The mind can be compared to the software and the body to the hardware. Neither is conscious. They are forms of gross matter. Both the software and hardware are useless without the presence of a conscious observer. In meditation the vrittis fall away. When uncoupled from the mind, the soul, purusa, in its pure state, untainted by being misidentified with the physical coverings of the body and mind is free of content and blissful. It doesn’t constantly ramble and flit from one thing to another the way the mind does. To realize pure awareness as an entity distinct from the mind and the body thought must be stilled and consciousness extracted from its embroilment with the mind and its incessant thinking nature. The yogis tell us that then the soul can be realized as an entity, completely distinct from the mind. This distinction is called “Self-realization”. The process to achieve this realization is Yoga.
During the Friday Night Meditation Classes all Eight Limbs of Yoga are actually practiced to lead up to and include Dhyana, meditation, leading to the bliss of Samadhi or expanded Self-realization.