Essay on Maya and Freedom, Chapter 5 of Jnana Yoga by Swami Vivekananda

By Patrick Horn (“Rishi”)

Swami Vivekananda says, “Those who dare, therefore, to struggle for victory, for truth, for religion, are in the right way, and that is what the Vedas preach. ‘Be not in despair; the way is very difficult, like walking on the blade of a razor. Yet, despair not, arise, awake, and find the ideal, the goal.’” He quotes from the Katha (speech, story, legend; also, suffering) Upanishad (secret teaching at the feet of a Master), the meeting between a young boy Nachiketa (non-decay, non-defeat) and Yama, god of Death. The text is divided into two chapters of three sections each. First, the tale of how Nachiketa was cursed by his selfish and proud father to death, then how Nachiketa won three boons from Yama: release from death and a path to Freedom from suffering. Yama hesitates when asked to tell the nature of the soul and the law of rebirth. He teaches the difference between the good and the pleasant, the quest for Truth and knowledge of God, and exposes the Tree of Life. He reveals a Spiritual Hierarchy and shows a need for right speech and the control of desires. He warns that yoga can be both beneficial and injurious. 

His most famous teaching is the analogy of the Horse and Chariot. “Know that the Atman (soul) is the Master of the chariot, and the body is the chariot. Know that the buddhi is the Charioteer, and manas (mind) is the reigns [bridle]. The senses are called the horses, the objects of the senses their paths” (1.3.3 – 1.3.4). The soul is the enjoyer of the mind, the body, and senses. If the buddhi becomes distracted and loses its discrimination in will and desire, as a charioteer loses control of the reigns, the horses will run wild to disaster. A variation of the story appears in Plato’s Phaedrus dialogue. In this version, the chariot is pulled by two winged horses. The Charioteer is the intellect which guides the soul to Truth. The white horse is right discrimination which follows the gods towards enlightenment, and some souls see the world of forms in all its glory. The black horse is lust and greed which causes the soul to reincarnate in descending order of witness to Truth: philosophers and lovers, civic leaders, politicians and businessmen, physicians, priests, poets, craftsmen and farmers, sophists and demagogues, and tyrants.

Swamiji says, “You, of course, all know that there is a theory that life come from other planets. It is a settled doctrine with some Vedic philosophers….” In the modern West, this wisdom is classified as esoteric: purposely hidden, not openly revealed, demanding more than common perception, enigmatic teachings about superhuman agency and perfection. This is a lesson of love, protection, and authentic spiritual nourishment valuing intellect and transcending intellect. Vedic life requires gratitude and service to a superior teacher who explicates scriptures, informs the intellect, and enriches the soul. The secret knowledge is purity (renunciation of passions that tend to selfishness), self-control, and action without attachment.
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Essay on Maya and the Evolution of the Conception of God, Chapter 4 of Jnana Yoga by Swami Vivekananda

By Patrick Horn (“Rishi”)

Swami Vivekananda says, “coming to our philosophers, we find that this word Maya has been manipulated in various fashions, until we come to the great Shankaracharya.” The infinite, undivided, unchanging sat-chit-ananda (existence-consciousness-bliss) is the only Reality. The empirical world (vyavaharika) is an appearance due to ignorance (avidya); it is not unreal but it is not what it appears to be. Erroneous perception mistakes Brahman as finite, divided, and changing. Shankaracharya famously uses the analogy of the rope and the snake. If you mistake a rope for a snake, you didn’t see the rope and there is no snake. Though seemingly affected by space, time, and causality in manifold names and forms, Brahman remains the same, and Thou Art That – tat tvam asi. It is due to lack of discrimination that the self is entangled with external objects and conditions and falsely identified with a limited body and its various mental states and moods.

Swamiji teaches, “the theory of Maya was manipulated a little by the Buddhists too, but in the hands of the Buddhists it became very much like what is called Idealism, and that is the meaning that is now generally given to the word Maya.” Idealism asserts that reality is immaterial and doubts the possibility of knowing anything beyond the mind. According to Buddhists, the world is “empty,” but this is not a nihilistic void. It means that forms have no independent existence. The goal of nirvana is liberation from the apparent cycle of death and rebirth (samsara) and suffering caused by desire and attachments. The Buddha, son of Queen Maya, taught an eightfold path to freedom: wisdom through Right View (inquiry and aesthetic) and Right Intention (sincerity and correct aim), virtue though Right Speech (mastery of thought and word) and Right Action (skillful means) and Right Lifestyle (ethical conduct), and Right Effort (discipline and renunciation), Right Concentration (correct practice and context), and Right Mindfulness in meditation.

