Maya – That which is NOT...

I would be surprised if none of you have already done some research on Maya, and have a few pet theories of your own.

Two words – Well Done!!

Recommended readings -

Ashtavakra Samhitha
Shankaracharya's works - anything you can lay your hands on.

Remember that all translations tend to error. Such is the precision of Samskrth, that concepts when translated, are very hard to grasp. Look at how many words I'll have to use to describe Maya...

So what is this massive illusion we’re talking about? So, if everything (everything?!) is unreal, what is real? How do we define/differentiate between what is real and what is unreal?

Are there various ‘levels’ of Reality? Which part of me is really real?!

Hmmm… if Eashwaran is all about Truth, then why fool us all with an illusion? If the We are ALL the one and the same absolute, then what’re we doing creating our own mini-realities that we call ‘life’? What is the purpose of this apparent illusion?

First, let me clarify something – the Samskrth word ‘Maya’ can only be translated in English as ‘illusion’. BUT – Maya is NOT illusion. Maya is NOT unreal.

Maya is a conscious experience – usually through the mind.

Let me explain with a tale that is the reason the Ashtavakra Samhitha exists.

In the Thretha Yuga, Avathaara Shri Rama’s father-in-law Maharaja Janaka ruled a prosperous kingdom. The people were happy, Dharma was practiced, and the Maharaja felt that he was doing his duty. However, he could not find satisfaction. Regardless, he continued to rule as the virtuous king that he was (remember, it was his virtuous Dharmic nature that caused Bhoomi Devi to choose him as the earthly father of her daughter Seetha Devi, or Janaki – the Daughter of Janaka).

He then had this dream (this is long after the actual war that’s the highlight of most Ramayana translations today) where he was a beggar being chased and abused by villagers. This kind of community based action took place in those days only when the beggar or person involved was considered a danger or threat to the sanctity of the community.

Of course, when he awoke and the dream vanished, he found himself swathed in his silken robes and in the Royal Bed Chamber… and yes, he was relieved.

This kept happening, and naturally, the curious Maharaja brought it to his courtiers’ attention that he wanted to know more about his experience…

If any of you have ever woken up from a dream feeling you were still in the dream, you may remember that every sound, every image, every experience from the dream was as real as the ‘reality’ around you – your body, your bed, your room and the furniture.

Maharaja Janaka’s dream-experience was so strong that he found himself unsure of which was real – his life as a ruler or his life as a menace to society…

The question he put to his courtiers was “which is real?”

Of course, if any of you has read the Samhitha itself, you would know that Ashtavakra answered his question thus “Neither”. If any of you wishes to understand the answer as the Maharaja did, please look for this book – you’ll find many translations of it. In spite of the inadequacy of the English language, I would strongly recommend it as the best description of what Reality is.

Literally translated, Maya is ‘that which is NOT’. In English that doesn’t make much sense. Especially since no one has defined ‘That Which IS’.

An ancient Guru once answered a curious Shishya’s questions with a single phrase. The questions, just like ours, were about reality and the nature of being. “O Teacher, what is it that by knowing which one becomes free of all (Karmic) bondage?”

“ThhuthThvamAsi” – That is What You Are – literally, but in English, it’d be ‘Thou Art That’.

‘That’ here refers to the Absolute – which is pretty much all creation. The Shishya had a fairly good understanding of Karma, and the Laws of the Universe. But it was this singular concept that freed him.

Of course, in the parable of the Ancient Guru, the Shishya did not understand ThhuthThvamAsi. He didn’t have a clue. The Guru took pity on him, and took him in as a student. He asked his eager Shishya to till the fields and take care of the land for 12 years. And then to come back with any questions he had. The steadfast Shishya did so – and 12 years later, got the same answer – ThhuthThvamAsi.

Maya, as a principle, serves two purposes in The System. It hides the true nature of a consciousness from itself, and it can construct an entire ‘reality’ specific to that consciousness.

A Consciousness’ awareness within Maya exists at 3 levels Thamas (Darkness/Ignorance), Rajas (Awakened/in Action), Satthva (Pure Light/Enlightened).

Rishis exist at a Satthva level. They can see ‘through’ Maya, but can also exist within it. Asuras are obviously at the level of Thamas.

Remember, this doesn’t make Rishis ‘good’ or Asuras ‘bad’. Each being has its purpose and appropriate Karmic duties. Even Kali is necessary for without his hatred of human beings, none of us would be able to live out our very worst Karma – we can do so only in the Kali Yuga.

The Mind, whether it belongs to a dog, a man, a woman, a tree, a stone, a river or a building, is an electromagnetic transceiver. This device is designed to both perceive Maya and to contribute to Maya.

Manushya is the being designed to be able to USE the Mind. The being that can evade all the in-between stages and attain Moksha straightaway (though not in the Kali-Yuga).

