Mula Maya, Maha Maya and Maya

[dattaswami]

Mula Maya, Maha Maya and Maya

 

 

The world is a composite of

 

1) Primary energy (Mula Maya),

 

2) Matter, awareness and different forms of energy like light, heat etc. (Maha Maya) and

 

3) The forms of matter and feelings of awareness (Maya).

 

For the soul only Maya is unreal because soul being awareness is in the higher plane. The soul is a part of Maha Maya. Maya is like the drama which is restricted to the roles and dialogues including actions (feelings). The actors, dresses, lights and stage constitute Maha Maya which remains even after the drama. Even if these items of Maha Maya are removed, the ground remains eternal which is like the Mula Maya. Therefore, with reference to the soul, only the drama is unreal.

 

The Unreal world for the soul is restricted to the Maya only. If you define the world as Maha Maya and Mula Maya, it is real for the soul. If you define the world as Maya, Maha Maya and Mula Maya put together, it is mixture of reality and unreality and hence can neither be stated as real nor unreal (Mithya of Shankara). If you restrict the world to Maya only, it is nothing (Shunyam of Buddhists and Asat of Gaudapada). If you restrict the world to Maha Maya and Mula Maya, it is real (Sat of Ramanuja and Madhva). Therefore, with reference to the soul the world can be real or unreal or a mixture of both according to the limitations of the restricted part of the creation.

 

If the reference is changed from soul to God, the entire creation is unreal because there is nothing other than God. But to prove the reality of the entertainment of God, the world has to be real for God also and this requires the separate existence of the world. A negligible part of God might have been modified into the world so that both the concepts can be simultaneously maintained. A negligible quantity can be treated almost nil. Such modification can be treated as real (Parinama) or apparent (Vivarta). It is immaterial because the modified part is very much negligible. But in any case, the knowledge of the nature of God becomes essential. All this can be accepted if you place the primary energy in the place of God. But the primary energy is only the first creation of God. Therefore, all this analysis ends with only the first item of the creation (Primary energy). The link between God and Primary energy is unimaginable since God Himself is unimaginable. This is the analysis that can be done with the help of scriptures, science and logic and experience of liberated souls. We can combine these two concepts and arrive at Primary energy charged by unimaginable God as the starting point to avoid defects from both sides. Now the problem is solved.

 

 

At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami

 

Anil Antony

 

www.universal-spirituality.org

Universal Spirituality for World Peace

antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org