Guest guest Posted July 27, 1999 Report Share Posted July 27, 1999 At 03:21 AM 7/27/99 +0100, you wrote: >"Vivekananda Centre" <vivekananda >The sage of this age has given us an example more suited to our times:- >"Maya not as an illusion" but "Maya as the world as it is". The word "illusion" is an extremely poor translation of "Maya," for which there is no English definition. I like the word "dream" much better than "illusion." This world, this universe, this life, this death, is a dream in which we slumber. To awaken is the goal. A person asleep cannot easily awaken themselves (although sometimes a nightmare will aid in spontaneous awakening), and there is no external agent like an alarm clock to awaken those sleeping in Maya. So the dream must become lucid, and remain lucid. Once it is known that we are dreaming, there is hope to awaken. We must remember always that this is a dream, and when we awaken nothing can be taken with us. Shankara: Say to yourself a thousand times a day, "I am Brahman." Make the world-dream lucid. Hari OM, Tim ----- Visit The Core of the WWW at: http://core.vdirect.net Music, Poetry, Writings on Nondual Spiritual Topics... Also Personal Site with Shareware, Entertainment, Etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 27, 1999 Report Share Posted July 27, 1999 Tim Gerchmez wrote: > > Tim Gerchmez <core > > At 03:21 AM 7/27/99 +0100, you wrote: > >"Vivekananda Centre" <vivekananda > > >The sage of this age has given us an example more suited to our times:- > >"Maya not as an illusion" but "Maya as the world as it is". > > The word "illusion" is an extremely poor translation of "Maya," for which > there is no English definition. I like the word "dream" much better than > "illusion." This world, this universe, this life, this death, is a dream > in which we slumber. To awaken is the goal. A person asleep cannot easily > awaken themselves (although sometimes a nightmare will aid in spontaneous > awakening), and there is no external agent like an alarm clock to awaken > those sleeping in Maya. So the dream must become lucid, and remain lucid. > Once it is known that we are dreaming, there is hope to awaken. We must > remember always that this is a dream, and when we awaken nothing can be > taken with us. > > Shankara: Say to yourself a thousand times a day, "I am Brahman." Make > the world-dream lucid. > maya is not an illusion nor is it a dream. the vivekananda center's post alluded to the fact that it is not utterly unreal, *except* when it is perceived as real *unto itself* [i.e. as world, *as such*]. otherwise it is brahman's lila or the sport [or play] of brahman, and thus quite real. therefore, its unreal aspect is only in the perceptive attitude adopted by the observer. this is the most common misunderstanding among vedantins. moreover it is the view of dvaitam--the *opposite* of advaitam... Ramana Maharshi made it clear, "The vedantins do not say the world is unreal. That is a misunderstanding. If they did, what would be the meaning of the sastra: 'All this is brahman.'? They only mean the world is unreal as world, but it is real as Self." namaste Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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