Living as we are in a state of
delusion, a world of make-believe, no wonder we all live on the periphery of
Consciousness. Our lives are full of trivials. Days and nights pass in routine
struggle, making both ends meet and it is a hand to mouth existence for most of
us. Our joys and happiness are short-lived, while sorrows and misery knows no
end. Often we wonder where we are heading. Still there is no satisfactory
answer to the eternal question why some are born rich as it were in the USA or
Europe, and some in veritable hell in Asia and Africa. There is no scientific
answer to this question in the Western science; but Vedanta holds the clue. Another
question is there. Is it one’s Karma that fixes one’s fate in this life, and if
so, where can one find the balance sheet of good deeds and bad deeds of
previous life so that the account can be settled once for all? Also, it is open to question whether the good
deeds will emancipate us for we do not know what lies in the future.
Vedanta has very clear answer for this
question, too. Not only this, there are solutions to many other problems. The
answer lies in cleansing the backyard; cleansing the memories, getting rid of
the accumulated vasanas and resisting temptations of sensuous life by adherence
to austere way of life. Harinama smarane is one simple technique
Life is what we make of it. We are our own
masters. We grow as we like and very little of external influences can affect
very significantly the way of life we choose and live. Ultimately, it (life) is
of our own making! Raja Yoga tells us that we are the creators and we create
what we want and discard what we do not need. What significantly affects our
life, at the most, is our Karma. What deeds we have done in the past is the
root cause of our existence here on this earth now; and, it is also within our
hands to gradually put an end to all this, life. Without a proper knowledge of
all this, we are simply rushing! With
the result, we accrue all sorts of unwanted things and suffer. All our problems
can be summed up in the following.
Maya, Illusion
We are all bubbles in the foam and waves
of the cosmic ocean of the universe and, as such, our whole existence is a
make-believe world or magic. The sensate world is finite and perishable subject
to degradation over time. It is our avidya or ignorance that gives us an
impression of an eternal existence; rather, it is the true nature of the
Brahman that makes us believe so. We all believe that this sensate world is
true and eternal. But, in a billion years, the Sun would be completely devoid
of all energy; and, it would expand and cool so much that all life forms on
this earth would cease.
'Avidya' (Nescience) or Maya is the power of the
Lord. It is also called the ‘Undifferentiated consciousness’. A perfectly
balanced state of Mind is the one when the three Gunas, Tamas, Rajas and Sattva
are in a state of equilibrium. Here, one should remember that, in fact,
evolution is caused by the disturbance of this equilibrium. This Maya is an
illusory state since the power behind this is beyond all cause and effect, not
affected by the change; neither it is non-existent nor does it exist; neither
it is same or different, nor both. And, it is beautiful and indescribable! It
is neither an indivisible whole, nor is it composed of parts. It is called
Prakruti according to Sankhya Philosophy. It is insentient and at the same time
independent. Such a ‘make-believe’ world
of Nature we live in is nothing but the act of the Lord; it is His leela! What
else should we call it, but Maya? It is like the large screen on which we witness
the progress of a film story in a cinema Hall. The moment, the screen disappears
the film also disappears. Our Mind is the screen on which we witness the drama
of life, the so-called world we witness and the moment our Mind becomes still,
the drama of life ends!
With ‘manonasha’, the Maya is
conquered. Maya can be destroyed by the realization of the Pure Brahman, the
One without a second. Even the wise and the learned men and men who are clever
and adept in the vision of the exceedingly subtle Atman, are overpowered by
tamas and do not understand the Atman even though clearly explained in various
ways. This is the ‘Avriti-shakthi’ of Tamas, the over-powering Guna! Let alone
the mortals, the human beings, even the gods failed to perceive the Brahman who
stood before them in the form of a Yaksha!
Kena Upanishad has a beautiful story. Once
Brahman comes in the form of Yaksha to teach the proud Devas a lesson. The
Devas were taking all credit of winning the fight with the Asuras, the Danavas
(demons). They were elated and forgot all about Brahman. When Brahman appeared
before them, they could not recognize Him. Indra sent Agni to find out Who He
is. Brahman placed before Agni a piece of straw and asked him to burn it, Agni
use all his force and failed. He returned pale face. Indra sent Vayu to find
out who the veritable Adorable Spirit is. Again, Brahman placed a piece of
straw and asked him to blow it. Vayu used all his force and failed to move it.
