Maya (illusion) - Sikhism

Sikhism

In Sikhism, the world is regarded as both transitory and relatively real. God is viewed as the only reality, but within God exist both conscious souls and nonconscious objects; these created objects are also real. Natural phenomena are real but the effects they generate are unreal. māyā is as the events are real yet māyā is not as the effects are unreal. Consider the following examples. In the moonless night, a rope lying on the ground may be mistaken for a snake. We know that the rope alone is real, not the snake. However, the failure to perceive the rope gives rise to the false perception of the snake. Once the darkness is removed, the rope alone remains; the snake disappears.

• Sakti adher jevarhee bhram chookaa nihchal siv ghari vaasaa.
  In the darkness of māyā, I mistook the rope for the snake, but that is over, and now I dwell in the eternal home of the Lord .
  (sggs 332).
• Raaj bhuiang prasang jaise hahi ab kashu maram janaaiaa.
  Like the story of the rope mistaken for a snake, the mystery has now been explained to me. Like the many bracelets, which I mistakenly thought were gold; now, I do not say what I said then . (sggs 658).

In some mythologies the symbol of the snake was associated with money, and māyā in modern Punjabi refers to money. However in the Guru Granth Sahib māyā refers to the "grand illusion" of materialism. From this māyā all other evils are born, but by understanding the nature of māyā a person begins to approach spirituality.

• Janam baritha jāṯ rang mā▫i▫ā kai. ||1|| rahā▫o.
  You are squandering this life uselessly in the love of māyā.
  Sri Guru Granth Sahib M.5 Guru Arjan Dev ANG 12

The teachings of the Sikh Gurus push the idea of sewa (selfless service) and simran (prayer, meditation, or remembering one's true death). The depths of these two concepts and the core of Sikhism comes from sangat (congregation): by joining the congregation of true saints one is saved. By contrast, most people are believed to suffer from the false consciousness of materialism, as described in the following extracts from the Guru Granth Sahib:

• Mā▫i▫ā mohi visāri▫ā jagaṯ piṯā parṯipāl.
  In attachment to māyā, they have forgotten the Father, the Cherisher of the World.
  Sri Guru Granth Sahib M3 Guru Amar Das ANG 30
• Ih sarīr mā▫i▫ā kā puṯlā vicẖ ha▫umai ḏustī pā▫ī.
  This body is the puppet of māyā. The evil of egotism is within it.
  Sri Guru Granth Sahib M3 Guru Amar Das
• Bābā mā▫i▫ā bẖaram bẖulā▫e.
  O Baba, māyā deceives with its illusion.
  Sri Guru Granth Sahib M1 Guru Nanak Dev ANG60
• "For that which we cannot see, feel, smell, touch, or understand, we do not believe. For this, we are merely fools walking on the grounds of great potential with no comprehension of what is."
  Buddhist monk quotation