Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book II · 45 of 55 · tr. Charles Johnston

Sutra 45

Soul-vision is perfected through perfect obedience to the Master. The sorrow and darkness of life come of the erring personal will which sets itself against the will of the Soul, the one great Life. The error of the personal will is inevitable, since each will must be free to choose, to try and fail, and so to find the path. And sorrow and darkness are inevitable, until the path be found, and the personal will made once more one with the greater Will, wherein it finds rest and power, without losing freedom. In His will is our peace. And with that peace comes light. Soul-vision is perfected through obedience.

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Themes

Detachment Gelassenheitpraxis

Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.

The passage describes losing freedom to find rest and power, aligning with the practice of radical letting-go.

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Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

The passage describes the personal will becoming 'one with the greater Will' where it finds rest and power.

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Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

The path involves finding the path and making the personal will one with the greater Will from which it finds rest.

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