To be able to use the Mind, however, the Manushya must first know who HE/SHE really is, and must be able to perceive the Mind as an instrument (AshtaangaYogaSoothra is the recommended tool for this – popularly known as Yoga). Everything that the Mind perceives is Maya, but not ALL Maya is perceived by most Minds.

To know Reality, one must transcend the Mind. When one has gone beyond the Mind and experienced Pure Consciousness unhindered by the Mind, then one will know how to differentiate.

Because, then one will truly have experienced the statement ThhuthThvamAsi.

Thhuth – That – refers to everything in the universe. Everything within Maya, and everything without Maya. The Absolute is all that is manifest, and all that is un-manifest at the same time.

The Absolute Being literally ‘dreams’ everything else into existence.

The Dream is neither real nor unreal. It is merely Creation.

Eashwaran – The Absolute Being – Lord Shiva – Lord Vishnu REQUIRES Prakrthi-Lakshmi Devi- Parvathi Devi –Devi MahaaMaya to manifest Creation.

When you, as a consciousness, descend into this Lokem, Shiva Maya (read Devi Parvathi) makes you forget your true nature. You are unable to understand the statement ThhuthThvamAsi. As you descend further into physical existence, you finally reach the ‘body’ that you must inhabit. At this point, the ‘body’ is a baby that has just been born – and a series of events unfolds. Once born, the baby opens its mouth as a reflex action. Precisely at this moment, you – Aathmen – pure consciousness enter that body riding on the Prana that it takes in as its first breath. On cue, Devi Lakshmi rubs Vishnu-Maya on your eyes with love. You forget your previous lives, your Karmic purpose for this life and forget all previous relationships.

This is necessary – I mean, how would you actually have children if you remembered your wife as being your brother many lives ago?

Maya – is everything we perceive through the mind. The only thing that we CANNOT perceive through the mind is our own True Nature. To perceive this, we must go beyond the mind. And ‘I’ am the ONLY Reality.

What in the world is an Avathaar? Or, as it’s fashionably spelled nowadays, an ‘Avatar’?

Based on whether you use an ‘avatar’ for your web messenger or your social website, or whether you’re a Vaishnava, or a fashionable Buddhist-inclined ‘modern’ Hindu, your concept of what an Avathaaram is can be quite vague, if not misguided- unless you’re a Vedic and a Bhaaratha (in which case, this should be an entertaining read for you).

Let’s face it – you can’t blame The Internet, Microsoft, American voters, the Muslim bastards, the Christian imbeciles or the British Raj if you do not actually make the effort to find out for yourself what the word means…

So what is an Avathaar? An incarnation? What is an incarnation? Amongst other definitions incl. Christian ones, most dictionaries define an Incarnation thus: A bodily manifestation of a supernatural being.

How accurate do you think that is? Hmmm. So according to ‘Hindu’ literature, one of the ‘gods’ called Vishnu decides to get a flight down to Earth to save our asses every now and then. He takes on a human-like form that is called an Avathaar, er…sorry, Avatar.

Pshaw!! You might as well define Karma as Newton’s Third Law or embrace the Aryan Invasion theory. That kind of perspective is about as true as the notion of Mohammad being a ‘chosen’ prophet.

Anyways, we won’t go into the propaganda of false prophets at this point.

Let’s get on with the concept of an Avathaar...

Yes! An Avathaar is a concept. Just like Freedom is a concept. Just like the Judeo-Christo-Islami idea of ‘God’ is a concept – albeit misguided and silly. Just like Equality of men and women is a concept…

Remember the posts where I’ve put forth the concept of creation itself?

Quick recap – there’s the Supreme Being – a Being with no desire, with no thoughts, no attributes, and no emotion. This Being is pure consciousness – it is purely aware of everything, and thereby, of itself – it IS everything by itself. There is no other. To understand the reason this Being sets Time (Devi MahaaKaali – an entity within which exists Kaalam – the passage of Time) to start ticking, and The Being brings forth manifestation and creation, it is said that every consciousness must return to it’s pre-Karmic state of awareness.

This Being has states of sleep and wakefulness. When it wakens, the process begins. Since the Being sleeps and wakens alternately, there is NO beginning, nor is there an end. There are merely cycles within cycles within cycles. I think I described this in detail in the post about Yugas…

I hope that brings to mind the concept of Time and the cyclic nature of processes. In the midst of these processes, Manifestation occurs – The Absolute Being – The Supreme Consciousness – splits itself. Remember, when you’re Absolute, you can split into a thousand pieces, and each piece is a COMPLETE you. So, in the interests of Governance of the System, The Being’s manifestation as The SadaaShivam brings forth Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu, and about 900 Million entities that govern the system in which Manushya is created.

