A Modern Interpretation of an Ancient Concept, Māyā!
History Professor Yuval Noah Harari in his epoch making book “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” states that the truly unique trait of humans is our ability to create and believe in myth, fiction, and stories.
The objective of this post is to illustrate the fact that this profound concept of Harari is a clear example of a spiritual concept Maya (Sanskrit word meaning illusion or magic) established by Indian philosophy of Hinduism that is more than 8,000 years old.
There are various examples of such myths created by humans' power of storytelling. To start with, take the example of a nation or a country. A nation is no more than a story that people collectively believe to be true. Each such story tells about a specific territory, a political entity, a permanent population, a written constitution, and rule by a government.
Today, the world order is built around such fictional entities called nations that only exist in people's collective mind!
Another such myth invented by humans is money. It is nothing but a generally accepted and mutually agreed upon economic unit, symbolized by paper notes, and exchanged for financial transactions. The evolving digital mode of payments has made even these symbolic artifacts quite irrelevant.
Other figments of our imaginations are institutions such as schools, universities, banks, companies etc. In this age of pandemic when students are learning from home, and employees are working from their residences it is becoming more apparent that the buildings and edifices that we really took for granted as schools, universities, banks and companies are just castles in the air and are not essential for the functioning of these institutions.
Religion is another elaborate myth created by mankind, supposedly for its peaceful existence. Religion, with the belief in a moralizing God, was invented by our ancestors to encourage cooperation and tolerance among relative strangers in a large society. All places of worship, built as grand architectural structures, are supported by various mythologies about different Gods and Goddesses.
According to Harari these illusory objects are functional, beneficial, and convenient myths created by our forefathers, using human's unique storytelling abilities, for the main purpose of harmonious living in a large agricultural society.
For example, Heisenberg’s succinct and beautiful concept of 'Uncertainty Principle' points out the limits of our knowledge by stating that you cannot know, with absolute certainty, both the position and momentum of a particle.
Einstein's elegant concept of 'Space-time Continuum' states that space and time together form an elastic surface that bends under the weight of heavy objects, and that the gravitational ‘force’ is nothing but just following the curvy contours of the 4-dimensional surface.
Gödel’s shocking concept of 'Incompleteness Theorem' states that any set of axioms that you consider as a possible foundation for Mathematics will inevitably be incomplete; that there will always be true facts that cannot be proved by those axioms.
The concept of 'Wave-particle Duality' refers to the fundamental property of matter where, at one moment it appears like a 'wave', and yet, at another moment, it acts like a 'particle'. This concept in quantum mechanics states that every particle or quantum entity may be described as either a wave or a particle.
These new mental concepts of such fabulous breadth and depth were shaking the very foundations of physical science.
It is precisely these profound mental concepts of such fabulous breadth and depth that inspired and influenced western science stalwarts such as Erwin Schrodinger, Werner Heisenberg, Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Niels Bohr, Carl Sagan, Fritjof Capra, and Stephen Hawking.
What I found particularly striking is how the spiritual concept, Maya, neatly incorporates and assimilates Harari's concept of myth creation and sustenance by humans.
For example, the apparent reality is that Sun rises in the East and sets in the West whereas the actual reality is that Sun doesn't go around the Earth. The concept of Maya helps us in understanding complex phenomena in easier ways at different levels.
Harari's revolutionary notion that what we believe as real things such as nation, money, religion and institutions such as banks, universities... are all myths or fictions created by us, closely parallels with the Hindu philosophic concept Maya, which implies "an illusion where things appear to be present but are not what they seem".
It is similar to the philosophical notion that the versatile world is an illusion (Maya) and that all that passes to the comprehension of the waking individual is but a fantasy presented to his imagination. Vedic scriptures say that we should not be misled by the ordinary sensory experience of ours. We should pay particular attention to our perceptions and go beyond the appearance of things to know the truth.
In Hinduism, the universe we live in is considered as an illusion that we experience as real. The world is an illusion not because it does not exist, but because it is not what it appears to be, all the time. It is perceived differently by different individuals or by the same individual at different times, relative to their awareness, state of mind, and expectation.
In a broader context, Maya is the powerful force that creates the cosmic illusion that the phenomenal world is real. The scriptures explain the need to understand Maya as follows:
Power of Storytelling
Harari talks about various types of entities that we normally consider as real but demonstrates that they are all myths created out of our imagination and our collective reality on which we believe. Myths are shared beliefs that connect people together.There are various examples of such myths created by humans' power of storytelling. To start with, take the example of a nation or a country. A nation is no more than a story that people collectively believe to be true. Each such story tells about a specific territory, a political entity, a permanent population, a written constitution, and rule by a government.
Today, the world order is built around such fictional entities called nations that only exist in people's collective mind!
Another such myth invented by humans is money. It is nothing but a generally accepted and mutually agreed upon economic unit, symbolized by paper notes, and exchanged for financial transactions. The evolving digital mode of payments has made even these symbolic artifacts quite irrelevant.
Other figments of our imaginations are institutions such as schools, universities, banks, companies etc. In this age of pandemic when students are learning from home, and employees are working from their residences it is becoming more apparent that the buildings and edifices that we really took for granted as schools, universities, banks and companies are just castles in the air and are not essential for the functioning of these institutions.
