From Svetasvataropanisad, Ch.4, verse 10
Know that Nature (Prakriti) is Maya, and that the
great God is the Lord of Maya. The whole world
is filled with beings who form His parts
_______________
From Bhagavad Gita Ch.18, verse 61
The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, causing all beings,
by His illusive power (Maya), to revolve as if mounted on a machine.
_______________
Establishing the existence of Maya
By Sri Shankaracharya
1. The Supreme Self (or Ultimate Reality) who is Pure Consciousness perceived Himself by Selfhood (i.e. Existence with "I"-Conciousness). He became endowed with the name "I". From that arose the basis of difference.
2. He exists verily in two parts, on account of which, the two could become husband and wife.Therefore, this space is ever filled up completely by the woman (or the feminine principle) surely.
Note: The above two verses explain how the One Ultimate Reality which is of the nature of non-dual Existence - Consciousness became the cause of the universe of multiplicity. The first creative impulse in the Supreme Self is the pure I-consciousness. This brings in duality in the One Transcendent Reality, which is symbolically expressed as husband-wife representing Pure Consciousness and its Creative Energy. This Creative Energy is the effective cause as well as the material cause of the entire universe which is stated to be filled with it.
3. And He, this Supreme Self thought (or reflected). Thence, human beings were born. Thus say the Upanishads through the statement of sage Yajnavalkya to his wife.
Note: The primal manifestation of the creative energy of Pure Consciousness is the I- consciousness which results in duality. From that arises thought or ideation of multiplicity, which gives rise to the entire universe of beings.
4. From the experience of bliss for a long time, there arose in the Supreme Self a certain state like deep sleep. From that (state) Maya (or the illusive power of the Supreme Self) was born just as a dream arises in sleep.
Note: The non-dual Supreme Self is of the nature of Pure Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. Just as a dream arises in sleep and produces various objects, an inscrutable power called MAYA manifests in the quiescent, blissful state of the Supreme Self and this produces the bewildering variety of objects and phenomena constituting the universe.
The concept of Maya is central to Advaita Vedanta (or non-dual conception of the Ultimate Reality as propounded in Vedic literature).
5. This Maya is without the characteristics of (or different from) Reality or unreality, without beginning and dependent on the Reality that is the Supreme Self. She, who is of the form of the THREE GUNAS (qualities or energies of Nature) brings forth the Universe with movable and immovable (objects).
Note: Maya is not real, since it disappears on the dawn of knowledge of the Supreme Self. Maya is not unreal, since such a thing would never appear at any time. Maya is equated with Nature or the visible universe consisting of the three modes of energy- Sattwa or harmony, Rajas or activity and Tamas or inertia. Maya is the inscrutable cause which depends on the Supreme Self which is the Ultimate Reality. Nature is its apparent effect.
6.Objection): As for Maya, it is invisible (or not experienced by the senses). How can it produce a thing that is visible (or experienced by the senses)? How is a visible piece of cloth produced here by threads of invisible nature?
Note: The purport is that it is as impossible for the visible universe to be produced from invisible Maya as it is for a visible piece of cloth to be produced from invisible threads.
7 (Reply): As there is the emission of the generative fluid on to a good garment on account of the experience of copulation in a dream, the pollution of the garment is seen as real on waking while the copulation was not true, the man in the dream was real (while) the woman was unreal and the union of the two was false (but), the emission of the generative fluid was real, so does it occur even in the matter in hand.
Note: In this example, an unreal cause (viz., copulation in a dream) produces a real or visible effect (viz., seminal emission). Similarly, the apparent world could arise from the undefinable Maya.
8. Thus Maya is invisible (or beyond sense-perception). (But) this universe which is its effect, is visible (or perceived by the senses). This would be Maya which, on its part, becomes the producer of joy by its own destruction.
Note: When the illusive power, Maya, disappears, what remains is Pure Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.
9. Like night (or darkness) Maya is extremely insurmountable (or extremely difficult to be understood). Its nature is not perceived here. Even as it is being observed carefully (or being investigated) by sages, it vanishes like lightning.
Note: By enquiry into and contemplation on the nature of the Ultimate Reality, Maya and its effects vanish and there is the spontaneous absorption of the mind in undifferentiated Being- Consciousness. There is no entity (called Maya or by any other appellation) other than the Supreme Self.
10. Maya (the illusive power) is what is obtained in Brahman (or the Ultimate Reality). Avidya (or nescience or spiritual ignorance) is said to be dependent on Jiva (the individual soul or individualised consciousness). Mind is the knot which joins Consciousness and matter. That mind is to be as imperishable until liberation.
Note: Avidya is nescience or spiritual ignorance which makes the soul forget its real nature which is Eternal, Pure Being-Consciousness- Bliss, identical with the Ultimate Reality and impose upon itself separateness, embodiment and the state of a doer or enjoyer. Mind is the entity which is the link between matter and Consciousness and is the field of operation of Avidya. It is synonymous with worldly existence and it disappears on the dawn of liberation or intuitive perception of Reality. Just as Maya, the inscrutable illusive power of the Ultimate Reality, gives rise to the universe of multiplicity, Avidya is the cause of the world perceived by the individual soul.
11. Space enclosed by a pot, or a jar or a hut or a wall has their several appellations (eg.,pot space, jar space etc.). Like that, Consciousness (or the Self) covered here by Avidya (or nescience) is spoken of as jiva (the individual soul).
12. Objection: How indeed could ignorance become a covering (or an obscure factor) for Brahman (or the Supreme Spirit) who is Pure Consciousness, as if the darkness arising from the night (could become a concealing factor) for the sun which is self-luminous?
Note: The darkness of the night on the dawn of the sun. The very nature of Brahman is Pure Intelligence or Consciousness. How could it be covered by ignorance which is antithetical to it?
