page_title: Maya (religion)
section_title: Sikhism
hierarchical_section_title: Maya (religion) / Sikhism
caption_attribution_description: Sikhism Related Graphic of Khanda - one of important "logos" of this faith.
context_page_description: Maya, literally "illusion" or "magic", has multiple meanings in Indian philosophies depending on the context. In ancient Vedic literature, Māyā literally implies extraordinary power and wisdom. In later Vedic texts and modern literature dedicated to Indian traditions, Māyā connotes a "magic show, an illusion where things appear to be present but are not what they seem". Māyā is also a spiritual concept connoting "that which exists, but is constantly changing and thus is spiritually unreal", and the "power or the principle that conceals the true character of spiritual reality". In Advaita Vedanta school of hindu philosophy, Maya is an illusion which makes the world appear as duality.
  In Buddhism, Maya is the name of Gautama Buddha's mother.
  In Hinduism, Maya is also an epithet for goddess, and the name of a manifestation of Lakshmi, the goddess of "wealth, prosperity and love". Also, Maya refers to wealth or treasure itself. Many example of hidden treasures guarded by visible or invisible supernatural powers.
  Maya is also a name for girls.
context_section_description: 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. Sikhism believes that people are trapped in the world because of five vices: lust, anger, greed, attachment, and ego. Maya enables these five vices and makes a person think the physical world is "real," whereas, the goal of Sikhism is to rid the self of them. Consider the following example: 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.
  (Sri Guru Granth Sahib 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. (Sri Guru Granth Sahib 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 ANG 60
  "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
caption: Sikhism
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