Freedom from the Grip of Maya – The Death of the “Me”?
This would be my second essay on Maya and probably may not be the last one because Maya could be interpreted in so many ways and has been done so by several sages that it is always interesting to discover more perspectives. Gautam (my spiritual teacher) in fact asked me to continue uncovering this subject and I have been contemplating upon this for several weeks (mostly in a passive subconscious way) until I came across these beautiful lines from Gorakhnath that gave me the right perspective for my second essay on Maya.
Gorakhnath says, “Maro He Jogi Maro, Maran he Metha; Us Marni Maro Jis Marni Gorakh Mari Dhita.” This translates to “Die O Yogi Die, Death is Sweet; Die in a manner in which Gorakh has died.”
A yogi is someone who is seeking union with the truth, he wants to achieve enlightenment, he wants to do sadhana and continue seeking the truth. He may need to do severe austerities including leaving his home and family and going and settling in a remote location, meditating for several hours a day, fasting, and performing difficult yoga postures and breathing exercises and so on and so forth. His objective is to reach a state of samadhi that is free from all thoughts and experiencing pure awareness. But would the one that goes into samadhi and comes back victorious still be present after the experience of samadhi?
Gorakhnath points this out and asks the yogi to die; the one that does sadhana and is seeking enlightenment has to die. He promises that it would be the sweetest experience to die.
What is Gorakhnath referring to and in what way is it related to Maya? In traditional Advaita Vedanta, Maya is defined as an illusion or appearance – an appearance that obscures us from seeing reality – our true nature. It is like mistaking a rope for a snake. But the appearance of a snake in a rope is not totally false; it has some truth to it - this truth is up to the extent of the illusion. The illusion, though not real, has a reality to the extent of being an illusion or, we can say, to the extent of being an appearance. In our case, that appearance is the appearance of the “me,” which can be termed as the ego. The ego is the identification with a form and comes with a sense of doership. This ego thinks it was indulging in samsara and experiencing suffering, and it is the same ego that now pivots to doing sadhana and achieving enlightenment. It cannot be argued that this ego exists just like it cannot be argued that the illusion of the snake exists. But it is altogether a different matter whether the ego is real or whether it would disappear on closer inspection, just like the snake would disappear on a closer inspection of the rope.
This ego appears to be so real that it obscures the reality of our true nature, which is our being, our true nature – pure awareness. So, for us to see the reality of the rope, we need to first understand that the snake seen is an appearance; i.e., it is not real. In other words, the illusion of the snake has to die. Once the illusion dies, the reality of the rope shines in its full glory. In the same way, the reality of the ego has to be investigated with
the torch of self-enquiry and awareness. Whether it is real or not has to be uncovered by the yogi.
It is not very difficult for any of us to accept that there could be only one source or one reality. It is also not far-fetched for us to accept that the same reality or source has created this vast universe and also our body-minds with an ego and its sense of doership. We all have a sense of “me” that starts developing right from our childhood. It is this “me” that believes that I am a separate human being and believes that I am the doer of any action that happens through this body-mind mechanism. Maya is exactly this. The nature of reality is to appear as this universe (saguna brahman) as much as it is to be without any qualities or appearances (nirguna brahman). Both saguna and nirguna brahman are one reality, and there is no separation (we can also call it Shiva and Shakti). Everything in this universe is happening by itself – there is no doer, and if there is any doer – it can only be the source. So Maya can only be whatever creates a separation in this oneness, and that is the belief of being a separate entity along with a sense of doership. In other words, Maya is the “me” with its story, its problems, and aspirations. Gorakhnath asks us to drop this belief and enjoy the sweetness of this oneness.
When the sense of doership is dropped, which is the fundamental pillar of the ego, it is seen that everything is happening by itself, including the awareness of the happenings. It is seen that there has never been any “me,” and what remains is just peace, happiness, and the sweetness of this death.
I offer my salutations to the great sage Gorakhnath for helping spiritual seekers like me with such powerful verses that are so simple to understand but yet deliver the highest teachings.
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