12. Reply: As the sun is hidden by clouds produced by the solar rays but surely, the character of the day is not hidden by those modified dense collection of clouds, so the Self, though pure, (or undefiled) is veiled for a long time by ignorance. But its power of Consciousness in living beings, which is established in this world, is not veiled.
_______________
"What if you sleep, and what if in your sleep you dreamed, and what if in your dream you went to heaven and there plucked a strange and beautiful flower, and what if when you awoke you had the flower in your hand? Ah, what then?" - Coleridge
_______________
The Lord on account of Maya is perceived as manifold
- Brhadaranyaka Upanishad II.v.19
_______________
Maya
From Vivekachudamani
By Sri Sankaracharya
Veiling power and projecting power
of Maya
Maya can be destroyed by the realisation of
the pure Brahman, the one without a second, just as the mistaken idea of a
snake is removed by the discrimination of the rope. She has her gunas as rajas,
tamas and sattva, named after their respective
functions. Verse 110.Rajas has its Viksepa-Sakti or projecting power, which is of the nature of an activity, and from which this primeval flow of activity has emanated. From this also, mental modifications such as attachment and grief are continually produced.
--Verse 111.
Lust, anger, avarice, arrogance, spite, egoism, envy, jealousy, etc.,- these are the dire attributes of Rajas, from which the worldly tendency of man is produced. Therefore Rajas is a cause of bondage. - Verse 112.
Avrti or the veiling power is the power of Tamas, which makes things appear other than what they are. It is this that causes man's repeated transmigrations, and starts the action of the projecting power (Viksepa). -Verse 112.
Absence of right judgment, or contrary judgment, want of definite belief, and doubt- these certainly never desert one who has any connection with this veiling power, and then the projecting power gives ceaseless trouble. - Verse 115.
Maya
A few extracts from the writings of Swami Nikhilananda
A few extracts from the writings of Swami Nikhilananda
Why does the non-dual soul appear in a manifold form?
What is the cause of this multiplicity in the universe? How does the One
become the many, and the Absolute become the relative? In answer, Vedanta says
that this is due to the identification of the soul, or the Absolute, with
material upaadhis, or limiting adjuncts. What is the cause of this
identification?
Vedanta explains this as MAYA or ignorance.
Vedanta explains this as MAYA or ignorance.
The finite human mind cannot comprehend the exact
relationship between the One and the many, Reality and appearance, the Absolute
and the relative.
From the standpoint of the relative, there is no
Absolute. The Absolute is a mystical experience characterised by the absence of
duality.
That is why Vedanta calls this apparent identification
of the Absolute with the relative by the name of MAYA. It is an inscrutable
power that inheres in Brahman, or the Godhead. Under the influence of this
cosmic ignorance, the all pervading, eternal, and infinite spirit forgets its
real nature. It is something like a man going to sleep, which first makes him
oblivious of himself and then creates the fantastic dream world. It is also a
well known fact that on account of ignorance one sees water in the
desert, as in the case of a mirage. As long as the sleep and the illusion last,
the experience of the dream and the mirage appear to be real. On account of
maya, the infinite soul, or the Godhead, identifies itself with the finite,
material forms and becomes individualised.
Furthermore, it superimposes upon itself the
attributes of the material form with which it is identified. Thus the
birthless, deathless, immortal soul, which is of the nature of Existence-Knowledge-Bliss
Absolute, appears to be finite, phenomenal being subject to hunger and
thirst,pain and pleasure, birth and death, good and evil, and the other pairs
of opposites.
As long as ignorance lasts, these relative
characteristics appear to pertain to the soul and to be real. All the
individualised, finite beings one sees in the universe are manifestations of
the non-dual soul through maya; but as maya has no absolute reality, the
individual soul created by it not, ultimately speaking, real. As, in spite of
the perception of the illusory mirage, the real nature of the desert is not
affected, so, in spite of the perception of illusory birth and death, the soul
is always of the nature of light, infinity,bliss, and immortality.
_______________
_______________
Maya and illusion
By Swami Vivekananda
The foremost disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa
Excerpts
By Swami Vivekananda
The foremost disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa
Excerpts
Almost all of you have heard of the Maya. Generally it
is used, though incorrectly, to denote illusion, or delusion, or some such
thing. But the theory of Maya forms one of the pillars upon which the Vedanta
rests; it is therefore, necessary that it should be properly understood.
We read in the Svetasvatara Upanisad
"Know nature to be Maya and the Ruler
of this Maya is the Lord Himself."
"Know nature to be Maya and the Ruler
of this Maya is the Lord Himself."
When the Hindu says the world is Maya, at once people
get the idea that the world is an illusion. This interpretation has some basis,
as coming through the Buddhistic philosophers, because there was one section of
philosophers who did not believe in the external world at all. But the Maya of
the Vedanta, in its last developed form, is neither idealism nor Realism, nor
is it a theory. It is a simple statement of facts- what we are and what we see
around us.
The minds of the people from whom the Vedas came were
intent upon following principles. They had no time to work upon details or to
wait for them; they wanted to go deep into the heart of things. Something
beyond was calling them, as it were, and they could not wait.
The Vedantist has proved beyond all doubt that the
mind is limited, that it cannot go beyond certain limits- beyond time, space
and causation. As no man can jump out of his own self, so no man can go beyond
the limits that have been put upon him by the laws of time and space. Every
attempt to solve the laws of causation, time and space would be futile, because
the very attempt would have to be made by taking for granted the existence of
these three.
What does the (following) statement of the existence
of the world mean, then?
"This world has no existence."
