Maya

Maya, the Hindu Goddess of Illusion

In my last blog I half threatened another on Maya - aka "illusion" - and looking back I see that I have already headlined it in a Blog titled "Maya and the Book of Revelation". 

In that I see that I wrote the following, "Maya is not that this world is illusion but, as far as the Dharma is concerned, the claim that to see and know this world falsely is to suffer." (Suffering, Pali dukkha)

Trying to see truly

Which is quite an optimistic thought, if true, with the consequence being that if we see and know rightly our Cosmos can itself be a true home. As I see it, more optimistic, more assuring, than any thought that this world is not our true home, that it is in fact more a preparation for a better one; which often goes together with implying that any creed or belief is more a lifeboat to escape from this world - and heaven help those who are not on board. This in contrast with the Dharma, in its Mahayana manifestation, that samsara and nirvana are "one"and therefore never a betrayal of this world for some imaginary "other".

All aboard

 It remains to actually realise the true way of seeing and so to know the end of suffering.

 "I teach this and this alone, suffering and the ending of suffering" said the Buddha; many times according to the texts. 

Yet here we are, and we suffer, and suffering is all around us. In what sense does it ever end? In what sense could it ever end?

"Old Man in Sorrow", Vincent Van Gogh (who knew his own)

This was a question I asked many moons ago on a Buddhist Forum and as I remember, there were many replies but nothing resolved, nothing definitive. But the point I would insist upon making is that all these questions are not academic, or merely a way of passing time, as meanwhile true life drifts by around us. For me, if the Dharma is the path to the end of suffering, nothing could be more relevant, more concrete. more significant; nothing can give life more purpose than to seek to walk that path. 

Just look around, look inside, see the suffering. Look back through history and see more - often suffering that appears to be pointless, with no "answer" in sight but to appeal and hope for another world where all the answers will be found - usually by the chosen few. Compensation. For some.

"Guernica" Picasso

Maya, illusion, can be understood in many ways. This is where interpretation comes into play, and maybe where the illusion of understanding is the greatest temptation. Here are a few relevant passages from various texts:- 

See it (the world) as a bubble, see it as a mirage; one who regards the world this way, the King of Death does not see. 

(Dhammapada)

So you should see this fleeting world - A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream, a flash of lightning in a summer cloud, a flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream. 

(Diamond Sutra)

Know all things to be like this; a mirage, a cloud castle, a dream, an apparition, without essence, but with qualities that can be seen

(Samadhi Raja Sutra)

The aggregate of discrimination is like a mirage because it is mistakenly apprehended by the thirst of attachment

(The Aksayamatinirdesa Sutra) 

To sum up, possibly, the world is not a dream, but is dream-like. 

The world is a bubble

Moving on. T S Eliot begins Four Quartets with these words:-

Time present and time past

Are both perhaps in time future, 

And time future contained in time past. 

If all time is eternally present

All time is unredeemable. 

Unredeemable. Fixed. But what is "time" and what part does it play in all this? Eliot ends his own musings with the solution in a "condition of complete simplicity, costing not less than everything, where the fire and the rose are one". 

"The fire and the rose are one"

My own musings lead me towards not falling into the temptation of thinking that I have understanding. (Often I muse also upon the words of the old hymn, will your anchor hold?)

Rather I see and hear the call of simplicity, I see and hear the call of selflessness; and seek to hear more deeply - and know this can or should be only be for the sake of all others, who suffer as I do, and many so much more than myself. In Christianity I would say this is to share the cross of Christ. Or, at least, to seek to do so. Surrendering all things to the "Father", this for the sake of others.

Sharing, cross or not

The Buddhist way is the way of the Bodhisattva, a word for one who has generated bodhicitta,  a spontaneous wish and compassionate mind to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. As the end of the Bodhicaryavatara (Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life) has it......and now so long as space endures, as long as there are beings to be found, may I continue likewise to remain to drive away the sorrows of the world. 

A Bodhisattva

Well, I'm not really sure I have got very far here. Aspiration always seems to exceed reality. Perhaps not.

Related Quotes:-

In the course of time one does not feel even the existence of God. After attaining enlightenment one sees that gods and deities are all Maya.

(Sarada Devi)

Speaking of the Buddhist Touching the Earth Mudra:-  the Buddha's right hand points downward to touch the earth, the other supports a begging bowl - symbolising acceptance of the gift - grace. In these two gestures the whole programme of our spiritual exigencies is summed up.......an active attitude toward the world and a passive attitude toward heaven......this opposed to the attitude of the "ignorant man" who passively accepts the world and resists grace, gift, and heaven.

(Marco Pallis, "Is There Room for Grace in Buddhism?")

Remember: the grass is never greener. You don't need any presents for Christmas. Presence in the moment - whether it's a dukkha (suffering) moment or a sukha (happiness) moment - is the greatest gift of all. 

(Words found on the Elephant Journal website)