Hinduism and Maya

Maya is the power that deludes. From where does this power come? It comes from Prakriti or Nature. Prakriti is the creation of God. First He creates Prakriti and then enters into it. And when He enters into it, He becomes enveloped with his own maya leading to his own delusion and bondage.

Read more here: » Hinduism and Maya: The cause of Maya

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Hinduism Dictionary , Buddhism Dictionary, Spiritual Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary , Parapsychology Dictionary, Paganism Dictionary,  Mysticism Dictionary , Theosophy Dictionary , Alternative Health Dictionary ,

Read more here: » Hindu Hinduism Sitemap I - M

Samkhya Nyaya Vaisheshika Yoga Purva Mimamsa Advaita Vedanta Vishishtadvaita Dvaita Carvaka Jain Buddhist Logic Advaita Vedanta - Three levels of Truth. The transcendental or the Pāramārthika level in which Brahman is the only reality and nothing else; The pragmatic or the Vyāva ...

See also:

Advaita Vedanta, Advaita Vedanta - Adi Sankara: The Pillar of Advaita, Advaita Vedanta - Salient Features of Advaitism, Advaita Vedanta - Three levels of Truth, Advaita Vedanta - Brahman, Advaita Vedanta - Māyā, Advaita Vedanta - God, Advaita Vedanta - Atman, Advaita Vedanta - Salvation, Advaita Vedanta - Other points, Advaita Vedanta - Are the world and God wholly false?, Advaita Vedanta - Status of the world, Advaita Vedanta - Status of God, Advaita Vedanta - Status of ethics, Advaita Vedanta - Shankara's theory of creation, Advaita Vedanta - Comparison with the Buddhist school of Shunyavada, Advaita Vedanta - Adi Sankara's thoughts in a summary, Advaita Vedanta - The Impact of Advaita, Advaita Vedanta - Advaita and Science, Advaita Vedanta - Important Books and Figures of Advaita Vedanta, Advaita Vedanta - Mahavakya, Advaita Vedanta - Founders & key texts, Advaita Vedanta - Demigods Sages and Saints of Advaitins, Advaita Vedanta - Later teachers and proponents, Advaita Vedanta - Other References

Read more here: » Advaita Vedanta: Encyclopedia II - Advaita Vedanta - Salient Features of Advaitism

Are you disturbed? Most people will say yes to that question. Don't worry you are not alone. The bondage that keeps us entangled in the world outside and disturbed in the world inside - are Desires.

At any point of time, any one of your senses is always at work, all the time running after objects of desire. The doorways to these desires in the human body are our sense organs.

Shanmukhi mudra is the technique to shut these doors to maya to be able to experience the real world, which lies within.

(See also: Shanmukhi mudra , Mudras, Mudras and Health, Mudra Instructions, Yoga)

Read more here: » Shanmukhi mudra: Close 7 doorways to Maya - Shanmukhi mudra

 Maya:

illusion

(See also:  Maya , Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Maya Dictionary

The ultimate solution to all problems - ecological, social and personal - lies within you. However, when you embark on that spiritual journey to go within, you will find that the solution is not sitting there, waiting to be discovered.

It is hidden away, made almost inaccessible, under the many-layered maya or illusion, that keeps you mired in ignorance. The spirit, obscured by this many-layered veil, is unable to reflect and know the nature of its true self.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Getting In Touch With Yourself

The teachings of Sankara can be summed up in half a verse: Brahman (the Absolute) is alone real; this world is unreal; and the Jiva or the individual soul is non-different from Brahman.

The Advaita taught by Sri Sankara is a rigorous, absolute one. According to Sri Sankara, whatever is, is Brahman. Brahman Itself is absolutely homogeneous. All difference and plurality are illusory.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Vedanta Schools: The Advaita Philosophy Of Sri Sankara

world: In Hindu theology, world refers to

1)    loka: a particular region of consciousness or plane of existence.

