Hinduism and Maya: Hinduism and Belief in Maya

By www. hinduwebsite.com

Hinduism and Maya: Hinduism and Belief in Maya 

According to Hinduism, the world around us is not real, because it is impermanent and ever changing. The world in which we live is a world of ignorance and falsehood or untruth, called Asat, in contrast to Sat or the world of Truth that exists beyond it, where neither the mind, nor any of the senses can ever reach even remotely.

According to the concept of maya, the very existence of an individual as a separate entity is unreal. As long as the individual thinks that he is different from the rest of the creation and strives to work for his own ends, protecting, furthering nurturing and defending his own ego or individuality, he suffers from illusion and his ego continues its journey into an unknown future shaped by his endless actions and desires. The purpose of human life is to realize this truth and work for unity with the Divine.

The senses draw us towards the sense objects and through the process of attraction or repulsion give us feelings of joy or suffering, rendering our minds unstable and vulnerable most of the time.

The world draws us into its vortex of confusion and misery as we try to embrace it. There is no escape for us from this world of illusion, unless we wriggle out of our individualities and realize our true nature.

We all are subject to it. Those who think they are not are in fact in greater danger because their minds have already become intoxicated by its blinding influence.

Keeping us chained to our individual selves, making us do things which would result in frequent conflicts with the outside world, it binds us to our selfishness and our respective interests, building walls of isolation and ignorance all around us.

We are conditioned from the early childhood that we have to compete ceaselessly with every one and for every thing, in order to survive and succeed. This is what we are taught in the schools, by our parents, by our institutions and by our philosophers of materialism and theorists of "enlightened self-interest"

We are told that this world favors only its fit children, that others have to perish in the jungles of Nature which has always been and will always be working for the survival of the fittest.

We are expected to cultivate certain degree of ruthlessness, "killer instinct", to deal with this harsh reality of our existence. Work for your self, live for your self and do only that which you think is good for you. Social responsibility, well yes, but only after personal gratification.

This is very much the law of illusion. It chooses the best amongst us, ensnares them in its dazzling net, because it does not want the best children of God to escape from its clutches and go back to Him.

"Stay here and show me how far you can go away from the center of truth"- this is the game of Prakriti and this is how it chooses to play it day in and day out. It is also what it dearly holds in its bosom as it hold you too.

We cannot overcome this problem of our existence unless we learn to look at ourselves with a different awareness, hold back ourselves and our petty interests, and accept life as it comes to us.

We cannot qualify for liberation from this world, unless we cease to be our selves and stop all manner of struggling and striving and protecting and furthering our individual interests.

There are of course divergent views about the true nature of the sensory world that exists all around us. These beliefs subsequently gave birth to the Dvaita and Advaita and Vishistadvaita schools of thought with further variations among them. It is also suggested that the concept of maya was not part of original vedic religion, but was taken from Buddhism subsequently. 

What ever be the scholarly opinion about these theories, the fact is that the concept of maya is today a very dominating theme of Hinduism. The Bhagavad gita gives its own verdict on this subject, "The self is the enemy of the self and the self is also the friend of the self". The outer self is an enemy of the inner self when we become attached with the external world, turn selfish and egoistic and it is a friend when we become selfless and detached innerly.

It is only through self we can ultimately raise ourselves beyond our limited awareness and our illusory attitude towards life. It is fallacious to believe that God would come and rescue us from this problem, without our putting the needed effort.

To use the old clichŽ, "God helps those who help themselves." Without individual effort, sincere and serious effort, it is difficult to attain spiritual success.

When we stop playing with the sense objects and start looking with in ourselves, we become sensitive to the play of maya and develop the strength and understanding to deal with it summarily, the way the seers and saints did and still do in many parts of the world. Only then the cloud of illusion gives way to the vision of the resplendent light that lies beyond.

Courtesy to www. hinduwebsite.com

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