Isvara and Maya - the two magicians

Advaita Vedanta states that the world is a projection of Isvara (God). The world is not even a real projection of Isvara because Maya is involved. Maya is the magical power of Brahman (The Absolute). Once Maya is involved everything becomes illusory. Therefore the world is something that is not genuine, something that exists in appearance only. Being a projection of Isvara enhanced by the power of Maya, the world that occupies space and manifests in time is a mere superimposition upon what is genuinely there. Advaita says that what is genuinely there is Brahman. Only Brahman is genuinely there, everything else is a superimposition. Gods, spirits, natures, physical bodies, your ordinary sense of yourself, all the people you know, all the natural world, all the materiality of the world.... is all illusory.

To understand the Advaita philosophy it is necessary to distinguish between Isvara and Brahman. Isvara is God whereas Brahman is the Absolute. They are not quite the same. Isvara is part of the superimposition, known as the Vyavaharika, whereas Brahman is the Paramarthika. The Paramarthika is that which underlies the superimposition, that which is genuine as contrasted to that which is illusory, the Vyavaharika. The whole aim of Advaita can therefore be understood as the attempt to free the self from the illusory and to merge with, and stay permanently in, the genuine. To put the same idea into different words, the aim of Advaita could be analysed to be an attempt to free the self from a false identification with what it is not, and to return it to what it genuinely is, and has always been.... Brahman.

Isvara and Maya can be regarded as two magicians, one white, one black. White is light, the whole octave of light seen as an unity. Isvara projects light, the light is absorbed by the senses, conveyed along the nervous system to the brain where it reticulates and is converted into an image of the apparent world, which is then viewed by the consciousness of the individual. The consciousness of the individual is the atman. It could be said that the world is nothing more than light dancing in the head.

Another way of describing the process is to suggest that the apparent world is merely the reflection of light upon the screen of the mind.

Although light is received by the senses and undergoes relative transformation as it passes into the retina, and then undergoes more transformation in the nerve cells, passing through a series of chemical changes at the synapses of the nerves, in the peripheries of the nervous system, and perhaps yet more transformations in the cells of the brain.... nevertheless it is still the same energy that reaches the mind. The mind reflects the light, and presents an image of the world. The same energy can take several forms, even apparently disparate forms, perhaps unlimited forms, perhaps all possible forms... but it is nothing more than the same energy. Look carefully at the atomic and sub-atomic structure of matter.... there is virtually nothing there, just waves of energy. Passed on by the senses, it is the reflective nature of mind which transforms energy into an apparently real and solid world. It is a complete illusion. A very convincing illusion. Light consists of two waves of energy at right angles to each other.... understanding that is to understand how one falls into the illusion and how one may escape from it.

Isvara is the magician of light. All the forms are conjured out of light. More precisely, the forms are floating in the light. The light comes from a transcendental source behind one, passing over one’s right shoulder, and angled downwards reaches the mind where it is reflected back towards the consciousness. It is precisely the reflection of light upon the screen of mind that produces the appearance of the world. The sanyasins of northern India carry with them only a few items, including a ceramic pot and a dandhi (a long thin pole or stick).The dandhi is characteristically angled over their right shoulder. The angled dandhi appears to symbolize the light from behind creating the illusion of the phenomenal world. If one turns completely around and attempts to see from where the light originates one will glimpse the causal world. Ordinarily it is not possible to penetrate into the causal world. The glimpse is sufficient to sense that the light originates from someone hidden, present within the causal world. The hypothesis formulates in the mind that it is Isvara. The realization occurs that it is the light of Isvara, reflected upon the screen of the mind, which creates the phenomenon of the world.

Floating in the light is the form of a Buddhi (intellect), which resembles a sculpture, a static form. Maya, the black magician, hides in the shadows of the causal world. Maya sends out an emissary, a small self, a mechanism, called Ahamkara. Ahamkara is the I-maker. Ahamkara creates your sense of I. Ahamkara merely touches the sculptural Buddhi and it instantly comes to life. The Buddhi moves and gesticulates and speaks. By the touch of Ahamkara it has become a spiritual living being... your own spiritual self. It is an astonishing illusion. The Buddhi, your own spiritual self, is located in the higher intellect. To reach it you have to ascend into your intellect, go as high as you possibly can, then turn completely around and look behind you. You will see your spiritual self smiling sweetly at you. You two will love each other, because you are each other. Your spiritual self has been projecting you, your nature, the jiva, in a similar manner to an actor who projects his part in a drama. You, the jiva, your nature, are nothing more than an illusory projection. You do not exist. You are a part in a drama and strangely you quite probably do not fully realize that. Many, perhaps most persons, believe they are the actor, acting out their part in life, consciously or unconsciously, little realizing that they are the part, not the actor. The Atman, the awesome consciousness within you, has identified with what it is not. The Atman has become completely identified with the jiva, your natural self, which is nothing more than a projection of your Buddhi, your spiritual self, which in turn is nothing more than a sculptural form floating in the light of Isvara, and which has been animated into apparent life by Ahamkara, an emissary of Maya.

That is the astonishing trick that the two magicians are playing upon you, upon you, the Atman. The Atman, your awesome consciousness, looking outwards, has become a jiva, an illusion.