sravna
Well-known member
Maya in advaita is a very mysterious concept. I am sure the concept has been dissected enough in the past. But can we say all the mysteries surrounding the concept have disappeared? Let me make a very serious attempt in the presentation and elucidation of the concept of maya.
Reality in advaita is the changeless nirguna brahman. But reality as we know is full of constant changes. In fact our reality is characterized by changes. According to advaita nirguna brahman is the only reality. So our reality is non existent from the point of view of nirguna brahman or in other words is illusory. Sankara introduced the concept of maya to explain the existence of physical reality. According to him a force called maya is responsible for our reality including space and time. A relevant question is if nirguna brahman is the only reality how can there be another reality of maya.
Let me first give my definition of reality. To me reality has to have the following two features: (i) It has to be changeless (ii) It has to be perceived in the same way irrespective of the subject which perceives it.
Let me give the rationale for the above requirements of reality. If reality is something that may change it may eventually cease to exist too. So permanence of existence is guaranteed only if it does not change in any way. The second requirement of reality is that it has to be perceived in the same way irrespective of the subject perceiving it. This is because reality is something that has to be commonly agreed upon otherwise the true nature of reality will be in question.
Does physical reality pass these requirements? They don't pass both. They are neither changeless nor are perceived the same way by all. Though from the point of view of humans alone they are perceived in the same way. Mental reality is also not commonly agreed upon as each has his own views and interpretations of everything. So we see disputes about what are the correct views.
Does the concept of nirguna brahman pass the tests of reality? Yes it does because nirguna brahman is changeless and there is only one unified perception in that reality and so passes the second test of reality too. So we can say that only something like nirguna brahman can be a reality
What can we say about the physical reality?Since it is not real and people like us experience it, it has to be an illusion. So what we see as happening in the physical world is not actually happening but perceived as happening. In general anything that changes is just a perception and not real.
The question now is what causes the perception of change when something that can be a reality is only an entity like changeless nirguna brahman. This is where the concept of maya comes in handy. My own understanding of maya is that it is a secondary reality in nirguna brahman whose influence is to show all that is unreal as real. But nirguna brahman is not influenced by maya because the reality of nirguna brahman prevails over maya and not not vice versa.
Since we see physical reality exists and is just an illusion it can be said to be caused by maya.That is maya projects the unreal and produces the subordinate reality of the physical world and the jivatmas. Thus the physical world and the jivatmas are under the influence of maya and are taken in by the unreal. The jivatmas and the physical world are illusions created out of the reality of nirguna brahman
As time passes after the creation of the universe, maya recedes from space and time and the jivatmas, in the case of the latter due to learning experiences and so the illusionof the physical world and the jivatmas disappear and everything becomes one with nirguna brahman.
This is my view on how maya fits in, in the philosophy of advaita.
Reality in advaita is the changeless nirguna brahman. But reality as we know is full of constant changes. In fact our reality is characterized by changes. According to advaita nirguna brahman is the only reality. So our reality is non existent from the point of view of nirguna brahman or in other words is illusory. Sankara introduced the concept of maya to explain the existence of physical reality. According to him a force called maya is responsible for our reality including space and time. A relevant question is if nirguna brahman is the only reality how can there be another reality of maya.
Let me first give my definition of reality. To me reality has to have the following two features: (i) It has to be changeless (ii) It has to be perceived in the same way irrespective of the subject which perceives it.
Let me give the rationale for the above requirements of reality. If reality is something that may change it may eventually cease to exist too. So permanence of existence is guaranteed only if it does not change in any way. The second requirement of reality is that it has to be perceived in the same way irrespective of the subject perceiving it. This is because reality is something that has to be commonly agreed upon otherwise the true nature of reality will be in question.
Does physical reality pass these requirements? They don't pass both. They are neither changeless nor are perceived the same way by all. Though from the point of view of humans alone they are perceived in the same way. Mental reality is also not commonly agreed upon as each has his own views and interpretations of everything. So we see disputes about what are the correct views.
Does the concept of nirguna brahman pass the tests of reality? Yes it does because nirguna brahman is changeless and there is only one unified perception in that reality and so passes the second test of reality too. So we can say that only something like nirguna brahman can be a reality
What can we say about the physical reality?Since it is not real and people like us experience it, it has to be an illusion. So what we see as happening in the physical world is not actually happening but perceived as happening. In general anything that changes is just a perception and not real.
The question now is what causes the perception of change when something that can be a reality is only an entity like changeless nirguna brahman. This is where the concept of maya comes in handy. My own understanding of maya is that it is a secondary reality in nirguna brahman whose influence is to show all that is unreal as real. But nirguna brahman is not influenced by maya because the reality of nirguna brahman prevails over maya and not not vice versa.
Since we see physical reality exists and is just an illusion it can be said to be caused by maya.That is maya projects the unreal and produces the subordinate reality of the physical world and the jivatmas. Thus the physical world and the jivatmas are under the influence of maya and are taken in by the unreal. The jivatmas and the physical world are illusions created out of the reality of nirguna brahman
As time passes after the creation of the universe, maya recedes from space and time and the jivatmas, in the case of the latter due to learning experiences and so the illusionof the physical world and the jivatmas disappear and everything becomes one with nirguna brahman.
This is my view on how maya fits in, in the philosophy of advaita.
