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Faults causing Bondage >>> Maya/Illusion

What is Illusion/Maya?

It is a Godly power that has brought into existence the entire creation in its different forms and shapes and regulates its complete working. It is also called Illusion or better known as Matrix. This great power surrounds us all, and its effect is visible in all phases of our activity. We are whirling around within the glossy sphere of Maya, clinging at times to one or the other of the objects in view, thinking it to be Reality. Our senses, feelings, and emotions give it a new coloring and mold our actions accordingly. We remain entangled within the snare of Maya, without any hope of emancipation until we divert our attention toward the unchanging Reality at the root. This vast circle of material manifestation, the direct result of Maya, is unlimited. We go round and round in ceaseless motion like the rim of a wheel, farther and farther away from the pivot.

Maya is called Ignorance, a powerful force that turns truth to falsehood and falsehood to fact, unconscious to conscious and conscious to unconscious, happiness to sorrow, and sorrow to joy. It is capable of showing grand illusions to those who are unaware of their True-Nature. This universe, objects, and divisions of time are all mere fragments of imagination but appear real due to the power of ignorance. But there is no relation of Self with ignorance. Night and everything that dwells under its shelter disappear when the sun rises; similarly, the night of ignorance disappears when the lamp of Knowledge is lit within, and with it ends all vices, sorrows, and the cycle of life and death. The mind, which is home to all sorrows, is not a part of the Self but appears so due to ignorance.

Maya has three powers. Once the following problems are overcome, we can meet God. This world in Matrix exists because of these powers. 

  1. Filth (Mala): The impurity of the mind. Due to previous and this birth's evil deeds, the Mind gets attracted to bad deeds and questions the existence of GOD. It creates attachments and hatred towards certain things. It is a power that introduces illusion. This power can be overcome through good deeds without asking for anything in return.
  2. Turbulence (Vikshepa): It is a power due to which different thoughts arise in the Mind, disturb it, and give sorrow. It creates feelings of happiness, sorrow, likes, and dislikes. Thoughts disturb the mind and never allow it to stay one-pointed. It can be overcome by remembering HIM.
  3. Veil (Avarana): This power hides the original thing, GOD. It does not allow us to see reality. It can be overcome only through Brahmgyan (absolute knowledge). But keep in mind Brahmgyan can only be attained through a Guru.

Basically, "Veil's" responsibility is to hide the original thing; "Fifth's" job is to show something different; "Turbulence's" responsibility is to create "change" in the thing that "Filth" created so that the mind feels happiness and sadness. Veil has hidden the truth (Atma/Soul), and Filth has shown this world, and finally, Turbulence confirms this world is truth and creates happiness and sadness.

e.g. [Suppose there is a rope in a dark room, but we take it as a snake, and fear is generated. It creates thoughts of fight-or-flight. But when the light comes, the rope is seen as a rope; the illusion of the snake is removed; the fear and its related things (like how to save me, how to kill a snake etc.) are removed, and eventually, the mind is at peace. Similarly, whenever Brahmgyan (Absolute Knowledge) comes, it eliminates the world created from ignorance and finally removes other things made because of world-thinking (like Pains, Fights, Desire, Longing, Anxiety etc). Light brings the Truth-Consciousness-Bliss (Sat-Chit-Anand), and we will see that the whole world is just God. ]

e.g. [A coin lies on the bottom of a water-filled bowl. If the water is dirty (Mala), also turbulent (Vikshepa), and, on top of that, is covered by a cloth (Avarana), we cannot see the coin at the bottom of the vessel. Steps taken in isolation do not help. If we only remove the cloth, the waves will still obstruct our vision. And even if the waves subside, we can still not discern the coin because the water is polluted and cloudy.]

e.g. [ Look at the following image. If your eyes follow the movement of the rotating pink dot, you will only see one color, pink. The moving dot turns green if you stare at the black + in the center. If you concentrate on the black + in the center of the picture, all the pink bubbles will slowly disappear, and you will only see a green dot rotating if you're lucky! There is no green dot, and the pink ones don't disappear. This should be proof enough; we don't always see what we think we see, and our senses are unreliable. ] http://swamij.com/illusion-purple-dots.htm

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