What is meant by that? It means that it has no
absolute existence. It exists only in relation to my mind, and to the mind of
everyone else. We see this world with the five senses but if we had another
sense, we would see in it something more. If we had yet another sense, it would
appear as something still different. It has therefore, no real existence; it
has no unchangeable, immovable, infinite existence. Nor can it be called
non-existence, seeing that it exists, and we have to work in and through it. It
is a mixture of existence and non-existence.
We find that Maya is not a theory for the explanation
of the world; it is simply a statement of facts as they exist, that the very
basis of of our being is contradiction, that everywhere we have to move through
this tremendous contradiction, that wherever there is good, there must also be
evil, and wherever there is evil, there must be some good, wherever there is
life, death must follow as its shadow, and everyone who smiles will have to
weep, and vice versa.
Now can this state of things be remedied. We may
verily imagine that there will be a place where there will be only good and no
evil, where we shall only smile and never weep. This is impossible in the very
nature of things; for the conditions will remain the same. Wherever there is
the power of producing a smile in us, there lurks the power of producing tears.
Wherever there is the power of producing happpiness, there lurks somewhere the
power of making us miserable.
Who are our universal parents?
Our divine Father and our divine Mother?
Our divine Father and our divine Mother?
Bhagavad Gita, Ch.14, Verse 3.
"My womb is the great Nature (Prakriti or MAYA). In that I place the germ (embryo of life). Thence is the birth of all beings".
"My womb is the great Nature (Prakriti or MAYA). In that I place the germ (embryo of life). Thence is the birth of all beings".
Bhagavad Gita, Ch. 14, Verse 4
"Whatever forms are born ,O Arjuna, in any womb whatsoever,
the great Brahma (Nature) is their womb and I am the seed-giving father."
"Whatever forms are born ,O Arjuna, in any womb whatsoever,
the great Brahma (Nature) is their womb and I am the seed-giving father."
Explanation by Swami Shivananda
Divine Life Society, Rishikesh):
Divine Life Society, Rishikesh):
Prakriti (Nature), made up of the three qualities
(Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas), is the material cause of all beings.
In the great Prakriti, I place the seed for the birth
of Brahma (the creator, also known as Hiranyagarbha, or Ishwar, or the
conditioned Brahman); and the seed gives birth to all beings. The birth of
Brahma (the creator) gives rise to the birth of beings.
The primordial Nature (prakriti) gives birth to
Brahma, who creates all beings.
Gita, Ch.14, Verse 4.
"Whatever forms are produced, O Arjuna, in any womb whatsoever, the great nature is their womb and I am the seed giving father".
"Whatever forms are produced, O Arjuna, in any womb whatsoever, the great nature is their womb and I am the seed giving father".
(I am the father; the primordial Nature is the
mother).
Gita,Ch.13, verse 26.
"Wherever a being is born, whether unmoving or moving, know thou Arjuna, that it is from the union between the field and the knower of the field".
(Purusha is the knower of the field; Prakriti is the field; Shiva is another name for the knower of the field and Shakti is the field; Spirit is another name for the knower of the field and Matter (Prakriti) is the field).
"Wherever a being is born, whether unmoving or moving, know thou Arjuna, that it is from the union between the field and the knower of the field".
(Purusha is the knower of the field; Prakriti is the field; Shiva is another name for the knower of the field and Shakti is the field; Spirit is another name for the knower of the field and Matter (Prakriti) is the field).
Gita, Ch. 7, Verse 4.
"I am endowed with two Shaktis, namely the superior and the inferior natures; the field and its knower (spirit is the knower of the field; matter is the field.) I unite these two".
"I am endowed with two Shaktis, namely the superior and the inferior natures; the field and its knower (spirit is the knower of the field; matter is the field.) I unite these two".
Gita Ch.7, Verse 6.
"Know these two- my higher and lower natures- as the womb of all beings.Therefore, I am the source and dissolution of the whole universe".
"Know these two- my higher and lower natures- as the womb of all beings.Therefore, I am the source and dissolution of the whole universe".
Gita, Ch.13, Verse 29.
"He sees, who sees that all actions are performed by nature alone, and that the Self is action less".
"He sees, who sees that all actions are performed by nature alone, and that the Self is action less".
(The Self is the silent witness).
Gita, Ch.9, Verse 17.
"I am the father of this world, the mother, the dispenser of the fruits of actions and the grandfather; the one thing to be known, the purifier, the sacred monosyllable (AUM), and also the Rg, the Sama and the Yajur Vedas"
"I am the father of this world, the mother, the dispenser of the fruits of actions and the grandfather; the one thing to be known, the purifier, the sacred monosyllable (AUM), and also the Rg, the Sama and the Yajur Vedas"
Maya-Shakti-Prakriti
From Bhagavad
Gita Ch.18, verse 61
The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna,
causing all beings, by His illusive power (Maya), to
revolve as if mounted on a machine.
causing all beings, by His illusive power (Maya), to
revolve as if mounted on a machine.
Click on underlined words to open paragraph
Maya
From Svetasvataropanisad
Establishing the existence of Maya
By Sri Sankaracharya
From Svetasvataropanisad
Establishing the existence of Maya
By Sri Sankaracharya
MayaFrom
Vivekachudamani
By Sri Sankaracharya
By Sri Sankaracharya
Maya
By Swami Nikhilananda
Maya and
illusion
By Swami Vivekananda
By Swami Vivekananda
The
father and mother of the universe
Significance of the Siva emblem
From the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa:
Significance of the Siva emblem
From the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa:
Maya/ Shakti
From the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa:
From the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa:
Vijaydashmi
(Dasera)
Durga
- The sole refuge of men when attacked by robbers
From The Mahabharata
From The Mahabharata
Hymn to Durga
From the Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita Parva
Uttered by Arjuna on the eve of the battle of
Kurukshetra between Pandavas and Kauravas
From the Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita Parva
Uttered by Arjuna on the eve of the battle of
Kurukshetra between Pandavas and Kauravas
The
Devisukta of the Rig Veda
Explanations based upon the writings of Shree Devadatta Kali
Explanations based upon the writings of Shree Devadatta Kali
_______________
Maya
From Svetasvataropanisad, Ch.4, verse 10
From Svetasvataropanisad, Ch.4, verse 10
Know that Nature (Prakriti) is Maya, and that the
great God is the Lord of Maya. The whole world
is filled with beings who form His parts
_______________
great God is the Lord of Maya. The whole world
is filled with beings who form His parts
_______________
From Bhagavad Gita Ch.18, verse 61
The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna,
causing all beings,
by His illusive power (Maya), to revolve as if mounted on a machine.
