33. Maya is the Culprit

Imagine opening a door, only to find your self suddenly alarmed by a snake at the doorstep. Terrifying! On a second look, you realize it’s not a snake, but a rope. Mistaking a rope for a snake is an oft-cited example in Vedanta. But this example demonstrates the play of Maya.

Seeing the world is not the problem. The problem is considering it to be real.

– Swami Vivekananada

Maya obscured the distinction between the rope and a snake; just as Maya obscured the distinction between the imaginary and the real world when you cried watching that sound and light show (movie). Maya “hides” and maya “projects”. Those are its two powers – veiling (आवरण) and projecting (विक्षेप). It hid the rope, and projected a snake.

When we “see” the snake, we mistake the length and shape of the rope with the species and the poison of a snake. The rope is veiled and a snake is projected. Let’s remember that the eyes are still catching the refletion/light from a rope, but the mind is translating it into a snake. That error is forced by Maya.

Just as in the case of a rope-snake veiling, the distinction between the (gross) world and the Brahman (consciousness) is obscured by Maya. This obscuring and veiling (आवरण) is the source of our problems. When Swami Vivekananada said, “Do not seek Him, just see Him”, he was referring to this obscuring power of Maya and suggesting that we learn to see Brahman (God) in everything, because behind everything is Brahman.

Even before the veiling and its resulting error, Maya first projects the gross world around us. Brahman – the ultimate, the Truth (सत्) – projects the gross forms, which we give a names to. Our ignorance lies in not only permanently not being able to “see” the Brahman (rope) and to confuse it for the gross world (snake), but also then further give our ignorance deeper roots and foundations by giving them a name. In other words, everything around us is a projection of the Brahman, and the Brahman is veiled. Just as in a movie the light and sound is projected on a screen, when we lose the thought that it is all a projection but still cry and get nervous as the plot unfolds. This is the play of Maya.