MAYA AND ILLUSION

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Posted by: " Uttishthata " uttishthata

Tue Oct 2, 2007 7:56 pm (PST)

 

MAYA AND ILLUSION - Swam Vivekananda

 

Almost all of you have heard of the word Maya. Generally it is used,

though incorrectly, to denote illusion, or delusion, or some such

thing. But the theory of Maya forms one of the pillars upon which

the Vedanta rests; it is, therefore, necessary that it should be

properly understood. I ask a little patience of you, for there is a

great danger of its being misunderstood. The oldest idea of Maya

that we find in the Vedic literature is the sense of delusion; but

then the real theory had not been reached. We find such passages

as, " Indra through his Maya assumed various forms. " Here it is true

the word Maya means something like magic, and we find various other

passages, always taking the same meaning. The word Maya then dropped

out of sight altogether. But in the meantime the idea was

developing. Later, the question was raised: " Why can't we know this

secret of the universe? " And the answer given was very

significant: " Because we talk in vain, and because we are satisfied

with the things of the senses, and because we are running after

desires; therefore, we, as it were, cover the Reality with a mist. "

Here the word Maya is not used at all, but we get the idea that the

cause of our ignorance is a kind of mist that has come between us

and the Truth. Much later on, in one of the latest Upanishads, we

find the word Maya reappearing, but this time, a transformation has

taken place in it, and a mass of new meaning has attached itself to

the word. Theories had been propounded and repeated, others had been

taken up, until at last the idea of Maya became fixed. We read in

the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, " Know nature to be Maya and the Ruler

of this Maya is the Lord Himself. " Coming to our philosophers, we

find that this word Maya has been manipulated in various fashions,

until we come to the great Shankaracharya. The theory of Maya was

manipulated a little by the Buddhists too, but in the hands of the

Buddhists it became very much like what is called Idealism, and that

is the meaning that is now generally given to the word Maya. When

the Hindu says the world is Maya, at once people get the idea that

the world is an illusion. This interpretation has some basis, as

coming through the Buddhistic philosophers, because there was one

section of philosophers who did not believe in the external world at

all. But the Maya of the Vedanta, in its last developed form, is

neither Idealism nor Realism, nor is it a theory. It is a simple

statement of facts -- what we are and what we see around us.

 

to be continued...

 

The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Volume 2 [ Page : 88 ]

(Lecture Delivered in London)

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

If you really want the good of others, the whole universe may stand

against you and cannot hurt you. It must crumble before your power

of the Lord Himself in you if you are sincere and really unselfish.

- Swami Vivekananda