Vocabulary in context: in the yoga passage, choose the verb that best completes the clause "We can then ______ soul truths, whether life exists for five minutes or for eternity."

Introduction / Context:
Continuing the yoga passage, the writer explains what happens after the mind turns inward and accesses its innermost secrets. The sentence with the blank says, "We can then ______ soul truths, whether life exists for five minutes or for eternity, and whether there is a God." The verb must describe how we come to know deep truths about life and the soul through this inner investigation.

Given Data / Assumptions:
The soul truths are the content that becomes available after concentrated self inquiry.
The issues mentioned include the duration of life and the existence of God, which are deep philosophical questions.
Options include receive, connive, perceive, costive and an added option conceive.
The tone suggests direct inner seeing rather than passive acceptance or dishonest behaviour.

Concept / Approach:
Perceive means to become aware of something through the senses or the mind; in spiritual language it is often used for inner seeing or understanding. Receive is usually used when something is given from outside, which is less suitable when truths are realised within. Connive means to plot or secretly cooperate in wrongdoing and is entirely inappropriate. Costive is a rare word connected with constipation or slowness and is clearly wrong. Conceive can mean to form an idea, but perceive is the more natural collocation with truths, especially soul truths. Therefore perceive is the best choice.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Think about what we do with truths when we come to know them directly; we perceive them or realise them. Step 2: Read the whole clause: we can then perceive soul truths, whether life exists briefly or eternally, and whether there is a God. Step 3: Notice that perceive here suggests direct awareness, which aligns with the image of light revealing darkness used earlier in the passage. Step 4: Compare receive, which would suggest someone else giving us the truths, not discovering them within ourselves through yoga. Step 5: Reject connive and costive because they do not relate semantically to truths and would break the philosophical tone.

Verification / Alternative check:
When perceive is inserted, the sentence reads naturally and clearly: concentration allows us to access inner secrets and then perceive soul truths. This mirrors language commonly used in philosophy and spiritual discourse about perceiving ultimate reality. If we insert receive, the sentence is grammatically correct but conceptually weaker, hinting that truths are coming from an external donor rather than arising from inner investigation. Conceive soul truths is also possible but slightly less idiomatic than perceive in this context.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Receive does not stress the inner act of realisation. Connive carries a strong negative meaning of plotting wrongdoing and is totally out of harmony with the reverent tone of the passage. Costive is obscure and inappropriate. Conceive has a sense of forming an idea, which could fit, but the collocation conceive truths is less common than perceive truths, and the emphasis of the passage is on seeing what already is rather than inventing ideas.

Common Pitfalls:
Some learners might quickly choose receive because they have seen the phrase receive wisdom, without noticing that the emphasis here is on what the mind can do through its own inward turning. When you see words like soul truths and inner secrets alongside metaphors of penetrating light, perceive is almost always the better choice. The question reminds students to look beyond basic grammar to subtle differences in meaning and emphasis.

Final Answer:
The verb that best completes the sentence is perceive, so option perceive is correct.