Maya is a Sanskrit word which literally means "that which is not" —
"ma" means
"not", "ya" means
"that". It is the imagination of the deluded mind which never ends and never exists! Thus, sages defined Maya as that phenomena which produces the impossible. Similarly, the Gurbani (Sri Guru Granth Sahib, SGGS) defines Maya as follows:
Maadhve kiya kaheeyai bhram aisaa. Jaisaa maaneeyai hoe na taisaa: O Lord, what can I say about this illusion;
what we deem a thing to be, in reality, it is not like that (sggs 657).I have added below a couple of more verses about Maya from Gurbani..
[
Gurbani means "Guru + Bani" or "word of Guru". Gu means darkness and Ru is light. The one who brings light in darkness is a Guru.
In Sikhism Gurbani generally refers to the verses from the Holy Scripture "Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji" ]
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As is the fire within the womb, so is Maya outside.
The fire of Maya and that of the womb is similar;
the Creator has staged this play.
According to His Will, the child is born,
and the family is very pleased.
Love for the Lord wears off,
and the child becomes attached to desires;
the script of Maya runs its course.
This is Maya, by which the Lord is forgotten;
emotional attachment and love of duality well up.
Says Nanak, by God's Grace,
those who enshrine love for God find Him,
in the midst of Maya
(sggs Page 921).
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What is the use of the glory of Maya?
It disappears in no time at all. ||1||
This is a dream, but the sleeper does not know it.
In his unconscious state, he clings to it. ||1||Pause||
The poor fool is enticed by the great attachments of the world.
Gazing upon them, watching them, he must still arise and depart. ||2||
The Royal Court of His Darbaar is the highest of the high.
He creates and destroys countless beings. ||3||
There has never been any other, and there shall never be.
O Nanak, meditate on the One God. ||4||10||16||
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How one can conquer the formidable fortress of Maya? This fortress is reinforced with double walls and triple moats. Its mean of defense are five elements, with their twenty-five categories, attachment, pride, jealousy, and the awesomely powerful Maya. Lust is the window of this fortress; pain and pleasures are the gatekeepers; virtue and sin are the gates. Quarrelsome anger is the great supreme commander, and mind is the rebel king there. Their armor is the pleasure of taste and flavors, their helmets are worldly attachments; they take their aim with the bows of their corrupt intellect. The greed that fills their heart is the arrow. How mortals can conquer this impregnable fortress?
Liberation from Maya dose not constitute disappearance of material energy or world. It is the change in one's vision. It is the ceasing of the conditioned mind's imagining. Thus, transcending Maya simply means living in the material world but not of it. It is liberation from ignorance: false ego-sense, bondage, or limitedness. As the lotus flower remains untouched by water and mud it grows in, similarly, the liberated man remains untouched or unaffected in the midst of Maya...
Excerpted from:
Courtsey : www.sikhitothemax.com
www.gurbani.org
Image Courtsey : http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
