The power to discard unwanted thoughts
Discarding Unwanted Thoughts
A central principle of yoga is to cultivate the power to discard unwanted thoughts.
The value of this is sometimes vaguely recognized in ordinary life.
A cypher officer working at speed tries not to let his mind become engaged with the meaning of a vital text; it is found that if he does, his operational skill becomes affected. It is well known that a surgeon avoids operating on a member of his own family; his emotions are not merely irrelevant, but may be a positive disadvantage.
However avoiding a problem is not solving it. And it means that some unexpected advantages are lost which can come from a solution.