Excerpted from:
http://www.swamij.com/centripetal-centrifugal.htm
SATELLITES, SURRENDER, SELF-REALIZATION, AND YOGA
Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati
A satellite in a geostationary orbit (remaining over one location on the Earth) is held in place because of the perfect balance between gravity (centripetal force) and its inertia (centrifugal force). Imagine that the satellite stopped its forward motion of about 17,000 miles per hour. The satellite would immediately start falling toward Earth at a very fast speed.
Imagine for a moment a human stopping his or her outward momentum into the external world, as well as ceasing motion of awareness "outward" into the stuff of the mind and body. Instantly, she or he would move "inward" towards the center of consciousness, the true Self, or whatever you wish to call that. This is one way of viewing the Yoga process of surrender. It is not a matter of defining to whom or what you surrender, but the letting go process itself.
Thus, Yoga Sutras 1.2-1.3 describes Yoga as a process of setting aside or letting go, etc. (nirodhah), which results in the seer or witness resting in its own true nature. This is one way of explaining the meaning of the phrase Self-Realization and the word Yoga.
YOGA SUTRAS 1.2-1.3:
http://www.swamij.com/yoga-sutras-10104.htm#1.2
Attaining Yoga or Union:
Yoga or "Union" is attained by first training, balancing, and purifying each of the aspects of our being individually, and then systematically receding attention inward through those levels, expanding so as to experience the state of Union, Yoga, Samadhi, or Turiya.
