[Advaita-l] mithya and maya

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

>From my understanding:

maayaa is the power by which one appears to be many. The locus of the power is Iswara. Krishna says - diivam .. mama maayaa - this maaya of mine is divine origin. 
maaya makes impossible possible - aghaTita ghaTanaa paTiiyasii maayaa - just as one mind projects multitude of plurality - movable and immovable in the dream state. That power because of which one appears to be many is maaya. Scripture equates it to prakRiti - maayantu prakRitin vidyaat - says swetaasvatara upanishad.

mithyaa is the product of maaya. what I see or perceive is mithyaa - it is neither sat nor asat - Sat is that which never changes and asat is that which has no locus for existence.  Whatever I see is changing therefore not sat but since it is experienced it is not asat. It is called mithyaa - like ring in comparison to gold, as a worldly example. The whole world is mithyaa since it is experienced and continuously changing. The power because of which it is seen and seen as changing is maaya. Taking mityaa as real is delusion. Taking mithyaa as mithyaa or apparent but not really real is knowledge. 

Hope this helps.

Hari Om!
Sadananda


--- On Mon, 1/5/09, Michael Shepherd <michael at shepherd87.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:



A respectful request to relate the terms 'mithya' and 'maya' in
relation to
'illusion'..

Which term has the more ancient history in Advaita-Vedanta ?

Do they both have an universal and an individual aspect ?

Personally, I try to 'look through' illusion, and learn from
iignorance...
but it would be good to hear from the wiser !

Michael Shepherd



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