This is the eleventh chapter of the book „Viveka – the Voice of Inner Guru.“

The whole book will be tokenized as NFTs on Mirror and, as such, published in 20 articles (20 chapters of the book: The Illusion; India, oh India!; The Accurate description of the Reality; The Crown Jewel; Dead Guru; Living student; Who you?; Leaving the room; The Weakness of the Mind; The Archimedean Point; Three Powers of Maya; Viveka - the Sword of Truth; The Cave of the Mind; Language Can Save Us; Searching for Lakshana; Nine Golden Rules of Viveka; Purification Exercises; What to do with all this?; Dealing with Fear; Ekam Evadvityam: Living without a Center).

Chapter Eleven: Three Powers of Maya

avyaktanāmnī parameśaśaktiḥ
anādyavidyā triguṇātmikā parā |
kāryānumeyā sudhiyaiva māyā
yayā jagatsarvamidaṃ prasūyate ||

That-which-is-not (maya) is called the unmanifest.
It is the power of the creative force, without a beginning, made up of three great qualities (guna).
It is superior to their effects and has to be inferred by the wise whose intellect is purified.
It is the force that gave birth to the entire world.

Vivekachudamani 108

Relying on the archimedean point of viveka, we found ourselves in the world of ideas. As we continue walking through it, don't forget where you are. It is our home, the only place we truly live in. It is easy to forget that the material world is just an assumption and let ourselves be deluded with perceptual consensus. I can remind you about that fact from time to time, but it will not be enough if you continue forgetting.

Maya, the all-powerful Lady of the Illusion, abides in the same world of ideas and thoughts. If she gets you, your reality will be delusional. Your experiences, completely real to you, be it happiness or suffering of any kind, will be just a mirage in the distant clouds. Instead of life, you will live a dream. Or a nightmare, who knows.

Ar first, you might perceive Maya as your enemy. That is not a correct perception. She is your servant, the one who does your bidding without questions. But that doesn't make her your friend, either! Your bidding may be questionable and, at times, harmful to you and your environment. An enemy would use your wrongful disposition for their advantage. Maya does not have such inclinations. A friend would warn you about the possible danger if you continue in the direction you are heading. Maya will remain silent. She will simply serve you whatever your wish may be.

Before we dive deeper into the structure, strengths, and weaknesses of Maya, let's see what our common sense and little knowledge we have may reveal about the mechanics of creating an illusion.

The first, gross layer of the illusion, is formed in the field of perception. Our senses are limited. They don't carry over everything that is „out there“ in the real universe of ideas. Of course, it would be easier to say „out there in the material world“, but we have to stick with our conclusion: the universe out there is just an assumption, not a sure thing. What we call a „perception“ is a transfer of meanings through specific channels. One idea is transformed into another idea. The first idea is reality as it is. The process of transformation we call perception, and the modified result is our experience (another idea). That is the only acceptable explanation based on the archimedean point of viveka – a sure knowledge. Everything else is an unacceptable „justified belief“. If we understand that fact and do not forget our position in the world of ideas, using terms like „perception“, „senses“, or even „outside world“ will not harm us. But it can confuse us, so be careful.

So, the first layer of illusion is created due to the limitation of the process of perception. We simply do not recognize everything there is in consciousness. Sometimes, natural laws (again, from what we know, they are just laws of transformation inside the consciousness) create the distortions in the transformation process (for example, a mirage of water in the desert or distortion of shapes due to perspective, etc.)

The second layer of the illusion known to us is a layer of attention. That layer is more profound - and thus not so confusing in terminology - as the layer of perception. We automatically connect perception with the material body, while attention is in the field of mind or awareness.

Attention is a potent tool for hiding, enhancing, or, again, distorting reality. Magicians and illusionists often use that to distract us, surprise us, and create an illusion. Soft spirituality and positive thinking often use attention to create specific experiences, thus inducing a change in our reality. It is true: what we pay attention to, grows. Or that exists for us. Useful technique, no doubt, but don't be fooled: it's a tool of Maya. If we overdo it, we'll separate ourselves from the rest of consciousness, choosing only those experiences we like, gradually becoming a dependent slaves of our previous servant.

The next tool of Maya is interpretation. Let's say that perception is the same, and there is no intervention in the field of attention. Still, different people can have different experiences of the same event in consciousness. The mechanics behind the interpretation is far more complicated than in previous layers of illusion. Interpretation may be cultural, social, age-related, or gender-related, but mostly it is heavily dependent on individual beliefs. The interpretation part of an illusion is the cause of a lot of suffering in the world, especially in the field of politics and religion. Can you imagine how many people see what they want to see (what they believe in), although the reality behind that is something entirely different? And can you see that those different interpretations cause separation, misunderstanding, violence, wars, and terrorism? Furthermore, the interpretation may directly influence attention and perception, making us blind to something we should see with healthy eyes or a sane mind. Still, we don't see it because it is outside the range of our attention or the scope of our convictions.