_______________
by His illusive power (Maya), to revolve as if mounted on a machine.
_______________
Establishing the existence of Maya
By Sri Shankaracharya
By Sri Shankaracharya
1. The Supreme Self (or Ultimate Reality) who is Pure
Consciousness perceived Himself by Selfhood (i.e. Existence with
"I"-Conciousness). He became endowed with the name "I".
From that arose the basis of difference.
2. He exists verily in two parts, on account of which,
the two could become husband and wife.Therefore, this space is ever filled up
completely by the woman (or the feminine principle) surely.
Note: The above two verses explain how the One
Ultimate Reality which is of the nature of non-dual Existence - Consciousness
became the cause of the universe of multiplicity. The first creative impulse in
the Supreme Self is the pure I-consciousness. This brings in duality in the One
Transcendent Reality, which is symbolically expressed as husband-wife
representing Pure Consciousness and its Creative Energy. This Creative
Energy is the effective cause as well as the material cause of the entire
universe which is stated to be filled with it.
3. And He, this Supreme Self thought (or reflected).
Thence, human beings were born. Thus say the Upanishads through the
statement of sage Yajnavalkya to his wife.
Note: The primal manifestation of the creative energy
of Pure Consciousness is the I- consciousness which results in duality. From
that arises thought or ideation of multiplicity, which gives rise to the entire
universe of beings.
4. From the experience of bliss for a long time, there
arose in the Supreme Self a certain state like deep sleep. From that (state)
Maya (or the illusive power of the Supreme Self) was born just as a dream
arises in sleep.
Note: The non-dual Supreme Self is of the nature of
Pure Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. Just as a dream arises in sleep and
produces various objects, an inscrutable power called MAYA manifests in the
quiescent, blissful state of the Supreme Self and this produces the bewildering
variety of objects and phenomena constituting the universe.
The concept of Maya is central to Advaita Vedanta (or
non-dual conception of the Ultimate Reality as propounded in Vedic
literature).
5. This Maya is without the characteristics of (or
different from) Reality or unreality, without beginning and dependent on the
Reality that is the Supreme Self. She, who is of the form of the THREE GUNAS
(qualities or energies of Nature) brings forth the Universe with movable and
immovable (objects).
Note: Maya is not real, since it disappears on the
dawn of knowledge of the Supreme Self. Maya is not unreal, since such a thing
would never appear at any time. Maya is equated with Nature or the visible
universe consisting of the three modes of energy- Sattwa or harmony, Rajas or
activity and Tamas or inertia. Maya is the inscrutable cause which depends on
the Supreme Self which is the Ultimate Reality. Nature is its apparent effect.
6.Objection): As for Maya, it is invisible (or not
experienced by the senses). How can it produce a thing that is visible (or
experienced by the senses)? How is a visible piece of cloth produced here by
threads of invisible nature?
Note: The purport is that it is as impossible for the
visible universe to be produced from invisible Maya as it is for a visible
piece of cloth to be produced from invisible threads.
7 (Reply): As there is the emission of the generative
fluid on to a good garment on account of the experience of copulation in
a dream, the pollution of the garment is seen as real on waking while the
copulation was not true, the man in the dream was real (while) the woman was
unreal and the union of the two was false (but), the emission of the generative
fluid was real, so does it occur even in the matter in hand.
Note: In this example, an unreal cause (viz.,
copulation in a dream) produces a real or visible effect (viz., seminal
emission). Similarly, the apparent world could arise from the undefinable
Maya.
8. Thus Maya is invisible (or beyond
sense-perception). (But) this universe which is its effect, is visible (or
perceived by the senses). This would be Maya which, on its part, becomes the
producer of joy by its own destruction.
Note: When the illusive power, Maya, disappears, what
remains is Pure Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.
9. Like night (or darkness) Maya is extremely
insurmountable (or extremely difficult to be understood). Its nature is not
perceived here. Even as it is being observed carefully (or being investigated)
by sages, it vanishes like lightning.
Note: By enquiry into and contemplation on the nature
of the Ultimate Reality, Maya and its effects vanish and there is the
spontaneous absorption of the mind in undifferentiated Being-
Consciousness. There is no entity (called Maya or by any other appellation)
other than the Supreme Self.
10. Maya (the illusive power) is what is obtained in
Brahman (or the Ultimate Reality). Avidya (or nescience or spiritual ignorance)
is said to be dependent on Jiva (the individual soul or individualised
consciousness). Mind is the knot which joins Consciousness and matter. That
mind is to be as imperishable until liberation.
Note: Avidya is nescience or spiritual ignorance which
makes the soul forget its real nature which is Eternal, Pure
Being-Consciousness- Bliss, identical with the Ultimate Reality and impose upon
itself separateness, embodiment and the state of a doer or enjoyer. Mind is the
entity which is the link between matter and Consciousness and is the field of
operation of Avidya. It is synonymous with worldly existence and it disappears
on the dawn of liberation or intuitive perception of Reality. Just as Maya, the
inscrutable illusive power of the Ultimate Reality, gives rise to the universe
of multiplicity, Avidya is the cause of the world perceived by the individual
soul.