Complicated eh? Well, remember I was telling you in another post that it takes about 300 years of dedicated study to master The Veda? Hehehe…now you know ;)

Let’s take a look at Lord Vishnu. His duties are varied…and his Shakthi is Lakshmi Devi – the entity that personifies Prosperity (remember: Prosperity is different from Wealth, though it may include Wealth).

MahaaVishnu – his task is To Protect. Protect what? From whom?

He protects The Universe by sustaining the processes that The Universe entails. And sometimes he protects it from itself- from Adharma, or Unrighteousness. In other words he protects Dharma.

What is Dharma? Righteousness. Eh? And what’s that?! If I tried to define it here, it would take a whole book. Let me try to give you a picture though…

Remember, right and wrong are words that apply to little things – such as the right way to drive a car, or the wrong way to bake a cake. When considering vast subtleties like consciousness and Manushya, we talk in terms of Righteousness.

Example: It is a soldier’s Dharma and Duty to fight to protect his nation. He may have to kill, lie, cheat, strategize or manipulate to do so, but he must do so in order to fulfill his duty. He does NOT incur negative Karma for killing in battle etc. for he is fulfilling his Dharma.

A closer lOOK: If you’re a son/daughter in a mid-level Vaishya family – you have duties towards your Pithra (Father), Maathra (Mother), and siblings. You have duties towards the Society. Towards your neighbors. Towards not-so-Karmically aware members of the society such as Chandaalas or Shudras. You also have duties towards your Kingdom, your King, the Brahmanas who uphold principles in your community and so on forth.

When you take what you’re not entitled to, you’re breaking a Dharmic principle. However, if you’re a King protecting his nation, and lie to an enemy King, and conceal the enemy King’s weapons or bribe his soldiers, you’re actually fulfilling your Dharma as a King.

Did that bring a frown to your face? Think again. Dharma exists at a personal level, at a familial level, at a social level, at a national level, at the levels of various worlds – DevaLoka, Bhoomi etc. and at a Universal Level – Lord Yama Himself. Lord Yama, as a principle, is protected by Lord Vishnu – as is Lord Vishnu’s duty.

I hope all you readers remember the concept of the Absolute…I have detailed it in many ways in many of the previous posts.

If you’re not familiar with it, please read and read again until you can visualize an Absolute form that can be split into a billion forms without any compromise to its nature – each and every one of those billion pieces is a complete absolute – as complete as Eashwaran – the Absolute Being.

Now, we are each one of those billion or more pieces. The consciousness within every bird, quadruped, ape, worm, butterfly, shrub, alga, tree, bacterium, drop of water, atom of sand, grain of stone, blade of grass and electronic charge is as Absolute as Eashwaran himself.

So now, imagine – all of creation is Eashwaran. The Absolute Being is Eashwaran. Easwharan is everything, and is also nothing – because nothing is what is left when everything is taken away, and that nothing is Eashwaran itself.

Is that a difficult image to hold? Every galaxy, every planet, every star, every comet, every cubic micrometer of space, every light year measurable, every breath, every unit of light, every unit of energy – everything that was, is, and will be à Eashwaran. The Absolute.

Now, return to a small part of creation – small, but primary – Manushya. Whenever Manushya, who represents the blueprint engineering block upon which all creation is built, is engulfed by Adharma, and Dharma is beginning to fall apart – and is held by a string or two…at that point, Eashwaran – all consciousness, all creation, all the un-manifest, all reality, and all energy, focus via Lord Vishnu to be manifested in a Single Human-Like physical form.

And THIS form is called an Avathaara(m).

There are powerful humans who’re influenced directly by Lord Vishnu himself, but are not the same. Though some scholars do refer to them as Avathaaras, they’re not.

The Avathaara is a form that exhibits what Manushya is capable of in his/her ultimate form.

The manifestation of the Avathaara is so powerful, and so universal, that the mere mention of an Avathaar’s name brings forth a blessing from the Universe.

Lord ParishuRama was an Avathaara in this sense. Having said that, he was quite a character. .. Born a Brahmana he took forh the task of Kshathriyas, and wiped out generations of Kshathriya kings. What started off as a quest to wipe out corrupt rulers turned into a bloody clean-up operation lasting generations.

Another instance, Lord Krishna was an Avathaara- but he was not the first person to be named Krishna. Krishna – pronounced Kŕshna. But after the occurrence of that Avathaara, the word Krishna itself became a Manthra.

Manthras….the power of Sound. Brahmanas use Manthras. Mothers use Manthras to protect babies, and even the cry of the peacock is a Manthra.

The more powerful of Manthras are scripted in Smskrth. When chanted by Brahmanas during specific rituals, these Manthras are capable of mind-boggling effects.

