Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali

A classic work of Indian philosophy that succinctly spells out how the mind works and what is needed to attain liberation. Just 196 short aphorisms, compiled in the second or third century CE, make up the masterpiece that is the Yoga-Sūtra. Pata jali provides here a road map of human consciousness--and a particularly helpful guide to the mind states one encounters in meditation, yoga, and other spiritual practices. It expresses the truths of the human condition with great eloquence: how we know what we know, why we suffer, and how we can discover the way out of suffering.