"I am in reality without beginning, without equal. I have no part in the illusion of "I" and "you" or "this" or "that". I am Brahman, one without a second, bliss without end, the eternal, unchanging truth. I dwell within all beings as the soul, the pure consciousness, the ground of all phenomenon, internal and external. I am both enjoyer and that which is enjoyed. In the days of my ignorance, I used to think of these as being separate from myself. Now I know that I am all." - 8th C Hindu mystic Shankara
"In yoga, it is believed that once the soul has been awakened to the presence of its source, consciousness of source can be cultivated through a cornucopia of practices - ethical and lifestyle practices, meditation and postures, mantras and breathing, purification and diet. The classic guide to yoga practice - the eight limbed path, or ashtanga yoga - is entirely organized around the systematic penetration into deeper and deeper states of samadhi. The word yoga itself means literally, "yoked" - or to be in union. Eventually, repeated penetrations into mystic union transform the physical structure of the body, the personality, and the mind. At the highest stages of practice, nirbija samadhi (or samadhi "w/out seed"), the soul is constantly in union with source - at one with the absolute, with Brahman, God, the transcendent ground of being. The classical practices of yoga are believed to methodically create a state of permanent union with the One." - Stephen Cope in Yoga & the Quest for the True Self