The world and humanity are in bad shape. It’s painful to watch how humans are dumbed down intellectually by low grade entertainment, and how egoism is promoted as the way to go, very convincingly with arguments like, “If you don’t look after yourself, who will?” Dharmic behaviour is going out of fashion even in Bharat. It occupied my mind a lot, watching how good, honest, courageous people are sidelined and evil, deceitful, powerful moneybags get their way.
This morning, I woke up with a thought, which puts Indian philosophy into a nutshell and please correct me if I get it wrong:
Whatever happens right now, has to happen as it does – in the world and also in private. It is the dream of Brahman, where good and evil battle it out, and it is clearly a thriller.
The different persons seem to have agency, but actually, they have not. A robber in my dream is not an independent actor who can decide what he does, but he is contained in my mind and ultimately unreal. Similarly, we humans, animals or even Devas and rakshasas have no independent agency in this play of Maya which plays out within the pure, infinite Consciousness, called Brahman.
So this gives some comfort. Everything is as it must be. But this is only ONE level.
Now the second level:
The Bhagavad Gita and other texts tell us that we need to do what is dharmic, trying to stop the evil and foster the good, and even fight adharma if need be.
But why should we follow dharma (which means to do the right thing in the given circumstances)? Because there are laws within Maya. One law is the law of Karma: if we do evil, we suffer. Eternal hell does not exist, but time-bound hell does exist within Maya. Even though evil people seem to thrive, they will suffer, or they may even suffer while seemingly thriving.
I am reminded of a podcast where a chapter of Whitney Webb’s book “A nation under blackmail” was mentioned. It is about an interview with Leslie Wexner, the billionaire financier of Jeffrey Epstein. He allegedly said that he feels possessed by a demon. He even gave the demon’s name, which I forgot. This demon pushes him to always want more and more and ever more…
This brings me to another level within Maya: we humans are not the only conscious, intelligent beings. There are many others, as the Puranas explain, beneficial and maleficent ones, and some are more powerful than we are. They don’t have bodies like we have, but are nevertheless as real as we are within Maya.
Anandamayi Ma asked her devotees to guard against the influence of maleficent entities by repeating the mantra of one’s Ishta Deva, and talked about such different entities, which she saw.
So the conclusion: what is, has to be as it is. And since we are in Kali Yuga, it’s not a bed of roses. No need to become depressed about it.
But also: live a dharmic life. That’s the way to fulfil your life’s purpose and ultimately realise that our person or ‘avatar’ in this play of Maya is not who we really are.
And when the going gets too tough and in case desperate thoughts intrude, remind yourself that all is Maya and our essence is already one with Sat-Chit-Ananda, blissful Consciousness, even if we can’t feel it yet.
by Maria Wirth
the photo is by Shivansh Sharma, taken from Pixels
3 Comments
A very thought provoking writeup Maria ji! As you rightly put it in Kali Yuga, it can not be a bed of roses .No need to get depressed. Every dog ( or devil) has his day. Let us wait for it to be over!
Kuldeep Chandra
Absolutely correct experiential knowledge Maria Ji about the global picture and mounting inhumanity of Kaliyuga and the way to lead , a life of righteousness and Dharmic way in the midst of global down fall of humanity in accordance with the Laws of the Brahmn and his laws of karma
These are truly profound and fundamentally important reflections. Can we, as human beings, actually shape our lives and influence our fate—or are we merely passive observers, like in a cinema, watching a film unfold before us, powerless to intervene?
First, I agree with your description: what we call “life” or the “universe” is, in essence, nothing more than a state of consciousness—an experience. Unsubstantial. Unreal. Much like a dream. In fact, there is virtually no difference between the two.
This leads us to an important question: can we affect anything within a dream? Or are we helplessly at its mercy?
I believe we are not condemned to mere observation. Of course, we cannot directly alter the dream through physical action, as our bodies themselves are part of the illusion. Yet, we do exert influence—through the direction and focus of our awareness, through where and how we direct our consciousness.
Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, described life—very accurately—as suffering. Birth is suffering. Illness, aging, and death. Why do we dream such a nightmare? Why not something more beautiful?
Our true Self—our Atman—is pure consciousness, or Brahman. And pure consciousness has the potential to create absolutely anything—conceivable or inconceivable. Right now, we are experiencing a three-dimensional state of consciousness. Beneath this lies only the two-dimensional realm—the Greek Hades, the shadow world. A plane with no color (for light requires three dimensions to produce color), where everything plays out flatly.
So it seems we are currently navigating through extremely low states of consciousness. But there exist higher states—ones with countless or even infinite dimensions. Consciousness, by its nature, can create infinitely complex universes, worlds, and experiences.
To keep this brief: the way out—or rather, the way in—to a higher-dimensional state of consciousness, one beyond what we know as time (and thus beyond impermanence and death), is what the Sanatana Dharma refers to as Moksha, Self-realization, or Enlightenment. It is the transcendence of the cycle of rebirth, of time, and of decay. Today, this process is sadly rare.
Perhaps the universe is so filled with suffering and difficulty precisely to compel consciousness to evolve beyond it—to encourage its own growth and expansion. Perhaps such hardship is a necessary condition. Or maybe it’s simply the nature of such low-dimensional states—that they are inherently painful. But meaningless? Surely not. Something as vast and complex as the universe cannot be without meaning, even if it is merely an illusion or a mirage.
So let us place our trust in the ancient Vedic Rishis. What other choice do we have? They left behind their knowledge and experiences, and initiated a culture that, in their view, supports the pursuit of Moksha. Sanatana Dharma. We can choose to walk that path.
And yet, our personal journey to Enlightenment is one we must each undertake alone. No path can be walked twice in the same way. May we all consider carefully where we direct our innermost awareness. Perhaps, in doing so, we might even help uplift human society as a whole—though from the highest perspective, that is not our primary purpose, nor should it be our ultimate motivation.