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Maya
Maya or illusion is also widely mis-understood. Maya does not mean that the
objects in the world does not exists, it is an illusion. This is how Vedanta
is highly misinterpreted.
The whole confusion goes away by
understanding four words.
1. Sathya
(Real). Consciousness is Sathya (Truth or Reality). This means it exists by
itself. It does not need anything for its existence.
2. Mithya
(unreal, asath)- Anything that is not self-existent but depends on something
else. For example, if Gold is taken as real, then Gold ring and gold
necklase is mithya or unreal. Unreal does not mean illusion. Gold ring is
not an illusion, but mithya. This means the ring (form) necklase (form)
depends on Gold for its existence. If there is no gold, there is no Gold
ring or Gold-necklase. So they are mithya.
3. Thutcha
(illusion). Horse horn is an illusion. It never exists. This is clear and
does not require further explanation.
4. Maya.
Maya is the inability to distinguish between the real (sath) from Asath
(unreal). Maya is wrongly translated as illusion. Maya is not illusion. It
is the lack of awareness to understand the real from the unreal.
Therefore this Universe is not an
illusion (thutcha) but Mithya (unreal). Only Pure Consciousness is real.
Maya is the inability of seeing "Oneness".
Everything we see as different. From the day we are born we are taught to
differentiate things. We are not taught to see the Oneness. Maya is
beautifully explained in the following scriptural verse from Tirumandiram, a
Tamil classic text, from 2 BC by Tirumoolar, a Saint, astronomer, alchemist,
philosopher and a physician.
Wood is masked by the toy elephant
And the toy elephant by the wood, and so is
Consciousness masked by the five elements in the Universe
And the Universe is hidden in the Consciousness.
The above verse means that a child sees the toy elephant and not the wood
that makes the elephant. But a the carpenter is only interested in the wood
and not the toy. A learned person may study all about matter in the
universe, but the wise man sees only
Consciousness.
To see the whole
world as different objects are of that of the eyes of the immature
child. But to see the world as that of Pure Consciousness is the sight of
the divine "third-eye", which is opened upon the purification of the mind.
We started Pancha Bhoota five steps for healing diseases of body and mind.
But there is a disease of Samsara, the cycle of birth and death to be
healed. This is only possible when we purify our mind and realize the
Consciousness as our real Self. Without knowing the reality that everything
is Consciousness, we are caught up in a world of pair of opposites of
good and bad, right and wrong, virtue and evil.
Who created these pair or opposites? Did God create it. Does God exists?.
These are the questions often asked by us. We will briefly discuss about it
in the next page.
Please click here
to continue reading
References
1.
Journey To The Source: Decoding Matrix
Trilogy-
Pradheep Chhalliyil
to
read about this interesting book that describes the Maya concept based
on Computer simulation and artificial intelligence more vividly.
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