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The fundamental principle of Yoga is to unite. The word 'Yoga' itself comes from the Sanskrit root 'yuj', meaning to join. So, what is being joined? The individual self, the Jīvātmā, is to be united with the supreme self, the Paramātmā. This is the union. The entire spiritual journey, the entire Sādhanā, is aimed at achieving this union. The state of separation is the state of bondage. The state of union is the state of liberation, of Mokṣa. Now, what is the nature of this union? It is not a physical union. It is a union of consciousness. The individual consciousness, which feels itself to be limited, bound, and separate, realizes its true nature as the supreme, limitless consciousness. This is the union. This is Yoga. To understand this, we must first understand the state of separation. In our ordinary experience, we feel ourselves to be a separate entity. I am here, and the world is there. I am the experiencer, and the world is the experienced. This duality is the root of all suffering. This sense of 'I' and 'mine'—'ahaṃkāra' and 'mamakāra'—creates a wall. It creates a sense of otherness. From this otherness arises attraction and repulsion, desire and aversion. This is Saṃsāra. Yoga is the process of dismantling this wall. It is the process by which the wave realizes it is the ocean. The wave may appear separate, with its own name and form, rising and falling. But its substance is water, and that water is none other than the ocean. Similarly, the individual self, the Jīva, appears separate, but its essence is consciousness, Cit, and that consciousness is none other than the supreme reality, Brahman. The great sage Yājñavalkya said in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad: ‘neti neti’— ‘not this, not this.’ Through this process of negation, we discard all that is not the Self. The body is not the Self. The senses are not the Self. The mind is not the Self. The intellect is not the Self. When all that is not the Self is negated, what remains? That which remains is the Self. That is the supreme reality. That is what you are. So, the path of Yoga is a path of return. It is a journey from the periphery back to the centre. From the many back to the One. Our attention is constantly flowing outward, through the senses, towards the objects of the world. This is called Pravṛtti. Yoga is Nivṛtti—the turning inward of the attention. We withdraw the senses from their objects, like a tortoise withdraws its limbs. This is Pratyāhāra. Then we steady the mind through Dhāraṇā and Dhyāna. When the mind becomes utterly still and transparent, like a flawless mirror, it reflects the truth of the Self. That state is Samādhi. In that state, the union is complete. The knower, the process of knowing, and the object known—all merge into one. This is not a state of blankness. It is a state of supreme awareness, of pure consciousness. It is Sat-Cit-Ānanda—Existence, Consciousness, and Bliss absolute. Therefore, practice. Practice with sincerity. Practice with detachment. Make your life itself a Yoga. Let every action, every thought, be an offering. As Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad Gītā (9.27): ‘yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat | yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam ||’ "Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give, whatever austerity you practice, O son of Kuntī, do that as an offering to Me." When every act becomes an offering, the sense of doership dissolves. The wall of separation crumbles. Then, in the silence of your own heart, you will discover that you were never separate. You are that. Tat tvam asi. You are That.