He returned disappointed. Finally, Indra himself came, but found a beautiful
woman, the wondrously effulgent Uma, the daughter of Himavat in the place of Yaksha!
Here, Indra is the Mind and where Mind
enters, the Spirit disappears for the simple reason that mind, the finite,
cannot perceive the Spirit, the Brahman (Infinite). The eyes and ears, whose
deities are Agni and Vayu, respectively, failed to perceive the Brahman for the
same reason that the Infinite cannot be perceived by the finite. One can feel
the presence of Brahman with the help of the indriyas but cannot perceive it
with mind. If you want to test this simple fact, take the hand of a child when
it willingly offers to you and feel the cosmic energy flowing! Also, take the
child’s hand by force when it is unwilling and feel the difference!
This story goes to show how we fail to
recognize the indomitable Spirit, the cosmic flow, the Supreme Spirit that is
behind all of us and we simply take credit to ourselves. It is strange that we
take all credit if we succeed and blame the world for our failures! Why not
give credit to Him for all our success? Why do we not remember that failure is
our weakness, our mistake due to ignorance? Our ego prevents us from accepting
our ignorance, our weaknesses. Ego is the adamantine wall; it is governed by
the mind, Remove the mind, ego disappears! Ego is ignorance; mind is ignorance.
Mind and ego go together, each strengthening the other. A little bit of
knowledge or awareness (Consciousness) of ‘who we are’ will drive away the
ignorance. So, be consciously aware of who you are. You are ‘That’, that
Indomitable Spirit, the Self!
Undifferentiated or unmanifested prakruti
is called ‘Maya’. It is ‘Avyakta’ and hence, it is to be inferred from the
effect it produces. Maya has brought this universe into existence by its sheer
Sattva. Maya is not ‘Adi-madhya-anta rahita’ i.e., beginning-less and endless.
It has no beginning but has an end to a Jnyani who has knowledge of the Self.
Matter, energy and sound exist in Maya in an undifferentiated state. The whole
world exists in Maya in a seed state during cosmic pralaya, or dissolution of
the universe. Maya is the causal body of Ishvara. It is under the control of
the Lord Brahman.
This Mind is Maya, the illusion that
brings about further creation of perishable and futile objects that further
covers our pure consciousness. This Mind cannot overcome ‘Maya’, the illusion
since the mind itself is maya, the illusion. It cannot eliminate itself. Hence,
one should have a clear sense of the world he lives in and strive for
understanding the ‘Sat’ or the truth. This is the path of redemption from cycle
of births and deaths. All the worldly achievements are of no significance for a
Jnyani. Hence, every person should know what he wants and why he wants that.
Otherwise it will be a mad pursuit in this illusory world. It is so sad that
many people die with all honours and worldly recognition but not knowing their
Self!
There is a beautiful story of
evolution in our Puranas. This should be taken in its proper perspective.
Brahma created Saraswati and fell in love with her, his own creation and
married her! Purana says so. Who is not enomoured with one’s own creative
force? A painter loves his own painting. An artist loves the object of his own
creative skill. So also Brahma; but what is this marriage with Saraswati? It is
the marriage, the union, of the Consciousness of the individual self with the
Supreme Consciousness, the Cosmic Self. Further, Brahma created the cow and he
himself became the Bull; the bull ran after the cow and the cow ran to hide and
invited the bull. Finally, the cow and the bull became the cause of further
creation. The story goes on and on like this to create this world of
‘make-believe’, ‘Maya’! One should not get into the details of this story of
creation. It is figuratively clear that we are bound by mamata, moha, and forget
the real Self in us. The whole life on this earth is a drama like the bull
running after the cow and the cow hiding to invite the bull!
Knowledge is elusive. Ignorance binds,
rather it blinds. We get infatuated looking at a beautiful girl. We fantasise
her. We long for possessing her. We forget for a moment that the girl is also a
human, of flesh and blood. We love ourselves in her and we are ever eager to
enter her. When we get possessed of her, the reality dawns on us. We realize
that she is not what we longed for; she is not the person we so earnestly
desired for. She is just like any one of us and disillusionment starts; her
shortcomings appear glaring. Her presence becomes so intolerable that we start
finding out ways and means of getting rid of her. She is Illusion. She is maya.
She is delusion that sweeps away our existence.
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