How To Overcome Maya

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How To Overcome Maya

WHY does not man's mind dwell on God ? More powerful than God is His

Mahamaya, His power of Illusion. God has covered us all with his maya. He is

near, still it is not possible for us to see Him or know His ways.

Once Narada besought the Lord of the Universe : " Lord, show me that maya of

Thine, which can make the impossible possible." The Lord nodded assent.

Sometime later, so the Puranic story goas, the Lord went out with Narada.

After covering some distance, he felt thirsty. Narada went away in quest of

water.

Finding no water nearby, he proceeded far from the place and saw a river at

a great distance. He beheld sitting on the river bank a most charming young

lady. He was captivated by her beauty. She began to address him in sweet

words and ere long, he fell in love with her. He then married her and

settled down as a house-holder.

In due course, he had a number of children by her. He was thus living with

his wife and children happily for sometime. Soon a pestilence came to the

country, death began to take its toll from every home. Narada proposed to

leave the place and go to a safe place. His wife agreed. They left their

home, leading their children by hand. But, no sooner had they come to the

bridge to cross the river than came a terrible flood and in the rush of

water all his children were swept away, one after another. His wife too was

drowned.

Overwhelmed with grief Narada sat down on the river bank and began to weep

piteously. Just then, the Lord appeared and said, " Narada, where is the

water ? Why are you weeping? "The sight of the Lord startled the sage. He

soon realised everything.

He exclaimed, " Lord, my obeisance to Thee, and my obeisance to Thy

wonderful maya." So, everyone is under the spell of this world bewitching

maya. This maya is like a cloud. The sun cannot be seen on account of this

screen of the cloud. When the clouds disappear, one sees the sun. If by the

grace of the Guru one's ego vanishes, then one sees God.

 

"Fallen From Status"

IN a materialistic age such as ours, we are inclined to believe in the

ultimate reality of the objective world around us and forget that happiness

derived from our actions in the world is ephemeral. As pointed out in our

sacred books, what gives lasting happiness is God-realization.

The attainment of this state involves passing through a number of stages

which constitute true progress in life. A learned commentator on the Gita "

has said that as in nature all progress is from the lower to higher forms of

life so also with man true progess is from the lower level to the higher

values of life. Although the "Gita" says that man, before he attains

God- -realization, should follow his normal avocation, he should not get

lost in the pursuits and preoccupations of worldly life A realization that

the body and its appurtenances are the creation of maya would enable him not

to be too passionately attached to them.

Such a man is less affected by the miseries of life, for he knows that such

are the inevitable concomitants of worldly pleasures. Another useful

reminder is the transistorizes of everything pertaining to this world. It

may, therefore, behove a wise man to avoid the miseries of existence by

renouncing all desires. But such renunciation is impossible to most. What

one may attempt is not have too much dependence on sense satisfactions,

which are bound to fade away.

In this connection it is well to recall the words of the Lord hat whatever

is cognised by the mind, speech, eyes, ears and the rest, know ,t all to be

a figment of the mind, a phantasmagoria and doomed to pass away." An

illustration of the above may be found m the story as given in Lord

Krishna's last message which relates to a loving pair of pigeons which were

deeply attached to each other. They found immense happiness in bringning up

their progeny till one day they lost their young young ones in a trap set by

a hunter. Not able to bear the Pangs of separation, the parent birds one

after the other walked deliberately into a trap as an escape from the grief

and misery which overtook them. What added poignancy to their sorrow was the

suddenness of its appearance in the midst of what appeared to be unalloyed

happiness.

The lesson which the parent pigeons learnt at such cost to themselves is one

applicable to every one of us. If only the pigeons had not attached such

dependence on the happiness they derived from their loving attachment to

each other, the unbearable grief they suffered might have been mitigated at

least to some extent. The realization that all joys are by their very nature

transient and that sorrows are inseparable from pleasures, would help one to

take a more sober view of life and everything associated with it. Therefore,

it is said that " he who, attaining human birth which is like an open

gateway to liberation, is attached like the bird to family concerns merely,

is considered as one who has fallen from his status."

Saint Sayings

God's grace is never for him who is indolent and negligent. God's grace is

for him who is persevering and industrious.

Weakness is felt only when God is forgotten. And the simple way to remember

Him is to take His name constantly.

A miracle can be a moment's wonder. A change according to the Divine

law can alone endure.

Always when one faces difficulties and overcomes them it brings a new

spiritual feeling of victory.

It is by their own actions good or bad that men are happy or miserable. The

virtues or vices of others will not affect us in the least.

H. H. SWAMY KESAVAIAHJl'S SELECTIONS

 

 

(Adopted from the Book Pearls of Wisdom by His Holiness Swami Kesavaiahji)