Yoga speaks about the nature and quality of the encounter between the self and the world. How the self in the form of one’s body meets food, separates out the nourishment from the bulk, throws out the bulk and spreads nourishment throughout the body. How the self in the form of one’s breath meets air and through respiration spreads energy and life into the body. How the self in the form of one’s senses meets the world of other living and non living things and transacts with them creating a niche for the person to live in. How the self in the form of one’s intellect meets the subtle realities around and makes meanings and gains insight into the nature of the world and oneself. How the self in the form of one’s being meets life itself and discovers bliss. 

Sankhya speaks about the composition of the world and of oneself. It enumerates the elements that create the manifest world. Sankhya describes the process of perception and action.

The canvas of life is infinite and human potential is unbounded, yet, we live in relatively confined spaces and deploy only a small portion of our potential. Sankhya and Yoga theory states that this is due to our propensity to live within a world limited by our conditioning. This conditioned world is called “Avidya Khetram”- The ground of limited erroneous understanding of the world and oneself. Within this limited world, we live by a set of interpretations and meanings of the world and ourselves. This set of meanings in turn offer a set of action alternatives and role repertoires with which we respond to the world.