Maya
Māyā (IAST)Translation: "illusion"
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: माया
Transliteration: Māyā
Translation: "the principle of appearance; illusion; marvelous power of creation; magical power; mystery; God’s power (from the verb root mā – “to measure, to limit, give form”); “that which measures”"
Definition:
- The force which shows the unreal as real and presents that which is temporary and short lived as eternal and everlasting. The force that conceals our divinity. In the Advaita Vedānta of Śaṅkarācārya, it is described as the beginning-less cause which brings about the illusion of the world; an indescribable power of the Absolute (Brahman), which is neither real nor totally unreal.
- The principle which shows the attribute-less Absolute as having attributes.
- According to Advaita Vedānta, it is the indeterminable principle which brings about the illusory manifestation of the universe. It is the principle of illusion. It is the key concept of Advaita Vedānta. (See Avidyā.) It is not ultimately real, nor can it function without Brahman / Ātman as its locus. It is the device by which the Advaitin explains how the one reality appears as many. It is the power which brings about error and has significance only at the empirical or relative level. It has six facets: it is beginning-less (Anādi); it is terminated by right knowledge (Jñāna-Nivartya); it veils and projects (Āvaraṇa and Vikṣepa); it is indefinable (Anirvacanīya); it is of the nature of a positive existence (Bhāvarūpa); and it is located either in the individual (Jīva) or in the Absolute (Brahman). Śaṅkarācārya used the term Māyā as interchangeable with Avidyā.
- According to Dvaita Vedānta, it is God’s mysterious power.
- According to Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta, it is the mysterious power of God. See Sapta-Vidha-Anupapatti for Rāmānuja’s major objections to the Advaita Vedānta concept of Avidyā/Māyā.
- According to Śaiva Siddhānta, it is the material cause of the world. It is non-conscious. It is twofold as pure (Śuddha) and impure (Aśuddha). It is both a bond (Pāśa) of the individual soul and that which provides the individual souls with the means, location, and objects of enjoyment. It requires the guidance of Śiva to function, though Śiva does not directly operate on Māyā, but only through his Cit-Śakti.
- According to Vīra Shaivism, it is the name of Śakti or Mūla-Prakṛti. It evolves into the phenomenal universe.
- According to Kashmir Shaivism, it is the power of obscuration. Its purpose is to limit the experience as regards both the experience and what is experienced. It is a restrictor (Mala) which is the impurity of trans-migratory existence. It is real and a creation of the Lord. It is divided into Śuddha and Aśuddha-Māyā.
- Synonym for Prakṛti, Avyakta, Pradhāna, Avidyā, Ajñāna, Avyakṛta.
The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
"Māyā, a term with various uses in Indian thought; it expresses the concept of Brahman’s power to act. One type of Brahmanic action is the assuming of material forms whose appearance can be changed at will. Demons as well as gods are said to have Māyā, understood as power to do things not within a standard human repertoire. A deeper sense refers to the idea that Brahman has and exercises the power to sustain everlastingly the entire world of conscious and non-conscious things.
Monotheistically conceived, Māyā is the power of an omnipotent and omniscient deity to produce the world of dependent things. This power typically is conceived as feminine (Śakti) and various representations of the deity are conceived as male with female consorts, as with Viṣṇu and Śiva. Without Śakti, Brahman would be masculine and passive and no created world would exist. By association, Māyā is the product of created activity. The created world is conceived as dependent, both a manifestation of divine power and a veil between Brahman and the devotee. Monistically conceived, Māyā expresses the notion that there only seems to be a world composed of distinct conscious and non-conscious things, and rather than this seeming multiplicity there exists only ineffable Brahman. Brahman is conceived as somehow producing the illusion of there being a plurality of persons and objects, and enlightenment (Mokṣa) is conceived as seeing through the illusion. Monotheists, who ask who, on the monistic view, has the qualities requisite to produce illusion and how an illusion can see through itself, regard enlightenment (Mokṣa) as a matter of devotion to the Brahman whom the created universe partially manifests, but also veils, whose nature is also revealed in religious experience."
