न च तत् सालम्बनं तस्याविषयीभूतत्वात्॥

na ca tat sālambanaṁ tasya-aviṣayī bhūtatvāt

No (na), we cannot see the base or foundation (sālambanaṁ) of another’s state of mind because it is out of reach (aviṣayī) of this area (bhūtatvāt).

PRACTICAL LIVING     Here Patanjali makes a clarification and explains the limitations of sūtra III.19. The previous sūtra stated that a yogi or very attuned person can experience what another is experiencing. Here, we are told that though a highly sensitive and well-meditated person can see into another’s thoughts or feelings, they cannot understand the object of their thoughts.

For example, if a person is thinking about elephants, the yogi has access to that thought, but does not have access to understanding the elephants themselves. The yogi also needs to understand that the thoughts of another can be inaccurate since our minds are often distorted by opinions, life experiences and emotions.

I can never understand what jumping from an airplane feels like by listening to someone else describe it. I cannot really comprehend what dying is like if I haven’t had that experience. I can listen and have my own experience of what they’re describing, but never really know what they’re experience of it is.

IN THE YOGA WORLD     Since every individual interprets and experiences everything in unique ways, one can never understand the object of those thoughts, but simply see what the thoughts are. The yogi therefore knows that reading someone else’s mind does not give them answers to the object of their thoughts, it just simply tells them the content. It also does not give access to the explanation as to why another person is having such thoughts. The mind is deep, complex and multi-layered. Sūtra III.19 simply states a present moment experience: knowing the thoughts of one person in that moment with no other explanations. We can never know an object through the mind of another, only through our experience of it.

INSPIRATIONAL PERSON     Amazon forest, the “lungs of planet Earth”, this sūtra is dedicated to you. After 20-something years of studies as an adult, it was recently revealed to me that you’re the teacher I am now ready to receive teachings from. Your wisdom, energy, vibrancy and wholeness is what calls me. I thank you for EVERYTHING you offer the planet. You home a huge number of species, you gift us with immense amounts of oxygen, you have limitless potency for medicine and carry wisdom I will likely never comprehend. I feel ready to listen, feel and apply your teachings!

Any thoughts? Next time we will explore the mystical potential to suspend the ability to be seen.