The Theory of Maya: Is It All Illusion?

Theproblem with understanding Hindu philosophy is that the Sanskrit terms do notlend themselves to ready translation. The most common translation of Maya hasbeen Illusion. Consequently, a lot of ridicule has been heaped on this theorysince scientific experiments are considered to have proved the reality of whatwe perceive around us.Four blind men encounter an elephant for thefirst time. One feels the tail and says, ‘I know what an elephant is! It is arope’. Another feels the leg and says, “No! It is a pillar’. A third feels thebody and says, “It is a wall” and the fourth feels the trunk and says “It is asnake!”Thereality, of course, is that the elephant is none of the above, which is not adenial of perceptions of the people concerned. Maya is what causes thedifference between reality as it is and reality as it is perceived. Thus, Mayaactually talks about the limitations of your perception and your inability toperceive reality truly.Thefact remains that human beings are capable of seeing and thinking only in threedimensions, incapable of imagining infinity and cannot understand most thingsexcept through the language of mathematics. Can you think of a number that isneither positive nor negative? We know that any number multiplied by itself canonly yield a positive number. Yet we use the concept of the square root of -1,call these numbers imaginary numbers and use them in a bid to understand theuniverse! In more mundane terms, we cannot hear what a dog can hear or see theworld as an owl would see it. The reality of the everyday world withperceptions enhanced would probably be much different from the way we perceiveit.Mostof what science has discovered about the universe and yourself are not readilyperceived by you. For example, babies are supposed to be about 75% water butthe fact that you cannot pour your baby into a jar and carry her whiletraveling does not make you disbelieve that assertion. The biologist talks of abody made of multiple cells but we cannot perceive it directly except throughthe help of instruments. The physicist sees in everything atoms and sub-atomicparticles and atoms are composed mostly of empty spaces. The fact that the wallin front of you is mostly empty space according to physics does not make itpossible for you to walk through it. (Please do not try – unless you are aghost!)Accordingto Einstein all mass is but concentrated energy. Thus, there is an essentialoneness in the universe (leaving aside minor irritants like variations in theamplitude and frequency of energy waves which differentiates color in visiblelight etc.). We, certainly, do not see the person in front of us asconcentrated gamma rays or some such thing and, yet, we do not disbelieveEinstein either!Ifanything in Hindu philosophy is completely proven (and, possibly, endorsed byother schools of philosophy) it is the limitations of perception. Thus, the onesingular truth should be the Mayavada. Advaita asserts that it is possible forthe person to pierce the veil of Maya i.e achieve perfect perception. That maybe open to question.Thenature of true reality, which is obscured by Maya, is also a matter ofspeculation. Whether true reality is as prescribed by one of the Vedanticphilosophies or of one of the other schools of thought prevalent in the worldis also open to question.Theone absolute truth is that Maya is not (an) Illusion!