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by Jayaram V
According to many schools of Hinduism, the world is an
illusion, a
play of the supreme consciousness of God. It is a
projection of things and forms that are temporarily phenomenal
and sustain the illusion of oneness and permanence. The illusion
of phenomenal world is created and sustained by stand alone
objects thrown together either by an act of randomness or
through the deliberate choice of conscious will. From the human
body to a giant galaxy, each object in the material universe is
what it is because of the aggregation of things that sustain its
current state. Change one of them and the object becomes
something else in time and space. Thus what we experience as our
world and what we consider to be our existence are real in a
limited sense and limited perspective. Our scriptures
declare that creation is the play of consciousness. It
differentiates itself into diverse things and in the end
withdraws everything into itself for no apparent and specific
reason because God does nothing with any particular aim or
desire. Says the Yoga Vashista, "The world is nothing but a
mere vibration of consciousness in space. It seems to exist even
as a goblin seems to exist in the eyes of the ignorant. All this
is but Maya: for here there is no contradiction between the
infinite consciousness and the apparent existence of the
universe. It is like the marvelous dream of a person who is
awake."1
In an ordinary sense, the word 'maya' means,
trickery, fraud or deceit. Magic, jugglery or witchcraft are
different forms of illusion that distract and deceive the
senses. The senses have the limited ability to perceive and
discern truth, although we take them from granted and rely more
on the appearances of things rather than the truth underlying
them. In the spiritual parlance, maya means unreality, distinct
from the reality represented by God or Brahman. God in His
eternal and absolute aspect is pure consciousness and His
creation is a mere formation within that consciousness. It
exists so long as there is an experiencer distinct from the
experience. Etymologically speaking, maya is that which arises
from Prakriti (nature) or Pradhana (primal energy). 'Ma'
means the source, the cause and 'ya' means that which
proceeds, goes, walks or spreads out. Thus literally maya
means that which issue forth, expands or arises from the source,
'ma', the universal mother. Maya is also described in
the Hindu scriptures as the play (lila) of God enacted
through his creative and dynamic energy or force (shakti).
It is the web of deception weaved by the universal spider
(Brahman) to envelop the worlds in delusion (moha).
According to Hindu tenets, our existential and the objective
reality with which our senses interact every moment and which we
hold to be true, is either the deliberate projection of the
primordial Nature or the mechanical movements of its blind
force. Whether it is an independent and eternal entity or an
aspect of God is a subject matter of speculation in various
schools of Hinduism. However, most agree that Nature is the
cause of all manifestation, either on its own or through the
enfoldment of the Divine Will. 'Mathr', the universal
mother, with its 'matra' (matter or material
wealth),
is the cause of all whirling and churning of the universe and
the consciousness. She is also known as Prakriti, Nature or the
field (kshetra), while God is described as the owner or occupier
of the field (kshetrajna). She is the force behind all
diversity, activity and movement that take place in the
universe. Whether she is independent of God or dependent upon
Him, we leave it presently to the mystics and scholars to
debate.
Illusion is appearance of things differently from what they
are actually. It is part of our normal existence. We do not have
to be spiritually inclined to notice it. For example, everything
in the universe is in a constant motion, but we think as if we
live in a stable world because we do not perceive the motion,
unless we pay particular attention to the planets and the stars
and the movement of time. The sky has no color. But to our eyes
it appears as blue, because of the reflection of the light by
the molecules in the air. This is an illusion, which we see
everyday but do not acknowledge mentally unless we begin to
think about it consciously. Even in the night we remember the
sky to be blue! We consider the milk to be a white liquid. This
is also an illusion, because in reality milk is a combination of
several atoms and molecules that come together to give the
appearance and taste of milk. The appearance of a person as a
combination of the mind and the body is also an illusion,
because man is more than the mere union of the two. A simple
analysis of our perceptual experience establishes beyond doubt
that the world is not what it appears to be and what we perceive
through our senses is just a superficial reality. Science tries
to go beyond the visible universe and unravel the truth hidden
in the the depths of matter. But at times it gets caught in the
appearances of things and layers of complexity that is part of
our analytical approach. Hindu scriptures remind us of
this fact when they compare the world to an illusion. It is an
illusion because it conceals truth and reveal itself differently
each time we perceive it.
Hinduism considers the world to be false or unreal not in a
physical sense but in an eternal and absolute sense. The world
is an illusion not because it does not exist, but because it is
not what it appears to be all the time. From an absolute
perspective, the material universe is a temporary creation. It
changes from moment to moment and is never the same. We cannot
say we live in the same world each and every moment of our
existence. The senses may take time to perceive the changes that
happen in our environment, but change is what characterizes our
world and our existence all the time. Duality and
plurality are facts of life. Without them we cannot make sense
of ourselves and our experiences.
Our scriptures say that we should not be misled by this
ordinary sensory experience of ours. We should pay particular
attention to our perceptions and go beyond the appearance of
things to know the
truth. We can arrive at truth by understanding the various
states of our consciousness. For example, when we are awake
everything looks real. We can touch and feel things consciously.
But in our dream state the world becomes different. Here we are
vaguely aware of what is going on, but from an experiential
point of view, do not know clearly whether what we experience in
a dream is true or not. When we are in deep sleep and our
senses are in a state of complete rest, the world almost
disappears from the field of our experience. Here we do not
experience any duality or plurality. We even lose the sense of
self or the ego sense. Thus for a spiritually awakened person, who begins to
comprehend the illusion of appearances, the material world
presents itself as a stage in which things appear and disappear
according to the state of our consciousness, awareness and
inclination. When people are caught in the maze of things (samsara)
and develop an attachment with them, they become vulnerable to
ignorance and suffering.
