Maya or Mayam – Call it what you may?
In Buddhism, Maya is both the name of the mother of The Buddha, but also in Pali it speaks of distortions (vipallasa) rather than illusion (magic).
by Victor Cherubim- Dec 9, 2016
( December 9, 2016, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) What we see and what we get is generally altogether different. You don’t need to know who said the world is an illusion, you perhaps know it is? An easy explanation of this is the use of “Exercise Machines” for weight loss. They only reduce fat from the skin of our bodies, not the “visceral” fat stored in the body. Research states: “reducing fat under the skin does not automatically reduce the risk of developing non communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.”
If we know through our intelligence and also our gut feeling that something is an illusion, how then do we get trapped into believing and acting accordingly or differently?
This is the great “con” of the world in which we live. It is simultaneously the essence of being, as some sages believe. We have the ways and means today to make black look white and white look black. We have subliminal advertising to do the trick. We have techniques such as constant repetition of a “mantra” or any statement to make our brain think and act differently. Besides, we have what is called, “frequency illusion.” Here the brain seeks out information that is related to us. What about “confirmation bias” when we surround ourselves with people and information that matches our beliefs, that confirm what we already think. We are thus “conditioned” and this is the world in which we live. We forget to challenge the decisions that our brain makes partly because of our laziness or rather our complacency and partly due to other neurological reasons.
The daunting reality according to Harvard Business Review is that “enormously important decisions made by intelligent, responsible people with the best information and intentions, are sometimes hopelessly flawed”.
Do we need course correction?
Donald Trump’s strategy in winning the Presidential nomination was undoubtedly “to bring jobs back to “job starved” America. But many know that it was “technology” that drove jobs out. It was outsourced abroad, not only due to cheap labour in China. It didn’t mean America was not great in technological advancement, but China was “prepared” to accept American technology to produce American imports.
This is business. Now perhaps with Donald Trump’s nomination of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, it is hoped it won’t be a tall order to help boost jobs in the US. But, at what cost saving?
If we think in blinkers we become conditioned to a blinkered approach?
Simultaneously, is everything to be judged by what we see on the surface?
Besides, nothing in life is taken for granted for ever, so they say?
We now note that Angela Merkel has pledged to tighten immigration after her decision to welcome more than 890,000 asylum seekers to Germany last year.
This policy was attacked inside and outside her Christian Democratic Union with CDU suffering poor state election results earlier this year. Now the German Chancellor Merkel in her bid for a fourth four-year term has said she wants to ban “burkas” if she is elected next year. She says in an interview in August 2016 that women wearing a full bodied veil (burka) do not belong in Germany.
What is Maya?
Maya or Mayam literally means “illusion” or “magic”. It has multiple meanings in Indian philosophies and religions. In the Upanishads, depending on the context, Maya literally implies “extraordinary power and wisdom”. In later Vedic texts and modern Indian literature,”maya” connotes a “magic show, an illusion where things appear to be present, but are not what they seem.”
In Buddhism, Maya is both the name of the mother of The Buddha, but also in Pali it speaks of distortions (vipallasa) rather than illusion (magic).
For us laymen and women, in “Maya” we become attached to people, places and things and these bonds affect our judgment. This is particularly noticeable when we grow old. However, Lord Buddha commended us be “detached” as life is impermanent.
