Manifestations as Maya

[swamy swarna]

Om Namah Sivaya. To Mr.Bell Greg's question, I would
like to pose a counter question: If 'all' is Brahman,
where is the scope for 'all else' to exist? And if
something can't exist, can it be real? And if it is
not real, but still appears as if it is real, what
else can be it but maya? Maya is the effect, not
necessarily the cause. Thus the individual Jeevatma,
which is but a manifestation or a projection of the
Brahman (or Paramatma), thinks that what ever it is
seeing, hearing etc., is of a different nature, isn't
it a mistake of perception?

In Maha Bharata, there is one episode, where the
Kaurava King Suyodhana (Duryodhana) enters a hall of
illusions, specially constructed for Pandavas at the
time of 'Rajasuya Yaga' performed by Sri Yudhishtara
(Dharma Raja). That hall was full of optical illusions
and Suyodhana errs many times. Seeing that, Draupadi
could not control her laughter and that lead to
further conflicts and ultimately the war. I am not
very sure whether the story is authentic in the sense
that it is recorded in the original Sanskrit version
of Maha Bharata of Sri Veda Vyasa, but the story is
very popular. Its moral is clear. We all are like
Suyodhana and keep erring because of our illusions and
delusions caused by lack of real knowledge about our
true natures. When a kind Guru or God helps us, we
realise our true nature.

At the individual level, it is called 'Moha' and at
the collective level, it is called 'Maya' I think. Any
comments from learned scholars will help.

Om Namah Sivaya.

Swamy SV


--- "Jaldhar H. Vyas" <jaldhar at BRAINCELLS.COM> wrote:
> On Sun, 17 Mar 2002, Bell, Gregg wrote:
>
> > If all is ultimately Brahman and "all else" is
> maya,  then are
> > manifestations of Brahman such as Kali and Vishnu
> also maya?
> >
>
> The key word in your question is manifestation.  In
> truth all is one but
> due to maya, the one is perceived as many.  The
> fault is in the observer
> not in Kali or Vishnu.  Maya is not "illusion" but
> "misunderstanding."
>
>
> > Then are mantras maya as well?
> >
>
> Yes.  If both God and Vedanta are maya then how can
> they bring about
> liberation?  An example is given of a person who
> sees a tiger in a dream.
> The nightmare tiger might be so vivid, he gets
> scared and wakes up.  Even
> though the tiger was unreal it still caused a real
> effect.
>
> --
> Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
> It's a girl! See the pictures -
http://www.braincells.com/shailaja/


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage
http://sports.yahoo.com/