One more „ordinary“ tool for creating an illusion is a simple desire. Sometimes, we don't want to see something, and we don't see it. At other times, we are so eager to create a specific experience that we succeed. The projection of desires is often an essential part of modern spirituality. The law of attraction, the manifestation techniques... trendy and desirable, those are powerful tools of Maya. That does not make them unsuccessful or non-functional. Quite the contrary, Maya is always efficient and fulfills her promises. That's why she is eternal and cannot be eradicated from existence. She will always be a part of the natural order of things.

However, we have come to one fascinating aspect of the illusion. At first sight, the very word is interpreted negatively. It’s a bad thing, right? Who would like to live in an illusion? Who would like to live a lie?

But unfortunately, the answer is - everyone! We are all doing it! Apart from the elementary form of illusion, the higher, most dangerous kinds exist because people want to live in them.

In advaita, Maya has been defined as having six main characteristics:

• Anadi – eternal, unborn, without the beginning

• Nivartya – mortal, possible to terminate

• Varana – it veils and hides

• Viksepa – it projects and creates

• Anirvacaniya – hard to define, slippery

• Bhavarpa – it is attractive, looks positive

Additionally, Maya can be located in the individual (jiva) or the Absolute (brahman).

Some of those characteristics are self-evident. For example, varana and vikshepa, the power of hiding and projecting, can be easily connected with a shared understanding of illusion. The quality of anadi, or being unborn, places Maya in the category of natural laws. It is not created or born as an emergent entity – it is a part of the structure of consciousness. That means it is not a flaw, an enemy, or a mistake. It is a tool and power. However, like any tool, it can be misused. Furthermore, Maya can belong to an individual and Absolute. As a divine tool – in the mind of Absolute, Brahman - Maya is the power of creation (It is the force that gave birth to the entire world. VCh 108), and when used by a person creates avidya, ignorance.

Bhavarpa, looking positive and attractive, is an interesting quality that explains why people want it and why it is so hard to get rid of her. However, the good news is nivartya: Maya can die. It is possible to end her dominion and find an exit from her realm. Sometimes, that quality goes under the name of jnana-nivartya. That means the mortal enemy of Maya is – knowledge.

***

Vivekachudamani explains the three powers of Maya and connects them with three great elements – so-called gunas. Those elements are tamas, rajas, and sattva.

Tamas gives rise to the power of hiding and distorting.

Rajas gives rise to the power of projecting and creating.

Sattva gives rise to the power of replicating and reflecting.

The first two powers are easy to understand, but the third one escaped the attention of most commentaries. Moreover, the strength – and the danger – of that power is almost unheard of. Under the influence of tradition, most explanations went toward eliminating tamas and rajas, preferring and recommending the prevalence of sattva. It is not entirely clear why. If the sattva is the basis of one of Maya's power, why recommend sattvic living as the path to liberation from her chains? Apparently, the traditionalists love sattva and conveniently forget what Krishna told them in Bhagavad Gita about searching for the truth „outside three gunas“ (Bhagavad-Gita 2:45).

I'll return to that after an additional explanation of the three powers of Maya.

Hiding and distorting power

Vivekachudamani, verse 113:

eṣāvṛtirnāma tamoguṇasya
śaktirmayā vastvavabhāsate'nyathā |saiṣā nidānaṃ puruṣasya saṃsṛteḥ
vikṣepaśakteḥ pravaṇasya hetuḥ ||

From tamo-guna, the power of veiling arises. It makes things appear to be other than what they are. It is this which is the original cause for an individual’s transmigration and is the cause for the origination of the action of the projecting power.

Tamo-guna or tamas can be translated as darkness. The root word is tam, which means rigid. Tamas prefers continuity and patterns. Using patterns and rigidity, Maya hides and distorts reality. Due to that, people make mistakes. Mistakes cause suffering, and suffering demands a remedy. That is why veiling power is a motivational factor for projecting power. We want to correct the distorted picture of reality by projecting our vision of the desired reality. Thus, we run from one illusion into another.

Characteristic personal traits of tamo-guna are doubt, self-doubt, incorrect judgment, contrary judgment, laziness, dullness, negligence, stupidity, and so on. The main problem of a person entangled with tamas is inertia and unwillingness to change. Such a person is an easy target for Maya.

Projecting and creating power

Vivekachudamani, verse 111:

vikṣepaśaktī rajasaḥ kriyātmikā
yataḥ pravṛttiḥ prasṛtā purāṇī |rāgādayo'syāḥ prabhavanti nityaṃ
duḥkhādayo ye manaso vikārāḥ ||

From rajo-guna, the power of projection arises. Its nature is activity and dynamism. It creates motivation for constant mental modifications and attachments to positive and negative emotions.

