The Web Of MAYA
Maya in the Rigveda, Radhakrishnan opines it was only used to signify might and power. Maya as the cause of illusion or as the sense of Avidya (lack of knowledge) has never been used in the Vedas. Maya meant wisdom and extraordinary power in an earlier language, but later the word came to mean illusion, fraud, deception, witchcraft, sorcery and magic. In early Vedic literature, Varuna's supernatural power is called Maya
In Advaita Vedanta philosophy, māyā is the limited, purely physical and mental reality in which our everyday consciousness has become entangled. The concept of māyā was introduced by the ninth-century Hindu philosopher Adi Shankara. He refuses, however, to explain the relationship between Brahman and māyā.
One should understand clearly what is "field" and what is "The Knower of this field" in order to understand Maya. For the work of Maya is nothing but to fool us, by showing the "field" or "body" as the self (us) and the "Knower of the field" or the "Soul" as unreal. While the truth is that the self (we) are the "Knower of the field" / "Soul" and the "field" / "body" is apart from us, we merely see this body day to day, as it is born and dying and reborn.
Spoken by Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra Bhagavad Gita, Ch. 13, Verse 26:
Wherever a being is born, whether unmoving or moving, know that Arjuna, as born from the union between the field and the knower of the field.
Purusha is the knower of the field; Prakriti (nature) is the field; Shiva is another name for the knower of the field and Shakti is the field; Spirit is another name for the knower of the field and Matter (Prakriti) is the field; The Knower of the field is also called as Soul where its embodied body is the field. (Bhagavad Gita, Ch. 13, Verse 30: )
The way maya has been liberally used by everybody, is a falsification. What we need to realize is that both the knower and the known or the field of energy are a part of each other and cannot be considered as an illusion/delusion/ false or unreal. Both have the absolute as their substance or content. This has been time and again explained; Tat tvam Asi meaning ‘I am That” or Hari Om Tat Sat meaning, Hari is the manifest and Om the unmanifest, but the seen and the unseen are the same.
Please try to remember that it is through only mind that consciousness is revealed or illusions are discovered. The illusion in the mind is desire, which keeps separating us from our soul by functioning mainly in self-interest. Become selfless and you are considered a Karm-yogi.
Shiva was captivated by Mohini and chased her because of desire. Even Narada was obsessed by desire with the beautiful princess, whom he desired to marry. All these desires, in fact, lead not to illusion but delusion.
In fact, God is considered to be an illusion, because he is man made and out of fear and insecurity, we keep seeking and desiring from Him more and more for ourselves. If we wish to experience God, all we need to do is turn our eyes inwards, experience and realize that Divinity within us to properly understand the meaning behind ‘I am That”