2)    maya: The whole of manifest existence; the phenomenal universe, or cosmos. In this sense it transcends the limitations of physical reality, and can include emotional, mental and spiritual, physical realms of existence, depending on its use. Also denoted by the terms prakriti and Brahmanda.

3)    pasha: In Saivism, the term world is often used to translate the term pasha in the Agamic triad of fundamentals - Pati, pashu, pasha, "God, soul, world." It is thus defined as the "fetter" (pasha) that binds the soul, veiling its true nature and enabling it to grow and evolve through experience as an individual being. In this sense, the world, or pasha, is three-fold, comprising anava (the force of individuation), karma (the principle of cause and effect) and maya (manifestation, the principle of matter, Siva's mirific energy, the sixth tattva).

See: Brahmanda, microcosm-macrocosm, sarvabhadra, Sivamaya, tattva.

(See also: World , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Maya Dictionary

Humanity�s path towards retrieving the Mayan calendar system really started with the Harmonic Convergence, August 16-17, 1987, when large numbers of people in the West turned out for a spiritual celebration. Although, it was not recognized at the time, this celebration had the distinction of falling on the first two days of a traditional Mayan tzolkin (260-day) round.

Read more here: » Mayan Calendar: Mayan Calendar and the Cycles of the Goddess

In the stillness of the night, when not a sound breaks the hushed silence, they timorously creep into your mind. Fragile, flittering forms�often more real than reality�seek you out from the deepest abyss of your soul and open for you a vista of visions�nonsensical, terrifying, fantastic�and sometimes, just sometimes, hauntingly beautiful. You wake up with a lump in your throat that threatens to cascade down your eyes, a lingering nostalgia for something near, yet eternity away. But weren't you closer to believing, even then, that somewhere, all that you saw was real; that, beyond the tangible truth of ticking time, you had lived one moment of timeless infinity? Perhaps that's the secret. The chance to glimpse beyond. Why else should we take a dream, those phantasms of the chaotic unconscious, so seriously?

Read more here: » Meaning of Dreams: Dream Works

The Venus Transit of June 8, 2004 is the astronomical event of the year. The Venus Transit has always preceeded great break thrus in human conciousness and played a very significant role in the Mayan Calendar. This article presents the significance of the Venus transit on June 8, 2004 in its larger context and in relation to the Mayan Calendar.

Read more here: » Venus Transit of June 8, 2004 � A Breakthrough of Intuitive Awareness

reincarnation: "Re-entering the flesh." Punarjanma; metempsychosis. The process wherein souls take on a physical body through the birth process.

Reincarnation is one of the fundamental principles of Hindu spiritual insight, shared by the mystical schools of nearly all religions, including Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism (and even by Christianity until it was cast out by the Nicene Council in 787). It is against the backdrop of this principle of the soul's enjoying many lives that other aspects of Hinduism can be understood. It is a repetitive cycle, known as punarjanma, which originates in the subtle plane (Antarloka), the realm in which souls live between births and return to after death. Here they are assisted in readjusting to the "in-between" world and eventually prepared for yet another birth.

The quality and nature of the birth depends on the merit or demerit of their past actions (karma) and on the needs of their unique pattern of development and experience (dharma). The mother, the father and the soul together create a new body for the soul. At the moment of conception, the soul connects with and is irrevocably bound to the embryo. As soon as the egg is fertilized, the process of human life begins. It is during the mid-term of pregnancy that the full humanness of the fetus is achieved and the soul fully inhabits the new body, a stage which is acknowledged when the child begins to move and kick within the mother's womb. (Tirumantiram, 460: "There in the pregnant womb, the soul lay in primordial quiescence [turiya] state. From that state, Maya [or Prakriti] and Her tribe aroused it and conferred consciousness and maya's evolutes eight- desires and the rest. Thus say scriptures holy and true.")

Finally, at birth the soul emerges into earth consciousness, veiled of all memory of past lives and the inner worlds. The cycle of reincarnation ends when karma has been resolved and the Self God (Parasiva) has been realized. This condition of release is called moksha. Then the soul continues to evolve and mature, but without the need to return to physical existence. How many earthly births must one have to attain the unattainable? Many thousands to be sure, hastened by righteous living, tapas, austerities on all levels, penance and good deeds in abundance.