11. Space enclosed by a pot, or a jar or a hut or a
wall has their several appellations (eg.,pot space, jar space etc.). Like that,
Consciousness (or the Self) covered here by Avidya (or nescience) is spoken of
as jiva (the individual soul).
12. Objection: How indeed could ignorance become a
covering (or an obscure factor) for Brahman (or the Supreme Spirit) who is Pure
Consciousness, as if the darkness arising from the night (could become a
concealing factor) for the sun which is self-luminous?
Note: The darkness of the night on the dawn of the
sun. The very nature of Brahman is Pure Intelligence or
Consciousness. How could it be covered by ignorance which is antithetical to
it?
12. Reply: As the sun is hidden by clouds produced by
the solar rays but surely, the character of the day is not hidden by those
modified dense collection of clouds, so the Self, though pure, (or undefiled)
is veiled for a long time by ignorance. But its power of Consciousness in
living beings, which is established in this world, is not veiled.
_______________
"What if you sleep, and what if in your sleep you
dreamed, and what if in your dream you went to heaven and there plucked a
strange and beautiful flower, and what if when you awoke you had the flower in
your hand? Ah, what then?" - Coleridge
_______________
The Lord on account of Maya is perceived as manifold
- Brhadaranyaka Upanishad II.v.19
_______________
_______________
The Lord on account of Maya is perceived as manifold
- Brhadaranyaka Upanishad II.v.19
_______________
Maya
From Vivekachudamani
By Sri Sankaracharya
From Vivekachudamani
By Sri Sankaracharya
Veiling power and projecting power of Maya
Maya can be destroyed by the realisation of the pure
Brahman, the one without a second, just as the mistaken idea of a snake is
removed by the discrimination of the rope. She has her gunas as rajas, tamas
and sattva, named after their respective
functions. Verse 110.
Rajas has its Viksepa-Sakti or projecting power, which
is of the nature of an activity, and from which this primeval flow of activity
has emanated. From this also, mental modifications such as attachment and grief
are continually produced.
--Verse 111.
--Verse 111.
Lust, anger, avarice, arrogance, spite, egoism, envy,
jealousy, etc.,- these are the dire attributes of Rajas, from which the worldly
tendency of man is produced. Therefore Rajas is a cause of bondage. - Verse
112.
Avrti or the veiling power is the power of Tamas,
which makes things appear other than what they are. It is this that causes
man's repeated transmigrations, and starts the action of the projecting power
(Viksepa). -Verse 112.
Absence of right judgment, or contrary judgment, want
of definite belief, and doubt- these certainly never desert one who has any
connection with this veiling power, and then the projecting power gives
ceaseless trouble. - Verse 115.
Maya
A few extracts from the writings of Swami Nikhilananda
A few extracts from the writings of Swami Nikhilananda
Why does the non-dual soul appear in a manifold form?
What is the cause of this multiplicity in the universe? How does the One
become the many, and the Absolute become the relative? In answer, Vedanta says
that this is due to the identification of the soul, or the Absolute, with
material upaadhis, or limiting adjuncts. What is the cause of this
identification?
Vedanta explains this as MAYA or ignorance.
Vedanta explains this as MAYA or ignorance.
The finite human mind cannot comprehend the exact
relationship between the One and the many, Reality and appearance, the Absolute
and the relative.
From the standpoint of the relative, there is no
Absolute. The Absolute is a mystical experience characterised by the absence of
duality.
That is why Vedanta calls this apparent identification
of the Absolute with the relative by the name of MAYA. It is an inscrutable
power that inheres in Brahman, or the Godhead. Under the influence of this
cosmic ignorance, the all pervading, eternal, and infinite spirit forgets its
real nature. It is something like a man going to sleep, which first makes him
oblivious of himself and then creates the fantastic dream world. It is also a
well known fact that on account of ignorance one sees water in the
desert, as in the case of a mirage. As long as the sleep and the illusion last,
the experience of the dream and the mirage appear to be real. On account of
maya, the infinite soul, or the Godhead, identifies itself with the finite,
material forms and becomes individualised.
Furthermore, it superimposes upon itself the
attributes of the material form with which it is identified. Thus the
birthless, deathless, immortal soul, which is of the nature of
Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute, appears to be finite, phenomenal being
subject to hunger and thirst,pain and pleasure, birth and death, good and evil,
and the other pairs of opposites.
As long as ignorance lasts, these relative
characteristics appear to pertain to the soul and to be real. All the
individualised, finite beings one sees in the universe are manifestations of
the non-dual soul through maya; but as maya has no absolute reality, the individual
soul created by it not, ultimately speaking, real. As, in spite of the
perception of the illusory mirage, the real nature of the desert is not
affected, so, in spite of the perception of illusory birth and death, the soul
is always of the nature of light, infinity,bliss, and immortality.
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Maya and illusion
By Swami Vivekananda
The foremost disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa
Excerpts
By Swami Vivekananda
The foremost disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa
Excerpts
Almost all of you have heard of the Maya. Generally it
is used, though incorrectly, to denote illusion, or delusion, or some such
thing. But the theory of Maya forms one of the pillars upon which the Vedanta
rests; it is therefore, necessary that it should be properly understood.
We read in the Svetasvatara Upanisad
"Know nature to be Maya and the Ruler
of this Maya is the Lord Himself."
"Know nature to be Maya and the Ruler
of this Maya is the Lord Himself."
