“Our world experience comprises of three major factors viz., mind, matter and Consciousness. The inert matter influences our consciousness through mind. This is life in short, as per the Yoga philosophy. But, this is not acceptable to some other thinkers who explain that the mind itself is consciousness. Such ideology is presented in the Yoga bhashya gloss on the Yoga sutra of Patanjali, itself. Such being the state of things, one doubts whether mind itself is consciousness or is different from it? What is the difference between mind and matter? In this matter, it is attempted here to present the perspective of the Yoga philosophy regarding the mind, matter and consciousness trio.

As we all know the yoga system has its philosophical foundations on the Samkhya system only. But, it should be borne in mind that the Yoga system does not just reproduce all the tenets of the Samkhya system. It rather compliments and strengthens the Samkhya system. Samkhya is the theoretical part of dualistic philosophy and the Yoga is the practical part of it. The contribution of the Yoga system in channelizing the Samkhya stream is very significant. This we shall see in detail now.”

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About Author - Dean, Faculty of Indian Philosophy and Culture K.Kalidas Sanskrit University, Ramtek

This article is an extract from a book titled ‘Prajñānam: Self-Awareness’ published by KAIVALYADHAMA, Lonavla, India. Credit and copyright Kaivalyadhama. To buy book online http://kdham.com/books/