"Maya" is a Super Powerful *itch

The most difficult part of the Upanishads or the BhagwadGita is to explain the concept of "Maya". Most spiritual gurus also back off when they have to take up this task. No wonder, the heading of this article is what it is!! No apologies, as it is meant to trigger the emotion that it has when you read it. Because, Maya is extremely powerful and cunning and subtle too. In my previous article "Playground of Life" when I mentioned the dilemma of a person in any situation, we understood that we have a reaction to a situation vis-a-vis a response to a situation. Response is intelligently applied whereas the Reaction is a sub-conscious pre-programmed impulse that is quite spontaneous.

According to the BhagwadGita, Maya is a force of Prakriti( Nature) which is composed of these three personality traits of "Saatvic", "Rajasic" and "Tamasic" , and a mix of these three traits in different proportions is there in every human being, the predominance being different in each, making them different individuals behaving in different ways, in different situations. That means there are two main aspects in any personality: (a) The Main Inherent Nature, which governs the Intelligent Response & (b) The Masked Personality which keeps showing up as a reaction. Yes, this Maya causes these traits to rise and fall like waves in different situations and circumstances in the same person. Maya plays on and colours the "Ego" (Ahamkar), with the "reactionary masked traits" which in turn makes the person "react" to any situation in a particular manner. These reactions are the "Observable Behaviours" based on which most Psychometric tools identify the predominant traits of an individual. Most of us are living our lives in a "masked reality" and never attempt to understand our own true "inherent traits" as a person.

To give a practical illustration of this, take an example of a CEO in a office who is a highly Result focussed and agressive individual who is completely focussed on the bottom-line and the Goal of the Organisation. This person typically has the predominance of an inherently "Rajasic" or "Passionate" nature. As per the Gita, the main qualities of such a person is "Generosity", "Courage", "Boldness", "Fortitude", "Charity", "Risk Taker", "Welfare oriented", "decision maker" etc.. Typically, in the olden days, it is believed that the Guru in a Gurukul used to identify these inherent traits in youth and accordingly counsel them and guide them for their future in the world of work. According to the Gita, "Varna" was based on "GunaKarmaVibhagasya" ( Nature and Action) and not on birth as it has been portrayed and misused by the society, which today belittles and banishes the beautiful "Varna" based eco-system of the past.

Maya plays games with the mind and intelligence of a human being. The so-called "Rajasic" CEO, is tuned to believe that he is supposed to be the controller and head of everything in the work place, and this feeds the Ego. And here is where Maya takes over and the "Tamasic" nature starts growing where the qualities of "anger", "Brashness" and "self justification of every action using own intelligence" starts playing a record in the mind of the individual. The CEO shouts at and fires an employee stating the incompetence and arrogance of the young employee. The employee cries and runs out of the office and submits her resignation. The CEO convinces and justifies to himself that the employee was a waste and needed to be taught a lesson as she was arrogant and incompetent. Maya further plays a role in tuning the mind and intelligence of the CEO in such a way that he also re-inforces the same justification again and again to the leadership team of the organisation and the seniors in the organization further showing the data and proving to everyone that he was completely justified in shouting at her and throwing her out.

A lot of people misunderstand "Tamassic" qualities as "lethargic" and "lazy" behaviour. Well those are some of the inherent traits, but the hidden traits are more dangerous which result in extreme anger and jealousy and violence at times. They resemble the "rajasic" traits but are actually the Tamas in action. Maya is very smart in concealing this "tamas" in the garb of "rajas" or "sattva". The CEO is completely convinced that he as the top leader has performed his role, not realising that the real quality of "Rajas" required him to intelligently analyse the behaviour of the employee, make her realise her mistake and get her to perform her duty properly, and look after her welfare as the first action. Isn't this the right approach of a true leader? The courage to face such situations and take charge to enable the person to realise their folly is the true "Rajasic" spirit, but the "Tamasic" spirit shows its ugly head spontaneously and makes the person react at that moment, when the "Intelligence" is blinded temporarily. The worst part is that after the incident, Maya again continues the drama by making the ego justify it's "tamasic" action by calling it a "rajasic" reaction, and making the person feel comfortable in his "deluded" state. And this then starts becoming the permanent nature of the CEO who lives and reacts in his masked identity, always justifying that his reactions are actually for the welfare of the organisation, while in reality, tamas has created chaos and disharmony in the entire organisation because of the repeated masked behaviour( reactions) of the CEO.

Arjuna's dilemma in Chapter 1 is similar, where the "Tamasic" nature shows its head and advises him to "Not Fight" and retreat to the jungles and attain spiritual enhancement. So Arjuna thinks that his Sattvic nature is taking over his Rajasic nature, but it is actually the "tamassic" nature in the garb of "sattva" which deludes Arjuna and puts him into a nuerotic state. Arjuna is inherently a "Rajasic" personality but being played upon by Maya because of the inputs received from "Dhritarashtra' one day prior to the battle, so his attachment to the family and his relationship with the enemy, puts him into a dilemma. This is the quality of "Tamas" which makes a person too attached to own family and relations. The mind and intelligence is further goaded by Maya in convincing him that retreating into the forests is the right reaction to the current situation and the war can be averted. If not for the "Krishna-Arjuna Samvad" of BhagwadGita, Arjuna would have been convinced and retreated away from the battlefield, and lived in a masked identity which is not the true inherent nature of Arjuna.

As a parent, or as a teenager, in our daily lives, we are continuously reacting to the inputs that we receive from the environment. We also have our "observable behavioural" traits that keep showing up in our daily activities. We need to introspect and understand the difference between the "Maya-enforced Masked Behaviour" of "Reaction" and the "Inherent Quality based Responses".

So a basic check-off list that we must have is to check for the end- result of any action:-

(a) Has it brought happiness and peace to all the stakeholders?

(b) Has it brought more harmony to the environment?

(c) Has it improved the relationship with the affected person?

(d) Has it improved the productivity or efficiency of the persons involved?

If the Answer is "Yes" to all these questions, then the "Inherent Quality" is at work, else Maya has taken over and the "Masked Quality" is at work. Please do reflect on every thought and action before you react, and turn your reaction to a well thought of response.