When the Hindu says the world is Maya, at once people
get the idea that the world is an illusion. This interpretation has some basis,
as coming through the Buddhistic philosophers, because there was one section of
philosophers who did not believe in the external world at all. But the Maya of
the Vedanta, in its last developed form, is neither idealism nor Realism, nor
is it a theory. It is a simple statement of facts- what we are and what we see
around us.
The minds of the people from whom the Vedas came were
intent upon following principles. They had no time to work upon details or to
wait for them; they wanted to go deep into the heart of things. Something
beyond was calling them, as it were, and they could not wait.
The Vedantist has proved beyond all doubt that the
mind is limited, that it cannot go beyond certain limits- beyond time, space
and causation. As no man can jump out of his own self, so no man can go beyond
the limits that have been put upon him by the laws of time and space. Every
attempt to solve the laws of causation, time and space would be futile, because
the very attempt would have to be made by taking for granted the existence of
these three.
What does the (following) statement of the existence
of the world mean, then?
"This world has no existence."
What is meant by that? It means that it has no
absolute existence. It exists only in relation to my mind, and to the mind of
everyone else. We see this world with the five senses but if we had another
sense, we would see in it something more. If we had yet another sense, it would
appear as something still different. It has therefore, no real existence; it
has no unchangeable, immovable, infinite existence. Nor can it be called
non-existence, seeing that it exists, and we have to work in and through it. It
is a mixture of existence and non-existence.
We find that Maya is not a theory for the explanation
of the world; it is simply a statement of facts as they exist, that the very
basis of of our being is contradiction, that everywhere we have to move through
this tremendous contradiction, that wherever there is good, there must also be
evil, and wherever there is evil, there must be some good, wherever there is
life, death must follow as its shadow, and everyone who smiles will have to
weep, and vice versa.
Now can this state of things be remedied. We may
verily imagine that there will be a place where there will be only good and no
evil, where we shall only smile and never weep. This is impossible in the very
nature of things; for the conditions will remain the same. Wherever there is
the power of producing a smile in us, there lurks the power of producing tears.
Wherever there is the power of producing happpiness, there lurks somewhere the
power of making us miserable.
The father and mother of the universe
Who are our universal parents?
Our divine Father and our divine Mother?
Our divine Father and our divine Mother?
Bhagavad Gita, Ch.14, Verse 3.
"My womb is the great Nature (Prakriti or MAYA). In that I place the germ (embryo of life). Thence is the birth of all beings".
"My womb is the great Nature (Prakriti or MAYA). In that I place the germ (embryo of life). Thence is the birth of all beings".
Bhagavad Gita, Ch. 14, Verse 4
"Whatever forms are born ,O Arjuna, in any womb whatsoever,
the great Brahma (Nature) is their womb and I am the seed-giving father."
"Whatever forms are born ,O Arjuna, in any womb whatsoever,
the great Brahma (Nature) is their womb and I am the seed-giving father."
Explanation by Swami Shivananda
Divine Life Society, Rishikesh):
Divine Life Society, Rishikesh):
Prakriti (Nature), made up of the three qualities
(Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas), is the material cause of all beings.
In the great Prakriti, I place the seed for the birth
of Brahma (the creator, also known as Hiranyagarbha, or Ishwar, or the
conditioned Brahman); and the seed gives birth to all beings. The birth of
Brahma (the creator) gives rise to the birth of beings.
The primordial Nature (prakriti) gives birth to
Brahma, who creates all beings.
Gita, Ch.14, Verse 4.
"Whatever forms are produced, O Arjuna, in any womb whatsoever, the great nature is their womb and I am the seed giving father".
"Whatever forms are produced, O Arjuna, in any womb whatsoever, the great nature is their womb and I am the seed giving father".
(I am the father; the primordial Nature is the
mother).
Gita,Ch.13, verse 26.
"Wherever a being is born, whether unmoving or moving, know thou Arjuna, that it is from the union between the field and the knower of the field".
(Purusha is the knower of the field; Prakriti is the field; Shiva is another name for the knower of the field and Shakti is the field; Spirit is another name for the knower of the field and Matter (Prakriti) is the field).
"Wherever a being is born, whether unmoving or moving, know thou Arjuna, that it is from the union between the field and the knower of the field".
(Purusha is the knower of the field; Prakriti is the field; Shiva is another name for the knower of the field and Shakti is the field; Spirit is another name for the knower of the field and Matter (Prakriti) is the field).
Gita, Ch. 7, Verse 4.
"I am endowed with two Shaktis, namely the superior and the inferior natures; the field and its knower (spirit is the knower of the field; matter is the field.) I unite these two".
"I am endowed with two Shaktis, namely the superior and the inferior natures; the field and its knower (spirit is the knower of the field; matter is the field.) I unite these two".
Gita Ch.7, Verse 6.
"Know these two- my higher and lower natures- as the womb of all beings.Therefore, I am the source and dissolution of the whole universe".
"Know these two- my higher and lower natures- as the womb of all beings.Therefore, I am the source and dissolution of the whole universe".
Gita, Ch.13, Verse 29.
"He sees, who sees that all actions are performed by nature alone, and that the Self is action less".
"He sees, who sees that all actions are performed by nature alone, and that the Self is action less".
(The Self is the silent witness).
Gita, Ch.9, Verse 17.
"I am the father of this world, the mother, the dispenser of the fruits of actions and the grandfather; the one thing to be known, the purifier, the sacred monosyllable (AUM), and also the Rg, the Sama and the Yajur Vedas".
"I am the father of this world, the mother, the dispenser of the fruits of actions and the grandfather; the one thing to be known, the purifier, the sacred monosyllable (AUM), and also the Rg, the Sama and the Yajur Vedas".
As explained by Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa
"Do you know the significance of the Shiva
emblem? It is the worship of the symbols of fatherhood and motherhood.
