1.2. Union is restraining the thought-streams natural to the mind.

I woke up a couple of days ago with the Ghostbusters theme song running through my head. As I laid there in bed and tried to fall asleep, the song got louder and louder. After about an hour of this "who ya gonna call!" My answer was a lobotomist. This song was an example of a thought stream. It does not have to be a song however, it can just be a line of thinking set off by some sort of random stimulus. Have you ever driven by a restaurant you liked, then though, boy I really want to stop there? Then you thought about the last time you stopped there, the good or bad time you had, how dirty the bathrooms were. Now you remember that you need to clean your bathroom. Oh crap, I need to stop by the store to get some more cleaner!

These are both examples of thought streams and they are natural to the mind. One clear distinction, as Patanjali would refer to it, is "The Mind" not "Your Mind". Many think that identity is the thoughts put together in the mind. In Yoga, your mind is not you. You are the consciousness behind the mind and all its functions. This includes anything you identify yourself with: your memories, hopes, dreams, fears and awesome movie soundtracks. The mind in its natural state is nothing more than a lens though which we perceive thoughts.

The tradition of Sankya Yoga, in which Kriya Yoga is a part of, states that the world is a very real place and as entities of consciousness, we identify ourselves with this materiality. Matter therefore consists of anything that is not awareness.. Thoughts are nothing more than objects that the mind naturally attaches itself to during its entanglement in matter. The Atman, or the soel, is free from entanglements. It's ultimately the goal of Yoga to free our-self from these entanglements, uniting with the true self.