​

The concept of Maya is often described as the illusion that surrounds us. If Maya is an illusion, who created it, and how can we escape it? Why should an ordinary person even consider these questions? Can breaking free from Maya help us solve everyday problems or lead to greater happiness? Understanding this mysterious idea might provide answers, but can we truly comprehend it? Maya isn’t just an Indian philosophy; it’s a fundamental part of our reality until we look beyond it.

Maya is often referred to as ignorance. Many spiritual teachers assert that everything we perceive, including ourselves, is not entirely real. According to thinkers like Adi Shankaracharya, our true essence is Brahman (the Soul or Consciousness), while Maya acts like a veil, obscuring this reality. This ignorance prevents us from recognizing our true selves. Swami Vivekananda summarized Maya as "a simple statement of facts about what we are and what we see around us."

Before going further, it's crucial to accept that we cannot fully explain Maya because we are still within it. You can’t understand ignorance if you are ignorant yourself; only the enlightened can explain it. For now, we can only discuss it based on our current understanding. As long as we remain in Maya, our reasoning is limited to intellectual thought. Our goal should be to become familiar with it and cultivate the belief that we will eventually break free.

A well-known analogy in Vedanta illustrates Maya effectively: the example of a rope mistaken for a snake. In the dark, I see what I think is a snake hanging from a tree. In reality, it’s just a rope. Due to my ignorance, I perceive it as a snake. When I approach and shine a light on it, I discover it’s merely a rope. This raises important questions: Did my perception change the rope into a snake? Did the light transform the snake back into a rope? The reality of the rope never changed; only my awareness of it did.

If someone wants to understand Maya, then he or she needs to read the works of Swami Vivekananda. He always emphasized practical explanations for complex ideas. Let's understand Maya in Swami Vivekanand's words.

“The whole world is going towards death; everything dies. Death is the end of everything. Death is the end of life, of beauty, of wealth, of power, of virtue too. Saints die and sinners die, kings die and beggars die. They are all going to death, and yet this tremendous clinging on to life exists. Somehow, we do not know why, we cling to life; we cannot give it up. And this is Maya.”

“We often hear that it is one of the features of evolution that it eliminates evil, and this evil being continually eliminated from the world, at last only good will remain. It takes for granted, in the first place, that manifested good and evil in this world are two absolute realities. It makes, at the still worse assumption that the amount of good is an increasing quantity and the amount of evil is a decreasing quantity. Can it be proved that evil is a lessening quantity?

As we increase our power to be happy, we also increase our power to suffer, and sometimes I am inclined to think that if we increase our power to become happy in arithmetical progression, we shall increase, on the other hand, our power to become miserable in geometrical progression. We who are progressing know that the more we progress, the more avenues are opened to pain as well as to pleasure. And this is Maya.”

When Adi Shankaracharya said “Brahma Satya, Jagat Mithya”, he did not mean that this world was unreal. Only that the world as we see is not real. It is not that once you get enlightened, this world will disappear. So the Maya is a veil that makes us see the world with an illusion and when it is removed we see the world as it is and we see the real self. When Maya disappears, the awareness of "I" shifts from body and mind to ever-pervading consciousness.

Quote of the week

Spiritual Wisdom

We often focus on changing external circumstances, overlooking the fact that the outer world reflects our inner state. For a few days, try shifting your attention inward. While you can still address external challenges, also prioritize transforming your inner landscape. This practice will empower you to realize that your feelings don’t have to rely solely on what's happening around you. By nurturing your inner world, you'll cultivate resilience and a deeper sense of peace.

I recommend...

YouTube video - Have Faith in Yourself by Pravrajika Divyanandaprana (1 min video)

​

​

Book - Aparokshanubhuti: Of Sri Shankaracharya by Swami Vimuktananda

Let's connect or share your feedback.

​​