The devotee worshipping the image prays,'O Lord, please grant that I may not be born into this world again; that I may not have to pass again through a mother's womb."
The devotee worshipping the image prays,'O Lord, please grant that I may not be born into this world again; that I may not have to pass again through a mother's womb."
Explanations drawn from the writings of Sri
Shankaracharya
"The Supreme Reality is Pure Consciousness. The
primal manifestation of the creative energy of Pure Consciousness is the
I-consciousness which results in duality. Thus He exists verily in two parts,
on account of which, the two could become husband and wife representing Pure
Consciousness and its creative energy"
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In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 4 - 14,
The wife of sage Yajnyavalkya, and she herself a soul
far advanced in the spiritual path, says to her husband:
"Constituted as we are, we need something
concrete to fix our minds on and stir our imagination before we can think of
subtler ideas".
Therefore for purposes of meditation and other
spiritual practices for less advanced aspirants, the scriptures provide more
concrete representations of Reality, which are within their reach..
How is it possible for another person to know what
idea or thought I have in my mind? Is it possible for me to make that idea come
out of my mind and make it enter the mind of another person? To do that, I will
have to summon the help of Mother Saraswati (Vak Devi) the goddess of speech
(also goddess of learning), or use the written word to communicate. This power
or shakti when combined with the static thought, makes it possible for the
thought or idea to travel.
This is a miraculous power or shakti. If I am speaking
to an audience of fifty people, this power becomes manifold or multiplies and
with my each thought enters the minds of all fifty people. If my talk is
broadcast via satellite and if there are a million listeners, this shakti
becomes a million fold. Its capacity is unlimited.
This combination of the product of human consciousness
(thought) with Shakti makes manifestation of things possible. The clothes we
wear, the chair on which we seat, the books we read, the computers we use; all
these were first conceived as ideas in the human mind. The chairman of a big
corporation conceives of an idea that a fifty story sky-scraper building should
be built. He conveys this idea, using his power (shakti) of speech, to the
board of directors who approve it.
The idea is then conveyed with the aid of Mother
Saraswati (speech or written words) to the financiers, to the architect, to the
contractors, to the labourers on site. The result is the manifestation of a
fifty story building. The thought became a thing. Thoughts are things. Examine
everything that surrounds one in the house.
Everything before being made existed as thought or
idea before becoming a stove, table, clock, calendar, screw-driver, soap
powder.
This is at the human level of microcosm.
At the cosmic level of macrocosm, the combination of
Shiva and Shakti (Spirit and Matter) makes possible the manifestation of the
universe.The dynamic shakti functions on the static Shiva. The substratum is
Shiva and the vibrant manifestation is shakti. Like the screen (the substratum)
and the projected image upon the screen.
Shiva and shakti are inseparable aspects of the one
Reality, like the whiteness in milk; like the brilliance in diamond and like
the word and its meaning. Just as heat is inherent in fire, the power inherent
in God (Shiva) is maya (shakti). The manifest universe is the display of shakti
or maya.
Man is constituted of both Shiva and Shakti. The
persisting personality in him is Shiva and the perishing form is shakti. The
being in him is Shiva and the becoming in him is shakti. The awareness or
consciousness is Shiva and the physique is shakti. The sentient Shiva manifests
Himself through the insentient matter viewed as shakti. The insentient physique
enshrines and nurtures the sentient in man. In other words, mother Nature
nurtures what is sentient in man. Shakti rears the Shiva in man. Therefore,
worshipful attitude towards Shakti is incumbent upon man evolving in Shivahood.
Theology abounds in terms such as Uma-Maheshwar,
Lakshmi-Narayana, Radha-Krishna, Sita-Rama, Shiva-Shakti, Purusha-Prakriti,
Ardhanarishwar, spirit and matter. These are all indicative of the fact that
existence is a mixture of the sentient and the insentient.
The divine power is addressed as Amba in Kashmir and Bhavani in Rajasthan. Gujarat
calls her Kalyani and Mithila invokes her as Uma.
Her other names used everywhere are Durga, Chamundi,
Saraswati, Bhagavati, Meenakshi, Kamakshi, Lakshmi, Kali etc.
The male and the female elements coexist even in the
vegetable kingdom which is still in the primitive stage of evolution. In the
feathered kingdom as well as in the animal kingdom, the male and the female do
jointly contribute to the formation of the progeny. If humanity was viewed as a
unit it is found to be constituted with half- man , half-woman. The entire
creation is evidently the embodiment of the masculine and the feminine
principles. Shiva is therefore adored as Ardhanarishwar (ardha = half; nari =
woman; Ishwar =Lord). The sentient and the insentient are the two categories
that constitute nature. Nothing exists outside the pale of these two.
Life in its original state is called Shiva. The
apparently insentient body or the vehicle through which it manifests itself is
called shakti. It is because of the interplay of life and matter that nature is
able to reveal itself in all its splendour and glory.
Gita, Ch.13,Verse 29,: The Lord says:
"He sees, who sees that actions are performed by
nature alone, and that the Self is actionless".
Thus the powers and activities of all beings are
manifestations of nature (shakti) alone. Without Durga (shakti), Shiva has no
expression; and without Shiva, Durga has no existence.Shiva is the silent
witness. He is motionless and absolutely changeless.
He is not at all affected by the cosmic play. It is Durga who does everything. She is the power by which the whole universe is permeated and energised. She is the personification of all wealth, power, beauty and virtue. It is she who bestows wealth- both material and spiritual- dispels difficulties and annihilates the evil ones.
He is not at all affected by the cosmic play. It is Durga who does everything. She is the power by which the whole universe is permeated and energised. She is the personification of all wealth, power, beauty and virtue. It is she who bestows wealth- both material and spiritual- dispels difficulties and annihilates the evil ones.