Religion is another elaborate myth created by mankind, supposedly for its peaceful existence. Religion, with the belief in a moralizing God, was invented by our ancestors to encourage cooperation and tolerance among relative strangers in a large society. All places of worship, built as grand architectural structures, are supported by various mythologies about different Gods and Goddesses.
According to Harari these illusory objects are functional, beneficial, and convenient myths created by our forefathers, using human's unique storytelling abilities, for the main purpose of harmonious living in a large agricultural society.
Mind Boggling Scientific Concepts
Many of us are familiar with similar startling and overwhelming concepts in science.For example, Heisenberg’s succinct and beautiful concept of 'Uncertainty Principle' points out the limits of our knowledge by stating that you cannot know, with absolute certainty, both the position and momentum of a particle.
Einstein's elegant concept of 'Space-time Continuum' states that space and time together form an elastic surface that bends under the weight of heavy objects, and that the gravitational ‘force’ is nothing but just following the curvy contours of the 4-dimensional surface.
Gödel’s shocking concept of 'Incompleteness Theorem' states that any set of axioms that you consider as a possible foundation for Mathematics will inevitably be incomplete; that there will always be true facts that cannot be proved by those axioms.
The concept of 'Wave-particle Duality' refers to the fundamental property of matter where, at one moment it appears like a 'wave', and yet, at another moment, it acts like a 'particle'. This concept in quantum mechanics states that every particle or quantum entity may be described as either a wave or a particle.
These new mental concepts of such fabulous breadth and depth were shaking the very foundations of physical science.
| "Drawing Hands" by M C Escher |
This famous picture by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher depicts a sheet of paper that portrays two hands drawing each other into existence. The two hands are locked in an eternal act of creation, blurring the line between the creator and the creation. This perception by our senses, closely parallels Maya (illusion), a fundamental concept in Indian philosophy of Hinduism.
Concepts in Indian Philosophy
Another realm where you find such exciting and exhilarating notions is in the ancient Indian philosophy of Hinduism. In Vedas and Upanishads you find extraordinary philosophic concepts, succinctly expressed in Sanskrit words, such as Brahman, Atman, Karma, Dharma, Moksha, Maya, Mukthi, Samsara, etc.It is precisely these profound mental concepts of such fabulous breadth and depth that inspired and influenced western science stalwarts such as Erwin Schrodinger, Werner Heisenberg, Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Niels Bohr, Carl Sagan, Fritjof Capra, and Stephen Hawking.
The Hindu philosophy made them realize that these new ideas in modern physics are not in the nature of things wholly unfamiliar, wholly unheard of, or wholly new but that there are many similar concepts and parallels in Vedantic thoughts.
Fritjof Capra in his book "Uncommon Wisdom: Conversations With Remarkable People" (1988), writes about the discussion that Indian philosopher Rabindranath Tagore had with quantum physicist Werner Heisenberg:
Fritjof Capra in his book "Uncommon Wisdom: Conversations With Remarkable People" (1988), writes about the discussion that Indian philosopher Rabindranath Tagore had with quantum physicist Werner Heisenberg:
"He began to see that the recognition of relativity, interconnectedness, and impermanence as fundamental aspects of physical reality, which had been so difficult for himself and his fellow physicists, was the very basis of Indian spiritual traditions."
What I found particularly striking is how the spiritual concept, Maya, neatly incorporates and assimilates Harari's concept of myth creation and sustenance by humans.
Doctrine of Maya
The Sanskrit term Maya literally means "illusion" or "magic". The doctrine of Maya is native to the Vedanta philosophy. The concept of Maya makes us understand the difference between apparent reality and actual reality.For example, the apparent reality is that Sun rises in the East and sets in the West whereas the actual reality is that Sun doesn't go around the Earth. The concept of Maya helps us in understanding complex phenomena in easier ways at different levels.
Harari's revolutionary notion that what we believe as real things such as nation, money, religion and institutions such as banks, universities... are all myths or fictions created by us, closely parallels with the Hindu philosophic concept Maya, which implies "an illusion where things appear to be present but are not what they seem".
It is similar to the philosophical notion that the versatile world is an illusion (Maya) and that all that passes to the comprehension of the waking individual is but a fantasy presented to his imagination. Vedic scriptures say that we should not be misled by the ordinary sensory experience of ours. We should pay particular attention to our perceptions and go beyond the appearance of things to know the truth.
In Hinduism, the universe we live in is considered as an illusion that we experience as real. The world is an illusion not because it does not exist, but because it is not what it appears to be, all the time. It is perceived differently by different individuals or by the same individual at different times, relative to their awareness, state of mind, and expectation.
In a broader context, Maya is the powerful force that creates the cosmic illusion that the phenomenal world is real. The scriptures explain the need to understand Maya as follows:
"Just as when the dirt is removed, the real substance is made manifest; just as when the darkness of the night is dispelled, the objects that were shrouded by the darkness are clearly seen, when ignorance [Maya] is dispelled, truth is realized".
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