Sutra 23
The conjunction of the seer with the seen is for the seer to discover his own true nature.
Seer: being the soul, or for Christians, I believe the Holy Spirit
Seen: being our perception of self, our human/flesh nature, even our sinful nature
This sutra is saying that in the soul (Holy Spirit), is present to help us discover our true purpose- to be in a relationship with God.
Iyengar commentary says “ if this association is fed by ignorance, it leads the master towards enjoyment, desire, and ailments and binds him. But if non-attachment is developed, it leads to detachment and renunciation. If the master maintains constant watchful awareness of his consciousness, associated with nature without attachment and remains a witness, nature leads its owner, the soul, to freedom.”
Again, the sutras are coming from a relationship with self, how to overcome this obstacle of relating to and through things, rather than from our source God. Jesus teaches to love God above all and love each other as Christians. If we learn to relate to everything from and with love, unattached, then maybe we can live more as God teaches and more like Christ did.
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles, men, and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had a need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart” (Acts 2:36-46)
Acts stood out to me because after the thousands asked and received forgiveness from their sins and accepted Jesus as their redeemer, the Holy Spirit began to act within them. They then showed their detachment from the ways of this world, by giving up their possessions and trusting God to provide for them. They ate and taught of the greatness of Jesus from house to house with gladness and singleness of heart. To me singleness of heart means, they only focused on Jesus and his teachings, which was only possible after they accepted Jesus’ gift and lived by the Holy Spirit’s leading. I think it is a beautiful example of the seer at work in this sutra. History provides ground to back up the rest of this sutra, although the Holy Spirit worked wonders with these lucky souls, around them was war and sin.