They can induce rain – they can wipe a nation off the map. They can imbibe blessings for a nation, and to this day, Bhoomi Devi would cease to rotate around herself if the two thousand or so Unknown Brahmanas stop chanting their Manthras and discontinued their rituals unbeknownst to all us blissfully ignorant Manushyas…

For the ‘scientific’ minds – without the earth’s axial rotation, the earth’s electromagnetic field would cease to exist. The dynamo-effect of rotating semi-liquid mantle rotating around a core (solid inner, liquid outer) that creates the earth’s electromagnetic field would be gone. Even if the outer crust continued moving with accrued momentum, solar winds and electromagnetic radiation would kill us all. Of course, if the rotation stopped, we’d all be thrown into outer space with the resulting inertia.

Anyways, Manthras can be designed for each specific person based on his/her Vedic horoscope. Manthras can be as simple as Om Shivaaya Namaha (Om Namaha Shivaaya is reserved for Brahmins and special practices). Merely chanting an Avathaaram’s name will bring in powerful universal vibes.

Try it out. And for a detailed read of Avathaaras, try

http://www.indiadivine.org/articles/442/1/The-Matsya-Purana/Page1.html

I must warn you all, however, that translations, though well meaning, are always inaccurate, and badly translated. This is essentially from the difficulty of finding English equivalent for complex Samskrth concepts, and in many cases from the translator’s bad understanding of the accuracies of the English language. For instance, I quote the from the link above:

“Brahma accordingly created two beings from his body, one was male and the other was female. The male half was named Svayambhuva Manu and the female half was named Shatarupa.”

In this case, the Translator deigns to mention that none of these beings are human beings. Svayambhuva Manu is Samskrth for ‘Self-Realizing Mind’. Obviously this is not a human entity – but the web page does give the reader the impression that all these are people except for Lord Brahma. Shatharupa is Samskrth for “She of a hundred forms”. Again, it’s obvious that she’s not a human lady.

I have been exposed to Samskrth, and find it easier than most to understand what even these terrible translations mean. But most people end up being misled…

However, read intelligently, and there is still a lot of wisdom to be salvaged – after all, SathyamAeva Jayathey…

Also, note many elements of Judeo-Christian-Islamic religion in their original, unaltered, and true form – The Pralaya – the flood, the boat (Noah’s ark? C’mon Jesus, you could have written a more original book, you bastard!!) And the story of creation narrated by Matsya Avathaaram (Lord Vishnu- of course) – does the word ‘genesis’ from the bible book ring a bell?

Ahaa……Thought so ;)

Do meditate on the concept of an Avathaara. Understand through your own inner experience why the word ‘Rama’ or the word ‘Shri Krishna’ stirs a primeval feeling of power within you… I mean, just try it. Ensure Mommy, Daddy, little Bubblie, the family dog Jingo and the neighbor’s wife do not disturb you.

Lay down a strict rule.
Turn off your mobile hand-phone

Do you have a tape-recorder? A Dictaphone? A computer with a microphone?

Read out everything below in your own voice. Stop at the full stops, pause at the commas. Emphasize wherever you feel it necessary. Record yourself reading the instructions below…then play back your recording and follow YOUR own instructions. If you want to feel the difference between the name of an Avathaara used as a chant, and an ordinary word, first try these instructions, then repeat them, another day, with a word like 'Apple', 'Magnet' or 'Wall'

Close your eyes. Sit down with your legs folded under you, and your back erect. As erect as you can position it without undue effort. It must be a relaxed position – perfection of posture is not the objective.

Hold your hands out, with the palms facing upwards…fold your index finger so that it can touch the thumb…and relax your arms. Let them just lie there – with no effort.

If you need to lean on a flat wall while sitting so, that’s fine.

Straighten your neck. You should be looking straight ahead. What do you see? A wall? Your bookshelf? A Window? The curtains? A painting?

It doesn’t matter. Stare at whatever you see…then, start breathing – feel your breathing – in-out-in-out.

Feel it? Good…continue until you’re comfortable breathing…don’t stop. It should be automatic, but feel the breath – feel your abdominal muscles moving in and out. Your chest should not move at all. Essentially the muscles in your abdomen push air out of your lungs when you breathe out, and when you relax those muscles, your lungs pull in air.

Air is that element through which you take in Prana. Prana is NOT air, but is an electromagnetic energy that flows in via the air you take in.

You may now notice that you can feel the Pranic energy flow in and out of your system.

At this point, close your eyes. Continue as before. When you’re ready, with each outer breath – or exhalation, say ‘Om Shivaaya Namaha’ or ‘Om Namo Bhagavathey VaasuDevaaya Namaha’.

Continue for as long as you wish. Do not be surprised by the sensation – simply accept it as your birthright, and continue. When you’re ready to, stop chanting. Continue breathing…and open your eyes whenever you wish.