Yoga Sutra 1- 3- TADA DRASTUH SVARUPE 'VASTHANAM - Then the Seer [Self] abides in His own nature.Swami Satchidananda - You are that true Seer. You are not the body nor the mind. You are the Knower or Seer. You always see your mind and body acting in front of you. You know that the mind creates thoughts; it distinguishes and desires. The Seer know that but is not involved in it.
He tells us in the commentary that to understand that eternal peaceful You, the mind must be quiet; otherwise, it seems to distort the truth. An analogy is given to demonstrate this by using a mirror. We are told that we are the Seer who wants to see itself. The question is asked how since it is the face that sees. We cannot see our own face. The face itself is the seer or the subject. What it sees in the mirror is its image, the seen or the object. It the mirror is corrugated, curved, concave or convex, will you be able to see your true face? No. In other words the face will appear distorted. Seeing this distorted reflection, we will know something is wrong with the mirror. Only if the mirror is perfectly smooth and clean will it give you the true reflection. Only then can you see your face as it is.
In the same way, the Seer, or true you, reflects in the mind which is your mirror. This is why we normally can't see the true Self, because the mind is colored or dirty. Another analogy is given with water. To see the true reflection, see that the water is clean and calm and without any ripples. When the mind ceases to create thought forms or when the chittam is completely free from vrittis, it becomes as clear as a still lake, and you see your true Self.
Swami Satchidananda ends the commentary telling us that the Seer can never misunderstand nor forget Itself. Only the reflection is distorted, so the Seer appears to be distorted.
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2 comments:
As this speaks of seeing the self, I think of listening to myself and clearing my mind by working through and redeciding. And then it is easy to know the self, because like you say, the water is still, with a perfect reflection. Beautiful, thank you.
Basically this sutra is saying to understand that eternal peaceful You, the mind must be quiet; otherwise, it seems to distort the truth.So Anne, it goes beyond "working through and redeciding." It is just being, still without the ripples of the mind, that one can see the Self.
Thanks for your feedback.
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