Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Chapter One Sutras 31-40

By the presence of the following symptoms can be understood the extent to which the mind is disturbed and distracted:

(1) sorrowful mood, (2) psychological despair , (3) the motions of the body, and (4) inhalation and exhalation. By being attentive to these factors, it is possible to arrive at an understanding of the degree of seriousness of the obstacles: for they co-exist with the distractions of the mind.

In order to overcome mental distractions one should steadily adhere to the practice of one method. Whereas any method will help one overcome distractions, frequent change of the methods adopted in one ' s practice will aggravate the distractions. (Several suggested methods follow.)

The following fourfold attitude to life's vicissitudes and in all relationships, being conducive to peace of mind, enables one to overcome the distractions of the mind:

(1) friendliness towards pleasure or those who are pleasantly disposed to oneself (friends), (2) compassion for the sorrowful, and, when one is in a painful condition, self-forgetful sympathy for those who may be in a similar painful condition,

(3) rejoicing in the exaltation of the noble or the holy ones, and

(4) indifference to unholiness, not being drawn into it nor holding others in contempt for their unholiness .

Or, the distractions can be overcome by literally and physically exhaling the breath and holding the lungs empty, or by adopting such other methods like fasting or contemplation of death, etc., by which one symbolically "expires" and holds the prana or life-force outside, as it were.

Or, intense and vigilant attentiveness to the activities aroused within oneself by sense-experiences can also act as a binding force to prevent mental distractions. Needless to say that one should not get lost in such sense-experiences. Of such is attentiveness to breathing or to the movement of life-force, or to the "silent" sound of a mantra mentally uttered, to the subtle vision of the divine presence, or to the experience of "the space of consciousness" within the heart.

Or, one may be keenly attentive to an internal (the psychic blissful inner light) or an external person or phenomenon devoid of sorrow and full of resplendence, and thus overcome distractions of the mind-stuff.

Or, the mental distractions can be eliminated by the adoration of the consciousness of one or which is free from conditioning (or the psychological coloring of attachment or passion). To this category belong even divine images, celestial bodies like the sun, and enlightened living beings - or even babies - though surely one should constantly bear in mind that it is their unconditioned nature which entitles them to be thus adored.

Or, the distractions can be removed by holding on to the wisdom gained in dreams, whether they are Para psychological visions or symbolical dreams, as also the wisdom gained by a profound reflection on the "message" of deep sleep, in which there is total absence of mental distraction, and in which one experiences no diversity at all. In this state, free from obstacles, one "experiences" peace and happiness which are "recollected" on awaking from sleep.

Or, the distractions can be overcome by adopting any contemplative technique, using any object of meditation, one likes most, for that which one likes most holds one's attention, and the technique one likes most makes contemplation easy - provided, of course, that neither the object nor the technique itself involves or invites distraction.

The mind or the intelligence thus freed from distractions encompasses or comprehends the smallest as also the greatest - for it is free from all conditioning, and from all coloring, and is therefore like the purest crystal.