Monotheistically conceived, Māyā is the power of an omnipotent and omniscient deity to produce the world of dependent things. This power typically is conceived as feminine (Śakti) and various representations of the deity are conceived as male with female consorts, as with Viṣṇu and Śiva. Without Śakti, Brahman would be masculine and passive and no created world would exist. By association, Māyā is the product of created activity. The created world is conceived as dependent, both a manifestation of divine power and a veil between Brahman and the devotee. Monistically conceived, Māyā expresses the notion that there only seems to be a world composed of distinct conscious and non-conscious things, and rather than this seeming multiplicity there exists only ineffable Brahman. Brahman is conceived as somehow producing the illusion of there being a plurality of persons and objects, and enlightenment (Mokṣa) is conceived as seeing through the illusion. Monotheists, who ask who, on the monistic view, has the qualities requisite to produce illusion and how an illusion can see through itself, regard enlightenment (Mokṣa) as a matter of devotion to the Brahman whom the created universe partially manifests, but also veils, whose nature is also revealed in religious experience."
The Upanishads: Volume I (Swami Nikhilananda)
"Relativity is Māyā. The fact that the One appears as the many, the Absolute as the relative, the Infinite as the finite, is Māyā. The doctrine of Māyā recognizes the reality of multiplicity from the relative standpoint—and simply states that the relationship of this relative reality with the Absolute cannot be described or known. How it can be that the infinite Brahman should appear as the finite world cannot be grasped by the finite mind; the very limitation of the mind precludes a satisfactory answer to this question. In fact, there is no relationship between the One and the many, since there can be a relationship only between two existing entities. The One and the many do not exist, however, in the same sense. When a man sees the One, he does not see the many; when he sees the non-dual Brahman, he does not see the universe. When anyone seeing the manifold universe, establishes a relationship of any kind between it and the non-dual Brahman, the Non-dualists call that notion of relationship Māyā. A mirage is Māyā; so also its relationship with the desert. It is due to Māyā that one sees a snake in place of a rope, water in the desert, and multiplicity in place of the non-dual Brahman. Vedāntists admit that for our practical life there is a difference between illusions, dreams, and the experiences of the waking state, yet insist that from the standpoint of the Absolute, they are all equally unreal. [...]
"Māyā functions in the world through its two powers: the power of concealment and the power of projection. The former, as in the case of a sleeping person, obscures the knowledge of the observer; it conceals, as it were, the true nature of Brahman. Next, the projecting power of Māyā creates the universe and all the objects seen in it, just as, after a man's consciousness is obscured by sleep, he begins to dream. In actuality, however, the two powers of Māyā function practically simultaneously. Therefore, Brahman, in association with Māyā, may be called, as it were, the Creator or Projector of the universe.
It is through Māyā that Brahman, which is the eternal Subject, becomes an object of knowledge. Māyā obscures the reality of Brahman: the Self, in reality ever free and infinite, regards Itself as a finite entity, bound to the world. Seeking Liberation, this finite self practices spiritual disciplines such as study of scripture, self-control, and concentration—all of which have their validity in the world of Māyā—and at last realizes Brahman, its true infinite Self. This means that as the veil of Māyā is destroyed, the everlasting Light of Brahman reveals Itself."
"Māyā functions in the world through its two powers: the power of concealment and the power of projection. The former, as in the case of a sleeping person, obscures the knowledge of the observer; it conceals, as it were, the true nature of Brahman. Next, the projecting power of Māyā creates the universe and all the objects seen in it, just as, after a man's consciousness is obscured by sleep, he begins to dream. In actuality, however, the two powers of Māyā function practically simultaneously. Therefore, Brahman, in association with Māyā, may be called, as it were, the Creator or Projector of the universe.
It is through Māyā that Brahman, which is the eternal Subject, becomes an object of knowledge. Māyā obscures the reality of Brahman: the Self, in reality ever free and infinite, regards Itself as a finite entity, bound to the world. Seeking Liberation, this finite self practices spiritual disciplines such as study of scripture, self-control, and concentration—all of which have their validity in the world of Māyā—and at last realizes Brahman, its true infinite Self. This means that as the veil of Māyā is destroyed, the everlasting Light of Brahman reveals Itself."
References:
- Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
- Audi, Robert (1999). The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Second Edition. New York: Cambridge University Press
- Nikhilananda, Swami (1949). The Upanishads: Volume I—Katha, Iśa, Kena, and Mundaka. New York, New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers. p. 55-57.