Why this is important for an individual? How does it matter whether the world
is real or unreal? No one can dispute the fact that, at any given moment, the
world in which we live is real. It does exist in some specific form and state,
independent of whether we exist or not. It is real in the physical sense. It is
also tangible to our senses. We experience its existence in innumerable ways
in our minds and through our senses all the time. Right now at this very moment
we are in a real world. We cannot say the world is an illusion, unless we have
lost our minds literally. This does not mean it is not an illusion. This is the
paradox, the real truth, to understand which we have to go deeper into ourselves
to discover our true nature and the meaning of self-absorption.
From
a dreamer's perspective, a dream is real when he is in the state of dreaming. At least that is what we feel when
a dream is
actually enacting itself out in our consciousness. But what happens when you wake up from
your sleep and the dream actually comes to an end? Was that dream real or just a projection of your
mind? If it exists where is it now? Was it an illusion caused by a zillion
neurons in your brain or a product of your astral travel? Similarly, what
happens to the virtual reality we create in the internet space, when we
disconnect the computer from the internet? We know that internet is a vast
network of computers. But we are not sure whether what we see and interpret as
internet is its essential form. May be a few years from now with different set
of browsers, devices and technology we experience the same internet differently.
Our world is not much different in in its essential aspect from the virtual
reality we experience in the internet space. It exists but in a limited sense.
It is a qualified state which perceived differently by different individuals or
by the same individual at different times, relative to their awareness, state of
mind and expectation.
The world is an illusion because it is not what it appears to be, it is never the same, it is an aggregation of matter and a mental construct, just like
in a dream, that can be different things to
different people according to their perception of things and states of mind. It
is an irrefutable fact that the world is not the same all the time. We do not live in the
same world all the time just as we do not swim in the same river or the ocean
every time we enter it. Neither are we the same people all the time. We change from moment to
moment. Our minds and bodies are transformed and renewed all the time. Many
things die and regenerate in us each moment we live. We do not see all this
because we do not pay particular attention to the happenings in us and around us
or our perceptions are limited. We do not comprehend the truths concerning
our existence clearly because we are subject to delusion (moha) which in turn is
caused by ignorance (avidya). Therefore we believe in many things that are not
true. We consider our world as permanent although it is impermanent and we live
as if we are immortal although we see death and decay as a part of our
existence.
An individual soul is subject to the illusion only so long as it is caught up
in the material things. But the truth dawns and the soul remembers its true and
essential nature, when the mind and the senses are withdrawn and the ego is
subdued. The ego and the bonds formed by our desires form a veil of ignorance
around the soul and keep the soul in bondage to the Nature. When these are
removed through the practice of yoga, the soul is freed from the hold of Nature
and become self-absorbed. This happens usually when an individual is shaken out of
his mindsets and undergoes a
paradigm shift in his awareness and thinking. The yogis call such experiences as samvegana,
which is actually an intense churning of the mind
when our worldviews and beliefs are shattered and we stand before the elemental
forces of brute nature in a totally vulnerable and helpless condition. The
Buddha underwent a similar experience when he saw death and sickness in the
streets of Kapilavastu. Jesus had a similar experience when he went out into the
desert.
Something similar to that happens to many at the time of their spiritual awakening.
They shed their old beliefs and ways of living and awake into a new world of
awareness and thinking in which they see things differently as the play of
consciousness. When there is a spiritual awakening, we see the world
differently. We become aware of a new reality. It is as if the world in which we
lived had disappeared, like a dream and all the things to which we became attached
and thought to be the source of our happiness and fulfillment were actually the
cause of our suffering and inner imbalance. As we discard the worldly things and
become centered in ourselves, our
equation with the world undergoes a tremendous transformation. It is then
we become aware of the play of maya, the apparent illusion caused by the
movement and appearance of forms and things. We realize that from "the creator
Brahma right down to the pillar, all appearance of materiality is unreal like
objects seen in a dream."2
Maya is a state of existence, a point of view, caused by the imperfect discriminating
intelligence (buddhi), which according to Hindu scriptures, is an aspect of
Prakriti and the nearest in the hierarchy to the pure consciousness. From that
limited perspective we experience duality and
plurality. We see the world, but not the consciousness hidden in it and the
things that are found in its space, which is responsible for their appearance. Because of
maya, we see ourselves as different, distinct and diverse, not as individual
souls of pure consciousness but as beings made of minds and bodies. We mistake
our egos as the souls and our minds as the consciousness, seeking fulfillment
through self promotion and self-preservation, and competing for attention and recognition
even when such goals tend to destabilize our minds and inner peace. We seek things in order to fulfill
ourselves and alleviate our fears and anxieities. We indulge in selfish actions out of desires and habits.
As we indulge in selfish actions with a desire to get things and reach our
goals, we reap the fruits of our own actions and become subject to bondage, births and rebirths.
Maya cannot be overcome without a fundamental shift in our awareness and
inner conditioning. Where there is duality, the sense of separation, there is
maya. When our minds and senses are active, we remain under the influence of Maya.
When we perceive things in a state of duality, we remain in the domain of Maya.
Maya disappears only when our minds and senses are fully stabilized and we are
able to experience things without the division of the seer and the seen. Even the gods are not free from the influence of Maya because they also
experience duality and plurality. Truly no one is ever free from maya, till one has lost all sense of duality
forever. The only way to steer clear from maya is to be able to see the truth as
it is, which is possible only when our egos yield place to our real selves.
Suggested Further Reading
Footnotes
1. Yoga Vashista, Part 3, On Creation, The Story of Lila,
Translation by Swami Venkatesananda, State University of New
York Press, Page 86
2. Yoga Vashista, Part 3, On Liberation, The Story of The
Sage From Outer Space,
Translation by Swami Venkatesananda, State University of New
York Press, Page 600.
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