot. Imagine the body is the chariot; the intelligence is the charioteer; the mind is the reins; and the horses are the senses. The Self, or true you, is the passenger. If the horses are allowed to gallop without reins and charioteer, the journey will not be

But when you feel five minutes as one hour, you are not meditating; you are still concentrating.

26Uninterrupted discriminative discernment is the method for its removal. This is called viveka in Sanskrit. You try to understand and see the permanent aspect in everything and ignore the impermanent aspect.

45The subtlety of possible objects of concentration ends only at the undefinable.

let us not be like little children who sow a seed today and dig it up tomorrow to see how much the root went down.

they formulated the yogic diet, free of meat, fish, eggs, stimulants, and excessive use of spices.

When doubt is there, there is a carelessness, a sort of lethargic attitude or laziness. When the mind loses the interest and alertness toward the higher goal, it has to do something else so it will slowly descend to the sensual enjoyments.

every atom of our bodies we should repeat this mantra: “Dedication, dedication, giving, giving, loving, loving.”