If we are to block or negate the fluctuations of mind then it is only in order to experience the Self as consciousness in essence. In order to do this we must discover what is Avidya, often translated from Sanskrit as meaning Ignorance or misidentification of the Self with the Body/ Mind.
Through the practice of Yoga we work inwards, peeling away layer upon layer of that which is known as the Kleshas or tendencies towards pain. Basically we come into this world with stuff, Karma and we collect more of it and that gets in the way and though it’s all our responsibility it’s a tad tricky to get hold of owing to the fact that it’s controlling us at a level of consciousness that by its very nature we do not know- the subconscious. With Yoga subconscious transmutes, by meditation, tapas , mantra , kriya, Yantra. Patanjali offers us a number of methods depending on where we’re at in this current mind/ body field.
Avidya, you may call it Ignorance or Psychosis is the Mother of all Kleshas, it gives rise to Asmita, the 'I' feeling, and to Raga or liking and Dwesha otherwise known as disliking and finally Abhinivesah or fear of Death. So Involution involves working from Abhinivesah through to Avidya and finally to Vidya which turns out to be the oppostie of Avidya.
It is very important to understand that this process if worked on with guidance, be it one's own inner guide or that of a Guru is a diving inside oneself and therefore has little to do with the effects of what we have done or what the mind decides. It is an experience not accessible via the Intellect. It is what the Advaitists would call a rooting out of the who in the question 'who am I?'. It is the spaciousness and the rockbed from which the the 'I' arises where recognition of Reality and the Nature of ourselves, no longer in a state of identification with the body/ mind but with God or what the Samkyha Tradition call Purusha ( not a God as such but Consciousness itself, though there may be some who quibble)
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