Maya and the Master of Maya - Sri Aurobindo
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20/03/2020.
Sri Aurobindo translates Shwetashwatara Upanishad, Chapter Four, Verses 8-10:
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1.
“In the highest immutable Heaven where all the gods have taken up their session, there are the verses of the Rig-veda, and he who knows Him not, what shall he do with the Rik? They who know That, lo, it is they who thus are seated. Rhythms and sacrifices and ritual and vows, what has been and what is to be and what the Vedas declare, — the Master of Maya brings forth from that all this that is and there is another whom within it his Maya holds imprisoned. Thou shalt know Maya to be Force of Nature and the Master of Maya to be the great Lord; this whole universe is occupied by His becomings that are His members.”
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2.'
Sri Aurobindo, in The Secret of the Veda, discloses that the Rig-veda holds both an outer and an inner meaning. The outer meaning primarily relates to the conduct of various forms of ritual and sacrifices, and promises results of a material and vital nature from the conduct of such activities. The inner or esoteric sense of the Rig-veda can only be understood when the seeker has actual spiritual experience and understands, thereby, the symbolic use of the terms. The Rishis enjoin us to study the Veda. As we see here, study encompasses a practice of spiritual receptivity not a feat of intellect alone. The Taittiriya Upanishad declares: “The delight of the Eternal from which words turn away without attaining and the mind also returneth baffled…” It is not through power of mind or intellect that the realisation of the Eternal can come about.
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This Upanishad declares that there is a force called Maya. This is frequently translated as “illusion”. Sri M. P. Pandit once described Maya as the “creative power”. Maya is the power put forth by the Eternal to create the universe of Time, Space and Circumstance. Maya is also called Nature. It has been called an illusion because we tend to become totally absorbed in its actions and thereby fail to identify with and recognize the Supreme, which the Upanishad calls the Lord of Maya.
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4.
During the day, we see a world around us that has activity, life, growth, and we are encompassed within this world. Our thoughts are fixed on this life and these forms. At night, when the brilliance of the sun is absent, we look up and see the endless distances of space and the myriad of stars, the existence of which, and the purpose for which, escapes us during our daily rounds. This is similar to our absorption in the world of Maya, and the reality that is beyond, but which still encompasses, forms, encloses and manifests our world of life and action.
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5.
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20/03/2020.
Sri Aurobindo translates Shwetashwatara Upanishad, Chapter Four, Verses 8-10:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
“In the highest immutable Heaven where all the gods have taken up their session, there are the verses of the Rig-veda, and he who knows Him not, what shall he do with the Rik? They who know That, lo, it is they who thus are seated. Rhythms and sacrifices and ritual and vows, what has been and what is to be and what the Vedas declare, — the Master of Maya brings forth from that all this that is and there is another whom within it his Maya holds imprisoned. Thou shalt know Maya to be Force of Nature and the Master of Maya to be the great Lord; this whole universe is occupied by His becomings that are His members.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.'
Sri Aurobindo, in The Secret of the Veda, discloses that the Rig-veda holds both an outer and an inner meaning. The outer meaning primarily relates to the conduct of various forms of ritual and sacrifices, and promises results of a material and vital nature from the conduct of such activities. The inner or esoteric sense of the Rig-veda can only be understood when the seeker has actual spiritual experience and understands, thereby, the symbolic use of the terms. The Rishis enjoin us to study the Veda. As we see here, study encompasses a practice of spiritual receptivity not a feat of intellect alone. The Taittiriya Upanishad declares: “The delight of the Eternal from which words turn away without attaining and the mind also returneth baffled…” It is not through power of mind or intellect that the realisation of the Eternal can come about.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.
This Upanishad declares that there is a force called Maya. This is frequently translated as “illusion”. Sri M. P. Pandit once described Maya as the “creative power”. Maya is the power put forth by the Eternal to create the universe of Time, Space and Circumstance. Maya is also called Nature. It has been called an illusion because we tend to become totally absorbed in its actions and thereby fail to identify with and recognize the Supreme, which the Upanishad calls the Lord of Maya.
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4.
During the day, we see a world around us that has activity, life, growth, and we are encompassed within this world. Our thoughts are fixed on this life and these forms. At night, when the brilliance of the sun is absent, we look up and see the endless distances of space and the myriad of stars, the existence of which, and the purpose for which, escapes us during our daily rounds. This is similar to our absorption in the world of Maya, and the reality that is beyond, but which still encompasses, forms, encloses and manifests our world of life and action.
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5.
#The Upanishad makes it quite clear that the world is not separate from the Eternal, but that this universe is a manifestation of the Eternal, being of his Being, substance of his Substance, life of his Life. It reminds us of the opening verse of the Isha Upanishad, “All this is for habitation by the Lord, whatsoever is individual universe of movement in the universal motion.” Oneness of the Lord and the Force of Nature is the key that opens our awareness.
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