See: reincarnation, evolution of the soul, karma, moksha, nonhuman birth, samsara, soul.

(See also: Reincarnation , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Maya Dictionary

We call people from all walks of Life to gather together to pray together in the Spirit of Oneness at the Venus Transit June 8th 10.00-10.15 am (GMT)

Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead

Read more here: » Venus Transit: Oneness Prayer at June 8th 10.00-10.15 am (GMT)

Sage Narada had the knack of bringing about social change and spiritual growth wherever he went. Adored and respected by Lord Krishna, Narada employed different ways to bring people nearer to God. He convinced the dacoit Ratnakar to chant "Mara, Mara" - the reverse of "Rama, Rama" - helping him evolve enough to get transformed into a sage (Valmiki).

Narada taught five-year-old Dhruv how to meditate. The result? The Lord manifested Himself before Dhruv. Narada'spointer that all eight children of Devaki could be a threat to King Kansa'slife led to Kansa being killed and liberated at the hands of God. Somehow, Narada brings all to God.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Divine Inspiration of Narada Bhakti Sutra

This is a world of diversity. Intellects are different. Faces are different. Religions are different. Sounds are different. Faiths are different. Colours are different. Faculties are different. Tastes and temperaments are different. But one thing is common in all. Everyone of us wants Nitya Sukha (eternal happiness), infinite knowledge, immortality, freedom and independence. These things can be obtained by knowledge of the Self alone.

From "Easy Steps to Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Self-Knowledge: Who Am I?

Carl-Johan Calleman is an internationally recognized authority in the studies of the Mayan Calendar. He has appeared in Swedish, Finnish and Mexican television and American Web-TV. He has published two books about the Mayan Calendar and he was one of the main speakers at a Mexican conference in Yucatan 1998 about the Mayan Calendar.

Read more here: » Mayan Calendar: About Materialist and Spiritual Calendars

MAYA

Sanskrit: illusion, i.e., the true nature of the world. Matter, according to HPB, as the "veiling spirit."

(See also: MAYA , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

For more dictionary entries, see » Maya Dictionary

A poem about birth and death.

The death and dying and the life after death has always fascinated man. This is an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Death Poem: Birth and Death

There is a prophetic timeline encoded within the measurements of the Great Pyramid of Giza, which is derived from its geometrical features. When retro-viewed, the dates indicated by this timeline and geometry appear to correlate with significant historical events.

Read more here: » Prophecies: Prophecy in the Great Pyramid

three worlds: The three worlds of existence, triloka, are the primary hierarchical divisions of the cosmos.

-       Bhuloka: "Earth world," the physical plane.

-       Antarloka: "Inner or in-between world," the subtle or astral plane.

-       Sivaloka: "World of Siva," and of the Gods and highly evolved souls; the causal plane, also called Karanaloka.

The three-world cosmology is readily found in Hindu scriptures. In the major Upanishads of the Vedas we find numerous citations, with interesting variations. Verse 1.5.17 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states, "Now, there are, verily, three worlds, the world of men (Manushyaloka), the world of the fathers (Pitriloka) and the world of the Gods (Devaloka)..." Later, verse 6.2.15 refers to the two higher worlds as the Devaloka and the Brahmaloka. The Katha Upanishad, verse 2.3.8, omitting the world of men, lists the Pitriloka, the Gandharvaloka (world of genies or elementals) and the Brahmaloka (world of God). Another perspective of three worlds is offered in the Prashna Upanishad 3.8, which lists the world of good (Punyaloka), the world of evil (Papaloka) and the world of men (Manushyaloka).