Rajo-guna or rajas is energy, activity, and stimulation. The root word is raj and means to glow, to be brilliant. Contrary to tamas, rajas represent discontinuity, unrest, and constant change. It is a power of creation and success.

John Grimes, in his translation and commentary of Vivekachudamani, writes: “First, Reality is concealed (which is the tamasic power) and then, insidiously, that which is not real is projected upon the Reality.”

„That which is not real“ are our interpretations, beliefs, conscious or unconscious motivations, and desires. If you want to say it in modern spiritual language: we have the power to make our dreams come true. And that power comes from Maya.

Rajas is further declared as a primary cause of bondage and „worldly tendencies“, together with some unwanted personal traits like anger, greed, pride, jealousy, egoism, envy, miserliness, and so on.

Replicating and reflecting power

Vivekachudamani, verse 117:

sattvaṃ viśuddhaṃ jalavattathāpi
tābhyāṃ militvā saraṇāya kalpate |yatrātmabimbaḥ pratibimbitaḥ san
prakāśayatyarka ivākhilaṃ jaḍam ||

Pure sattva is clear like water, yet in combination with rajas and tamas, it generates worldly existence. The reality of the Self is reflected in sattva and, like the Sun, reveals the entire created world.

Sattva sounds good. It sounds desirable. It is highly appreciated in Indian tradition and culture, and, yes, it represents virtues and goodness in the world and people. The root word is sat, which means pure or purity. You can think about sattva as clean glass or a mirror. If a person is saturated with sattva, they reflect reality. The reflection is no different from the original, but it is still a reflection.

Usually, in the life of an ordinary person in the human condition, sattva is mixed with tamas and rajas. Vivekachudamani enumerates the personal traits of mixed sattva: faith, devotion, divine tendencies, and even mumukshuta (an intense desire for liberation). When the sattva is even purer (after a life of spiritual practice), it brings the tranquility of the mind, inner peace, self-realization, and continuous bliss.

As I said, it sounds good. What's the catch?

No catch, actually. Sattva is good. But liberation is not about being good; it's about the truth. And Vivekachudamani is clear about that: sattva gives power to Maya. Enormous power because as purer the sattva gets, the reflection of reality is more accurate. I promised to explain the difference between true and accurate, and now is the time to do that. The representation (reflection) of reality can be accurate, but it is still just a representation. Shankara was stuck with the analogy of dreams, but we have VR. Virtual reality can be completely accurate and precise to the details, especially when quantum computers take over, possibly with neural interfaces, but it will never be true.

You may ask about the difference, and probably there will be no satisfying answer. A brain in a vat, or a brain in a skull, or a brain attached to a quantum computer – what's the difference? The experience is the same. You may say that you don't care if it is VR or true reality, a pure sattva reflection, or complete liberation from illusion. But if you mean it, you should not waste your time with Shankara, Vivekachudamani, and this book. All three are for those who care only and exclusively about the truth.

Over time, due to agreement among traditional commentators, pursuing sattvic life (morality, virtue, learning, asceticism, modesty, generosity, devotion) was recommended as a path leading to liberation. It is a puzzle to me how that happened. Maybe people didn't read Vivekachudamani. Or, if they read it, they didn't understand its spirit. Instead of seeing what is obvious, they choose to believe what others tell them. No wonder because Maya is bhavarpa – a positive-looking lady. She is attractive in three ways.

First, in the tamas-attractive mode, she makes people inert, ignorant, and insecure by hiding or distorting the true reality from them. After that, there is not much work with keeping them imprisoned. They want to stay in because out there (whatever there is), an unknown danger threatens them. Second, in the rajas-attractive mode, she makes people capable and ambitious. She promises them the fulfillment of their dreams. Who would say no to such an offer? So, people gladly stay in her arms. And third, in the sattva-attractive mode, she plays on the card of human virtues and nobility. She promises them divine rewards, heavens, goodness, and bliss in this life and an afterlife. It is hard, if not impossible, to see through such a pleasant deception.

But, well, Shankara did see through it. Many others saw, too. The last trap of Maya is based on sattva.

Vivekachudamani, verse 278:

tamo dvābhyāṃ rajaḥ sattvātsattvaṃ śuddhena naśyati |tasmātsattvamavaṣṭabhya svādhyāsāpanayaṃ kuru ||

Both sattva and rajas destroy tamas, sattva destroys rajas, and sattva dies from a purified mind. Therefore, take your stand in a purified mind and destroy all super-impositions.

If you want the truth, you should look beyond three gunas. It is not an easy thing to hear, but sattva must die, too.

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Next Chapter: Viveka - the Sword of Truth