MAYA AND ILLUSION

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Posted by: " Bhakta Dhruva " bhakta_dhruva

 

MAYA AND ILLUSION

 

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 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.

 

-Swami Vivekananda - (Complete Works Of Swami Vivekananda Vol.2)