The Nature Of Avidya
Avidya is the same as Maya,
but only in relation to the individual. Avidya is Malina-Sattwa or Sattwa
polluted by Rajas and Tamas. There is a preponderance of distractive activity
and stupor in Avidya. The individual is controlled by Avidya whereas Ishwara is
not controlled by Maya. The force of Avidya limits the consciousness to such an
extent that the individual is falsely made to believe that its body is the
entire truth. Not only the body but even the objects and persons fictitiously
connected with the interests of the body are also superimposed on the self and
their loss or pain is considered as a real loss to the self itself.
There is a terrible
degeneration of consciousness in the case of the individual earthly being. It
first forgets the Reality; secondly it centres its consciousness in a localised
body; thirdly it drags other external bodies also to its self and regards such
of the few as are beneficial to its egoistic pleasures as its own self and
consequently begins to hate those entities or individuals which are not
connected with its interests or which are set in opposition to it. The grosser
the form of consciousness, the greater
is the extent of superimposition; the greater the bondage, the lesser is
the light and purity; the intenser the passions, the thicker the nescience and
the denser the delusion.
The seat of Avidya is the
Karana Sarira or the causal body of the soul. There is a dense clouding of
Self-awareness due to the agitative vibrations of the intense desire for self-materialization.
This is the story of self-imprisonment and acute suffering created by the
self-manifestation of egocentric consciousness. The storehouse of the power of
illusion and torment is the Anandamaya Kosha or the bliss-sheath of the soul
which keeps in stock all the seeds of Samskaras and the psychic effects of all
mental actions done by the individual. This stock of impressions maintains the
future embodiments of ignorance and agony as an individual in terrestrial life.
Avidya is therefore the mother of misery and the cause of the prison-life of
the egoistic personality as a distinct individual of the vast universe.
Avidya is a false
perception by which the ignorant Jiva takes the body and intellect as pure,
permanent and a source of pleasure. "Avidya" is "that which does
not exist." In fact, it is a conceit based on the belief that the objects
perceived through externalization and the organs of such perception are all
absolutely real in their forms. A shadow is taken to be the substance and the
mirage is believed to be a tank. The dreadful fever of life is the agitation of
the One Consciousness which dreams itself to be many. The universe is the dream
of the subjective Self, the object of the reverie of Self-hypnotization.
The body, the mind
the intellect and all the modifications of imagination are taken for granted as
pure and perfect and a source of permanent happiness for the self. The self is
the blissful eternal being and it wishes to find bliss in what it has merely
imagined and what really does not exist. This delusion is reinforced by
continuous activity and struggle to maintain the state of the self-imposed
individuality and the energy necessary for the keeping up of the illusion is
supplied from the fund of the source of ignorance, the Anandamaya Kosha. Even
in the death of the body, this center of ignorance is not destroyed. It is
carried to all bodies which are manifested by the self. This cycle of Samsara
never comes to an end since the sheath of nescience adds to the old stock of
Samskaras, the impressions of psychic actions performed in the daily life of
the individual. Liberation from this cycle comes only through a snapping of the
thread of thought through spiritual meditation.
The question why the
drama of the world appears has not satisfactorily been answered. It can be
understood as a self-imposition on absoluteness. Just as a king acts the part of a beggar, out
of his own free will on the stage in a drama, so also the Sat-Chid-Ananda
Brahman acts the part of a Jiva in this drama of the world out of his own
free-will for sport.
The individual or the
Jiva does not know that it is playing a sport, but thinks that it is actually
what it appears to be in the imagined garb. Here lies the bondage of the
individual in contradiction to the Essence of Satchidananda which consciously
appears to itself as the manifold universe. Whatever one thinks, that he
becomes, for the source of imagination is the omnipotent Self. One who believes
that he is Brahman becomes Brahman Itself.
The man with a defective vision has got a perverted perception of things. The Consciousness with its vision infected by the urge for materialization, objectification, diversification and self-multiplication conceives of the body as the Self and the Self as the body. The five sheaths are superimposed on the Atma and the Atma in turn is superimposed on the five sheaths which constitute the body. A straight rod appears bent like a bow when dipped in water and the disturbance on the surface of the water makes the sun in the sky appear shaky. The subjective defect makes the object also appear defective and thus the Eternal Brahman is seen to appear like the manifold cosmos merely on account of the clouding of consciousness and distraction of subjective awareness. The ignorance of the Jiva is colossal. The faith pinned on untruth transforms untruth to appear like truth and Jiva is thus deceived by its own thought-constructions.
When one gets
knowledge of the Self (the wisdom of the Truth), this Avidya vanishes. It
exists only until the melting away of egoism. The realization of the Self is
the destruction of Avidya. The two acts are simultaneous. The act of
realization is not a positive achieving but a negative destroying. It is not
getting something but removing something. It is not an invention but a
discovery. That is why the Upanishads take recourse to negative processes of
world-denial and Brahman-realization.
The Self is not to be
caught from outside, it is the innermost being of man. Those who run away from
their Self are led astray by the force of Avidya into the pit of births and
deaths. The spiritual aspirant should therefore restrain his mental functions.
Then only the glorious Truth of the Self will be revealed.
Just as the mirror is
dimmed by dirt, so Brahman is veiled by Avidya. Avidya is the origin of selfish
endeavor and narrow interests which try to make the ego live long. When the
requirements of the ego are supplied life on earth is prolonged and the stream
of Samsara never comes to an end. The Sadhaka therefore is required to root out
selfishness by denying the individual interests through self-abnegation and
refusal to abide by personal cravings. A complete sacrifice of the self for the
purpose of others' interests renders the Jiva fit to be alive to the higher
knowledge. This is the method of Karma-Yoga which abstains from personal
enjoyment of life and gives happiness to others.
Human beings are
deluded by Avidya and they can be freed from its snares only through Sadhana
for Perfection. Every way of spiritual effort is centered in the breaking open
of the ego which is the root of the passion for living. Avidya is the progenitor
of the succeeding afflictions of Asmita, Raga, Dwesha and Abhinivesha. These
afflictions can be eradicated through a turning to the Source of Eternal Life
through regulation of conduct and meditation on the spiritual Ideal.
Mind, senses, egoism,
intellect and body are the effects of Avidya. If the cause is destroyed, the
effects are destroyed by themselves. The Hathayogins start from the outside
body to the inward truth by disciplining the physical sheath at first, but the
Vedantins directly start from the innermost intelligence and break down the
whole super-structure of the world-phenomenon.
When with the power
of Viveka or discrimination the Absolute Self is asserted by the Vedantin, the
mind is held standstill, the senses turn back to their psychic source, the ego
is not allowed to make further arrogations and the Chitta or the store of
Samskaras is held in check.
Thus the Vedantic
Meditation which seeks to destroy the cause of Avidya, automatically overcomes
the effects thereof, and burns the seeds of past impressions which are lodged
in the heart. The knots of ignorance are rent asunder and the individual
becomes the Supreme.
Excerpts from:
Moksha Gita –
The Nature of Avidya by Swami Krishnananda
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