Table of Contents
Is the World Real?
In this video post podcast Episode, I shall highlight the challenges of modern times and how it effects our spiritual nature. We shall also explore the role of Maya, the power that enshrouds our Ultimate Reality.
The world runs on this fundamental premise that ‘The World is Real’.
An Expanding World
When this aspect is reiterated by the conscious element, the world and its activities gain momentum. It continues to increase and expand. The world population which was 3.3 billion in the 1960s has come to 7.8 billion at the start of 2020. The world has expanded in population and activities.
Science has expanded, and information has exploded. The whole world has come crashing in, accessible by the mere click of the little finger. The world is exploding with activities and yet imploding with accessibility and technology.
This is a situation when opportunities ‘appear’ galore.
Absolute Power Corrupts
People want to do something, achieve something, and get somewhere; to a place of ultimate recognition and comfort, both at the same time. Well, this approach encapsulates within itself two contradictory goals, which run parallel. People feel that if they have power, the world will be at their beck and call.
The world has never seen a powerful man with ‘worldly’ power and recognition, who is comfortable in any manner. He cannot be. When man becomes intelligent enough, when he recognizes that the power of the world, is that which corrodes and corrupts, he shall never pursue worldly ambitions.
But then, such an intelligent man shall defeat the purpose of the worldly; the world itself can come to a stand-still, if people become intelligent, to such an extent.
The World is an “Appearance” or Maya
The ‘appearance’ of the world is such that it is unconsciously presumed to be real, by man. This is the irony. The Vedic scriptures, ask the intelligent man to deliberate and experience the ‘stuff’ of the world. Vedanta promises that if man strives to investigate the ‘stuff’ of the world, he will discover quite magically, that the world has no stuff. It does not have anything that can give one, even the slightest flavor of joy or contentment.
Mind and Senses give experience of Pain and Pleasure
All that the world is capable of giving is fleeting pleasure and pain, which pass through the senses, giving the ‘enjoyer’ a false sense of accomplishment and involvement. This is a sense-driven experience and is validated only by the senses and mind.
The senses and mind are mere gadgets fooled by sporadic electrical signals that trigger the brain, short-lived that they are, like the wink of the eye. The series of experiences that the mind and the senses throw up are random and in quick succession. This creates confusion within the comprehension faculties.
Impermanent Nature of the World
The world is simple aberrations in the field of infinite consciousness, mere disturbances that bombard the mind and senses. Thus the world is something as impermanent as the wink of the eye. But, sadly, this illusion(Maya) is presumed to be ‘real’ and long-lasting. Vedanta points out that, it is the acceptance of the world as real, that is responsible for the agitation of the senses and the mind.
This sends the supposedly intelligent species of humans reeling down the steep dark burrows of worldly experience and suffering. When a man takes the ‘fleeting’; the ‘unreal’ to be real, suffering follows. This is the indomitable spiritual law. When a man is ignorant of this aspect of spirituality, he remains perennially disturbed and dissatisfied.
8 Questions from Sanatana Dharma
The scores generated in this Quiz are absolute. There are right or wrong answers to each Question. A percentage towards 100 indicates that you are more aligned to the overall subject matter.
Why are we not Contented in the World?
Pursuing worldly goals and ambitions is like trying to shorten one’s shadow while the sun sets. The more we take the world and its experiences to be real, the greater shall we wallow in the deep wells of sorrow and suffering. Contentment shall always evade and elude us.
The Path of Investigation
The elixir towards ending the life ‘of the world’ is the path of investigation. Unless man, prepares himself for higher spiritual pursuit, he will continue to amble in pitch darkness. Investigation must be performed through processes like the study of Vedanta under an able spiritual master, undertaking yogic practices through meditation, concentration, contemplation, and pranayama techniques; and thus investigating the life-energies, to get to the root of worldly experience.
Unless time is devoted to studying the life process, one can never reach a state of poise and contentment. The greater the ambitions within the world, the fouler will be one’s experience with the world. It is vital to come to this understanding that all our experiences within the world, are simply a play of consciousness, which is a projected one, similar to the play of lights on a blank white screen.