The 13th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is the Yoga of
discrimination of the Kshetra and the Kshetrajna. The body is called Kshetra,
the field. There is an intelligent principle that not only resides in the body
but also cognises and governs it. The sages designate that discerning principle
as Kshetrajna.
Kshetra is called Prakriti or matter.
Kshetrajna is called Purusha or Spirit.
Prakriti or matter is insentient. Purusha or Spirit is
sentient.
From The Gita, Ch.13, Verse 2:
"Know me as the kshetrajna in all kshetras. The knowledge of kshetra and kshetrajna is deemed by Me as true knowledge".
"Know me as the kshetrajna in all kshetras. The knowledge of kshetra and kshetrajna is deemed by Me as true knowledge".
Therefore true knowledge is the understanding of both
matter and Spirit. The knowledge pertaining to Prakriti or matter is classified
as Apara Vidya or the lower knowledge and that pertaining to the Purusha or
Spirit as Para Vidya or the knowledge superior.
The Mother's grace is boundless.Her compassion is
illimitable. Her knowledge is infinite.Her power is immeasurable. Her splendour
is indescribable.Approach her with an open heart. Lay bare your heart to her
with frankness and humility. Make a total unreserved self-surrender to her.
Worship her with faith and unflinching devotion.
Maya/ShaktiFrom the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa:
The truth established in the Vedas, the Puranas and the Tantras is but one Satchdananda. In the Vedas it is called Brahman, in the Puranas it is called Rama, and in the Tantras it is called Shiva.One Satchdananda is called Brahman, Rama and Shiva.
The formless God is real , and equally real is God with form. It is like an infinite ocean, water everywhere, to the right, left, above, below. Water enveloped in water. It is the water of the great cause, motionless. Waves spring up when it becomes active. Its activities are creation(Brahma), preservation(Vishnu) and dissolution(Shiva).
Brahman is where reason comes to a stop. There is the instance of camphor. Nothing remains after it is burnt- not even a trace of ash.
Brahman is beyond mind and speech, beyond reason and logic. A salt doll entered the ocean to measure its depth; but it did not return to tell others how deep the ocean was. It melted in the ocean itself.
Like butter and buttermilk, one finds that Satchidananda Itself has become the universe and the living beings. The blood and semen are thin liquids, and out of them comes such a big creature as man. Everything is possible for God. First of all reach invisible Satchidananda and then coming down, look at the universe. Everything is its manifestation. It is God alone who has become everything. The world by no means exists apart from him.
The non-dualistic philosophy of Vedanta says that the acts of creation, preservation and destruction, the universe itself and all its living beings are the manifestations of Shakti, the divine power or MAYA.
If we reason it out, we realise that all these are as illusory as a dream. Brahman alone is the reality, and all else is unreal. Even this very Shakti is unsubstantial, like a dream.
But though you reason all your life, unless you are established in samadhi (deep meditation), you cannot go beyond the jurisdiction of Shakti. Even when you say, "I am meditating" or "I am contemplating", still you are moving in the realm of Shakti; within its power.
Brahman(Shiva) and Shakti are identical. It is like fire and its power to burn. One cannot conceive of the sun's rays without the sun. Thus one cannot think of Brahman without Shakti, or of Shakti without Brahman. One cannot think of the Absolute without the relative, or of the relative without the Absolute.
The primordial power (Adyashakti) is ever at play. She is creating, preserving and destroying in play, as it were. This power is called Kali. Kali is verily Brahman and Brahman is verily Kali. It is one and the same reality. When we think of it as inactive, that is to say, not engaged in the acts of creation, preservation and destruction, then we call it Brahman. But when it engages in these activities, then we call it Kali or Shakti. The reality is one and the same; the difference is in name and form.
In the Vedas, the creation is likened to the spider and its web. The spider brings the web out of itself and then remains in it. God is the container of the universe and also what is contained in it. After the creation the primal power (shakti) dwells in the universe itself. She brings forth this phenomenal world and then pervades it.
Bondage and liberation are both of her making. By her maya, worldly people become entangled in worldly maya, and again through her grace they attain their liberation. She is called the saviour, and the remover of the bondage that binds one to the world.
The sky appears blue at a distance; but look at it closely and you will find that it has no colour. The water of the ocean looks blue at a distance, but when you go near and take it in your hand, you find that it is colourless. Men are deluded through her maya and have become attached to the world.
Bondage and liberation are of the mind alone. It is all a question of the mind. The mind will take the colour you dye it with. If you are in bad company, then you will talk and think like your companions. On the other hand, when you are in the company of devotees, you will think and talk only of God.
If a person repeats the name of God, his or her body, mind and everything become pure. Have faith in His name.
The bridging of the gulf between the Supreme Reality and our relative world is provided by MAYA, the divine mother
The Upanishads describe the Absolute (the Supreme Reality) as being beyond the grasp of our senses, mind and intellect; being extremely subtle.
Gita, Ch.13, Verse 31.
"Being without beginning and devoid of any qualities (attributes), the Supreme Self, imperishable, though dwelling in the body, neither acts, nor is tainted".
The relative world of the senses and mind, the world we see and experience, this world of multiplicity; how does this world originate from the Supreme non-dual principle?
This bridging of the gulf betweent the Supreme Reality and our relative world is provided by prakriti or maya or nature called Adyashakti, the Divine Mother.(Absolute and relative, nitya and lila).
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Kali the mother of time
As the Mahanirvana Tantra says: "To
facilitate concentration of mind and for the speedy fulfilment of aspirations,
the glorious Kali, the mother of TIME, who is really without form, is invested
with forms consistent with her attributes and activities". Gita, Ch.11, Verse 32.
"I am the mighty world destroying Time,
now engaged in destroying the world".
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
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