Maya
The ordinary human being, the mortal individual, can never realize the Brahman (absolute) because his intellect is always clouded by the action of a phenomenon called Maya.
When a person indulges in feelings like ‘I am so and so’ or ‘this is mine’, caused by Avidya or absence of true knowledge, these feelings act as superimpositions over the real self. Fear grips a person who mistakes a rope in the darkness for a snake. In the light of correct knowledge the rope is discerned to merely resemble a snake. In the same manner when the soul is enshrouded by raga (desire) and Dvesha (repulsion), these illusions cause in the individual conflicting emotions of suffering and enjoyment. This state is known as Maya in Indian philosophy.
The sage Sree Sankara says, “Maya is the principle of illusion veiling the real Brahman by projecting the non-real world.” Due to the power of Maya the world appears in plurality or multiplicity though in reality it is non-dual. But Maya is neither real nor unreal; it is indeterminate.
When a person indulges in feelings like ‘I am so and so’ or ‘this is mine’, caused by Avidya or absence of true knowledge, these feelings act as superimpositions over the real self. Fear grips a person who mistakes a rope in the darkness for a snake. In the light of correct knowledge the rope is discerned to merely resemble a snake. In the same manner when the soul is enshrouded by raga (desire) and Dvesha (repulsion), these illusions cause in the individual conflicting emotions of suffering and enjoyment. This state is known as Maya in Indian philosophy.
The sage Sree Sankara says, “Maya is the principle of illusion veiling the real Brahman by projecting the non-real world.” Due to the power of Maya the world appears in plurality or multiplicity though in reality it is non-dual. But Maya is neither real nor unreal; it is indeterminate.