Scriptures offer several other cosmological perspectives, most importantly seven upper worlds (sapta urdhvaloka) and seven lower worlds (sapta adholoka), which correspond to the 14 chakras and make up the "world-egg of God," the universe, called Brahmanda. The seven upper worlds are Bhuloka, Bhuvarloka, Svarloka, Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka and Satyaloka. The second, third and fourth comprise the subtle plane. The highest three comprise the causal plane. The seven lower worlds, collectively known as Naraka or Patala, are (from highest to lowest) Put, Avichi, Samhata, Tamisra, Rijisha, Kudmala and Kakola. From the Saiva Agamic perspective of the 36 tattvas, the pure sphere, shuddha maya - the first five tattvas - is subdivided into 33 planes of existence. The "pureimpure" realm, shuddhashuddha maya - the seven tattvas from maya tattva to purusha - contains 27 planes of existence. The ashuddha ("impure") realm - of 24 tattvas - has 56 planes of existence.

See: chakra, loka, Naraka, tattva (also: individual loka entries).

(See also: Three worlds , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Maya Dictionary

There are four T's that need periodic revival. They are: Truth, Tradition, Trade and Technology. Time has a seeming effect on truth. Though truth is beyond time, it gets covered by maya or illusion. This is called avarana. Down the ages different schools of thought have tried to uncover the truth. Though the goal is common to all, the journey itself has to be undertaken individually. If you do not re-examine what you have learnt and believe to be the truth, you become fanatical and your intellectual growth stagnates.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Revival and Revolution Ucover the Truth

Maya (Sanskrit) [from the verbal root ma to measure, form]

Illusion, the non-eternal; in Brahmanical philosophy, the fabrication by the human mind of ideas derived from interior and exterior impressions, as it tries to interpret and understand the universe. While the exterior world exists -- or it could not be illusory -- we do not

See clearly and as they actually are that which our mind and senses present to us. A traditional Vedantic illustration says that at twilight a person sees a coiled rope on the ground and springs aside, thinking it is a snake; the rope is there, but no snake.

Thus maya means that our minds are blinded and perverted by our own preconceptions and imperfections, and so does not interpret the world as it is.

"Maya or illusion is an element which enters into all finite things, for everything that exists has only a relative, not an absolute, reality, since the appearance which the hidden noumenon assumes for any observer depends upon his power of cognition. . . . Nothing is permanent except the one hidden absolute existence which contains in itself the noumena of all realities. The existences belonging to every plane of being, up to the highest Dhyan-Chohans, are, in degree, of the nature of shadows cast by a magic lantern on a colourless screen; but all things are relatively real, for the cogniser is also a reflection, and the things cognised are therefore as real to him as himself.

Whatever reality things possess must be looked for in them before or after they have passed like a flash through the material world; but we cannot cognise any such existence directly, so long as we have sense-instruments which bring only material existence into the field of our consciousness. Whatever plane our consciousness may be acting in, both we and the things belonging to that plane are, for the time being, our only realities. As we rise in the scale of development we perceive that during the stages through which we have passed we mistook shadows for realities, and the upward progress of the Ego is a series of progressive awakenings, each advance bringing with it the idea that now, at last, we have reached 'reality'; but only when we shall have reached the absolute Consciousness, and blended our own with it, shall we be free from the delusions produced by Maya" (SD 1:39-40).

Though sometimes used as an equivalent for avidya, maya is properly applicable only to prakriti, which is doomed to disappear at the time of pralaya. It is thus prakriti and its productions or changes (vikaras) which, by reacting against the operations of the consciousness of a perceiving being, casts the perceiver into the bonds of illusions, out of which the deluded being has to strive in order to free himself from the maya with which he is surrounded.

"Just as milliards of bright sparks dance on the waters of an ocean above which one and the same moon is shining, so our evanescent personalities -- the illusive envelopes of the immortal monad-ego -- twinkle and dance on the waves of Maya. They last and appear, as the thousands of sparks produced by the moon-beams, only so long as the Queen of the Night radiates her lustre on the running waters of life: the period of a Manvantara; and then they disappear, the beams -- symbols of our eternal Spiritual Egos -- alone surviving, re-merged in, and being, as they were before, one with the Mother-Source" (SD 1:237).

(See also: Maya , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Maya Dictionary