Seeing is Believing is an old Saying while Vedanta explains everything is Maya or Mithya or an Illusion.
This single premise has been one big factor that has baffled Mankind ever since these two statements have been made. With brilliant inventions and findings in the 21st century, both the statements are dissected and meaning of Maya is more clearly understood.
Vision and sight are two different concepts related to one of the five sensory organs called Eye. Sight is what is referred to in “Seeing is believing”. But a much broader and inclusive term vision is what explains Maya. Having a Vision is more important than mere sight.
A great and practical illustration of this concept and its use in day to day routine life can be understood from the Ted Talk given by Isaac Lidsky. A highly successful blind man at 37, with a loving family & a much sought of speaker:
Every single Day, Isaac’s VISION which lacks the eye sight, helps him be more successful than the billions of people who have Sight.
To get more clarity on Maya, let us look at what the world means according to Maya: “This world has no existence”; it means that world has no absolute existence. It exists only in relation to my mind, to your mind, and to the mind of everyone else. We see this world with five senses but if we had a sixth sense, we would see in it something more. If we had a seventh sense, it would appear as something still different. It has, therefore, no real existence; it has no unchangeable, immovable, infinite existence. Nor can it be called non-existence, seeing that it exists, and we live work and enjoy life through it. It is a mixture of existence and non-existence.
To keep things simple, just realize that everything is in a constant state of flux and will keep changing. So what we are seeing and what we are making of the same, is dependent on our perception and not on the existence.
To extend the thoughts, Knowledge is always evolving for every human being. He can know everything, if only he wants to know. As he takes few steps, he is faced by adamantine wall which he cannot pass unless he adds it to his knowledge base. This cycle is repetitive.
Every child is born optimist and has golden dreams. In youth he becomes still more optimistic. It is perceived as wrong for a young man to believe that there is such a thing as death, such a thing as defeat or degradation. Then Old age comes, and life is a mass of ruins. Dreams vanish into the air, and the man becomes a pessimist. Thus we go from one extreme to another, buffeted by nature, without knowing where we are going.
Then, there is spine chilling fact of death that everyone has to face. The whole world is going towards death; everything dies. All our progress, our vanities, our reforms, our luxuries, our wealth, our knowledge, have that one final end — Death. That is all that is certain. Cities are established and abandoned, empires rise and fall, Monuments break into pieces and crumble into dust, only to be blown away by the new empires in the making. This has been going on since time without beginning.
Death is the end of everything. Death is the end of life, of beauty, of wealth, of power, of virtue too. Saints die and sinners die, Presidents die and prisoners die. They are all going to death, and yet this tremendous clinging onto life exists. In any case, we do not know why, why we cling to life; we cannot give it up.
There is a famous quote by Bill Gates: “A certainty that everyone is aware of but does not plan for is Death.”
Death is stalking day and night over this Earth of ours, but at the same time the desire to live eternally is equally strong in us. That is Maya or Illusion.
More often, the reality of a situation is subject to inconclusive debates and disagreements. Two people can face almost identical circumstances and find themselves in very different realities. For one person a challenge might breed- dread and resentment, self-pity and self-defeat. For another, the same challenge might inspire conviction and grace, acceptance and growth. Very different realities indeed. We can argue which path is better or worse. But which is right? Neither.
The idea is summed up in the pithy mantra “choose to be happy”. We control our own experience, in every moment. We create our own realities.
More scientific information can be found in this Playlist of Ted talks on Human Brain:
14 TED Talks on how your brain works
How exactly does the brain — a 3-pound snarl of nervous tissue — create inspired inventions, the feeling of hunger…
www.ted.com
Maybe the point is not to argue which version of the world is “right.” Maybe the point instead is to acknowledge the version we’ve chosen. If we can appreciate our role in creating our own realities, and hold ourselves accountable, perhaps we might make different choices, producing better outcomes. Our purpose of existence is to be living Happily. That becomes very easy after knowing these concepts of Maya.
This enlightenment of Maya greatly prevents you from getting angry, agitated or violent about any perspective. You realize that every other person has his personal interpretation which can be much different to what you have. Everyone “knows” a different world. Every single individual is a world unto himself.
Your acceptance of other worlds of other people is the true understanding of Maya.
To be happy and successful you need to have this vision, that your vision is not a limiting factor but an ever expanding Horizon of abundance and learning. It can lead you to Bliss and to happy and healthy relations with yourself, your family and society at large.
Cheers to a Vision for everyone along with eyesight and being aware of Maya all around.