Swamiji suggests the idea of God changes and grows but always within māyā. He says, “let us go back a little to those early ideas of God and see what became of them.” According to the myths of the Western esoteric tradition, the Original Knowledge was corrupted and lost. The Book of Enoch describes the election of the guardian of celestial treasures, chief of archangels, and scribe of God; in the Abrahamic sects, he is the keeper of the secrets, the “voice” of God, architect of the Tree of Life shown by angels to mortals, the lesser Jehovah called Metatron or Metator, meaning guide, messenger, or measurer. He was the son of the Greek goddess Maia. He was also linked to the planet closest to the sun, Mercury. In Sanskrit, the name of the planet closest to the sun is Budha. The cross-fertilization between the religious myths of the ancient world is evident as the Egyptian god of writing, math, astronomy, and magic named Thoth (“thought”) fused with the Greco-Roman Mercurius to become Hermes Trismegistus (“the thrice-great” philosopher, priest, and king).
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Essay on Maya and Illusion, Chapter 3 of Jnana Yoga by Swami Vivekananda

By  Patrick Horn (“Rishi”) 
Swami Vivekananda asserts that the word māyā is generally used incorrectly to mean illusion or delusion. Great patience is required for right understanding. Swamiji admits that “delusion” is an early and partial definition; “delusion” arrives in late Middle English from the Latin deludere (mock) whilst the related word “illusion” is an Old French variation of the Latin word illudere (deception). Both words are derived from the Latin root ludo (play, game).

One possible construction of māyā from the Sanskrit roots is mā (not) yā (that); in other words, what seems-to-be to our limited perception and cognition is not what-is. Other meanings can be constructed from mā (creation, effect), may- (intoxicate, confuse), and māy- (hide, absence). In Myth and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization (edited by Joseph Campbell), Heinrich Zimmer suggests that the noun māyā is related etymologically to “measure” (a specific quantity or point of reference); māyā can also mean diplomatic cunning or a political hoax. Zimmer writes that māyā sometimes means trick, fraud, sorcery, or witchcraft. Swamiji says there are passages where māyā means something like magic, or the divine power of manifestation and exhibition of forms.


Swamiji teaches that we do not know Reality as-it-is because we talk in vain and run after desires and sensual pleasures. In this context, Māyā means ignorance that veils the Truth. A similar concept is present in Western philosophy and elucidated in the ἄγραφα δόγματα (ágrapha dogmata – unwritten doctrine) of the esoteric tradition. The Greek philosopher Parminedes proposes there are two paths: the Way of Truth and the Way of Appearances. Anaxagoras suggests that reason (νοῦς – nous) makes distinctions from the primordial unity, similar to the buddhi in the Sankhya school of thought. The words εἶδος (eidos – visible form) and ἰδέα (idea) come from the Indo-European root weid (see). Related terms μορφή (morphē – shape) and φαινόμενα (phainomena – appearances) come from φαίνω (phainō – shine).  The Greek concept of form is linked to words related to vision, sight, and appearance.

Plato gives an example of the problem of Truth and Appearances in the Allegory of the Cave: since childhood, a group of people has been chained inside a cave facing a wall. They cannot turn to see the fire behind them, nor the light at the entrance of the cave; instead, they stare at shadows on the wall and hear echoes of passing voices and assume this is real. One of them is freed and as he moves toward the light, he is temporarily blinded; soon, his eyes adjust to the sun, and he slowly sees the world. He realizes the error of taking the shadows on the wall of the cave for real and returns to share his discovery; at first, he cannot see in the dark. Those who are accustomed to the darkness ridicule him, especially when he tries to convince them to journey upward into the light; fearing loss of their dim sight in a worthless ascent from the cave, they kill him.

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Essay on The Real Nature of Man, Chapter 2 of Jnana Yoga by Swami Vivekananda

By Naomi Walden
 

Man clings to the senses, yet asks at some point; is this real?   Swami Vivekananda defines the soul, or Atman, as being beyond the bright body (the mind) that manipulates the gross body.   The Atman is infinite, omnipresent – beyond time, space and causation.  The Real Man is beyond all limitations.  The apparent man, the reflection, is limited, appearing to be bound, but is really not.  The Infinite Unit is unchangeable, this is the Real Man, the individuality that all are struggling toward.  This evolution of nature is the manifestation of the Spirit; every good thought or act is propelling man toward the realization of God and is to be asserted and manifested.   The feeling of sameness everywhere, or sympathy, is self-abnegation and needs to be done consciously. Constantly fill the brain with high thoughts, highest ideals; out of that will come great work.  Sin and misery are weakness.  Help, do not condemn the world.
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Essay on the Necessity of Religion, Chapter 1 of Jnana Yoga by Swami Vivekananda

By Naomi Walden

Swami Vivekananda explains man’s existence consists of sense fulfillment, intellectual development and the seeking of a power beyond these two – something greater and beyond their limitations.  The human mind struggles to realize, or experience this force called ecstasy, or inspiration.

Highly organized religions use a Unit Abstraction, called God, as a Moral Law, or Existence, as an ideal.  Once man has realized attainment is not possible through the senses, there is a giving up of sense fulfillment, or a renunciation that becomes the means to the end.


The pursuit of the infinite, the struggle to go beyond the limitation of the senses, religion as a study, is the greatest motive power for realizing that infinite energy; in making everything that is good and great, and bringing peace to all.  A genuine fellow-feeling, involves concessions with sacrifice, advances truth, benefiting all to reach the Absolute. 

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