Vocabulary in context: in the passage about yoga and the mind, choose the verb that best completes the clause "With concentration, the mind can ______ its innermost secrets."

Introduction / Context:
In the yoga passage, the author explains that by turning the mind inward and applying concentration, we can reach its deepest levels. The sentence with the blank reads, "With concentration, the mind can ______ its innermost secrets, just as the darkest places reveal their secrets to the penetrating rays of light." The image compares concentration to light that uncovers hidden truths. The question is asking which verb best expresses the idea of reaching or entering these hidden depths.

Given Data / Assumptions:
Concentration is likened to penetrating rays of light.
The phrase innermost secrets suggests something hidden that can be reached and revealed.
The options are obsess, access, excess, recess and possess.
The rest of the passage talks about perceiving soul truths and understanding whether life exists for a short time or for eternity.

Concept / Approach:
We need a verb that takes an object like innermost secrets comfortably and that matches the metaphor of entering or opening. Access is a verb meaning to obtain entry to or to be able to reach and use. Saying that the mind can access its innermost secrets fits both grammar and meaning. Obsess means to be preoccupied with something, excess is a noun meaning too much, recess is a break or hidden place, and possess means to own. Of these, only access naturally collocates with secrets in this way.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Note that the subject is the mind and the object is its innermost secrets, so the verb must describe what the mind can do with those secrets. Step 2: Recognise that the comparison with penetrating rays of light highlights the idea of reaching into hidden areas. Step 3: Test access in the blank: the mind can access its innermost secrets. This means the mind can reach and bring those secrets into awareness. Step 4: Test obsess, which would give the mind can obsess its secrets, an ungrammatical and unnatural phrase. Step 5: Reject excess and recess because they are not verbs in this context and do not fit grammatically, and reject possess because secrets being possessed by the mind is less appropriate than the mind accessing what it already contains.

Verification / Alternative check:
When we place access into the sentence and read the extended comparison with dark places being illuminated, the metaphor works smoothly. We can imagine the mind entering deeper layers of itself and uncovering information that was previously hidden. None of the other options sustain this image. Possess might seem plausible, but it suggests ownership rather than discovery, and the emphasis in the passage is clearly on revealing and knowing, not merely having.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Obsess is usually followed by over or about and refers to a state of mental preoccupation, not uncovering secrets. Excess primarily functions as a noun meaning surplus and cannot directly fill this verb slot. Recess, although it can sometimes be a verb, is not used transitively with secrets and would still sound odd in this context. Possess does not capture the dynamic act of entering or unlocking something; the mind already possesses its own contents, but the new action described is to access them consciously.

Common Pitfalls:
Some test takers may be drawn to possess because of the familiar phrase possess secrets, but they forget to read the entire comparison. The key idea is that concentration reveals or uncovers what is hidden, much like light reveals what was in darkness. Access is closer to reveal or unlock than possess is. Paying close attention to the metaphor usually leads to the correct answer without confusion.

Final Answer:
The verb that correctly completes the sentence is access, so option access is correct.