Yoga sutra 2.24
tasya hetuḥ-avidyā
The cause for that conjunction [of the “Seer” and the “Seeable”] is misapprehension
Patanjali reminds us in this sutra that the reason we misperceive, and therefore suffer, is that we are surrounded by a cloud called avidyā (ignorance). This ‘cloud’ is made up of over-identification/attachment, avoidance and fear which makes everything hazy causing us to misperceive. However, it is through practice of yoga/self-awareness that you gradually clear the fog to see more clearly and suffer less. Therefore, identification/attachment, and the suffering it generates are also the start of the process of knowing your true self with which to achieve liberation.
Damian Cadman-Jones is an authorised teacher of Prana Vashya Yoga™