What is Maya afterall?
This world is a projection on the screen of space and time. The quicker man grasps this and progresses along this thought, the happier he shall get. It is interesting to understand that Cosmic illusion (Maya) is the one that is in control of time and space in this visible material world.
This Material World is an outcome of consciousness interacting with the evolutes of consciousness which includes mind, senses, and sense objects. Maya or cosmic illusion is the one force that gives rise to people, time, events, and forces of nature that manage the life process, like an automated computer program that runs programmatic routines.
Maya, if understood from the point of pure consciousness as elucidated by the science of Bhakti Yoga, can give one an insight into the nature of existence.
The Role of Bhakti in Eliminating Maya
A deep study of Bhakti processes can help one have a holistic view of Maya. It gives one an insight into the world that lies beyond this visible world. The visible world is but a speck of dust when compared to the many multiverses that exist within the domain of pure spiritual consciousness.
Man, as an expression of this universal consciousness, is just experiencing 1 to the power of -10 of the world of consciousness. This world is a speck within our galaxy that consists of our tiny solar system, where we exist and breathe.
Bhakti Yoga is a regulated form of Vedic science that opens up the possibility of the spiritual world which is wholly unmanifest at the current moment. It is important to understand the veil of cosmic illusion first.
Unless one can shred the clout of Maya, the cosmic illusion, the spiritual worlds are wholly inaccessible. Now let us understand the nature of Maya.
Types of Maya
Maya is of two types namely Vidya Maya and Avidya Maya, which roughly translates as cosmic illusion caused by knowledge and cosmic illusion caused by worldly ignorance. Out of these two ignorance; almost 99.99% fall under the category of cosmic illusion or Maya caused by worldly ignorance.
0.01% of people who qualify to be under the illusion caused by Knowledge are practitioners of spirituality, in line with the Vedic Scriptures (or the Higher Sciences). People who take up sadhana or spiritual practice along the lines of Sanatana Dharma are not trapped by worldly illusion (Maya).
Yet most of them remain trapped by ignorance caused by higher knowledge.
The spiritual world is much nearer to spiritual practitioners of Sanatana Dharma as compared to the rest of the world. The first step towards accessing the spiritual world is to be rid of worldly ignorance.
Then one has to get rid of Ignorance caused by Knowledge (Vidya). The second state of ignorance (or ignorance caused by knowledge) can be removed by an enlightened master who himself has first-hand access to the spiritual world.
Only under the able guidance of such a Master can Vidya Maya be removed. We shall see the components of Vidya Maya and Avidya Maya.
How can Avidya Maya be Removed?
Avidya Maya includes worldly impurities such as anger, lust, attachment, greed, envy, and pride. These qualities when worked upon through sadhana and Bhakti, following the principles of Yama and Niyama namely Non-violence, Truthfulness, Non-stealing, Chastity, non-possessiveness, forgiveness, fortitude, sincerity, etc shall result in purification of the mind.
Although there is such purification, one develops the negative shade of Vidya Maya or illusion caused by the rising of knowledge. This is an inevitable aspect of the process.
How can we Eliminate Vidya Maya?
This Vidya Maya cannot go on its own even if one undertakes various spiritual practices or sadhana. Grace alone can eliminate this ignorance, which also reflects the inner scum of ego.
This scum of Ego is an integral sheath of consciousness itself.
This sheath of ego can be removed only through complete surrender or Sharanagati to an enlightened master who has attained the goal of Bhakti Yoga and has access to the spiritual world. When the practitioner surrenders to such a Master in all humility, Vidya Maya is removed by the agent of supernal Grace. By the Grace of the master, the practitioner receives a divine mind and senses.
With these divine attributes, one receives a perfected spiritual body which is beyond the physical, subtle, and causal bodies. This spiritual body is the vehicle with which one shall be able to easily access the spiritual world, beyond all conceptions.
You display your love by reading this valuable material. So kindly read and consider financially supporting us to keep our efforts going with renewed vigor! Supporters in India can donate via Razorpay while those abroad can use PayPal!
