Sri Paramahansa Ramakrishna
Sri Ramakrishna, on the other hand, though fully aware, like his guru, that the
world is an illusory appearance, instead of slighting Māyā, like an orthodox
monist, acknowledged its power in the relative life. He was all love and
reverence for Māyā, perceiving in it a mysterious and majestic expression of
Divinity.
To him Māyā itself was God,
for everything was God. It was one of the faces of Brahman. What he had
realized on the heights of the transcendental plane, he also found here below,
everywhere about him, under the mysterious garb of names and forms. And this
garb was a perfectly transparent sheath, through which he recognized the glory
of the Divine Immanence.
Māyā, the mighty weaver of the
garb, is none other than Kāli, the Divine Mother. She is the primordial Divine
Energy, Śakti, and She can no more be distinguished from the Supreme Brahman
than can the power of burning be distinguished from fire. She projects the
world and again withdraws it. She spins it as the spider spins its web. She is
the Mother of the Universe, identical with the Brahman of Vedānta, and with the
Ātman of Yoga. As eternal Lawgiver, She makes and unmakes laws; it is by Her
imperious will that karma yields its fruit. She ensnares men with illusion and
again releases them from bondage with a look of Her benign eyes. She is the
supreme Mistress of the cosmic play, and all objects, animate and inanimate,
dance by Her will.
Even those who realize the
Absolute in nirvikalpa Samādhi are under Her jurisdiction as long as they still
live on the relative plane.
Thus, after Nirvikalpa Samādhi, Sri Ramakrishna realized Māyā in an altogether
new role. The binding aspect of Kāli vanished from before his vision. She no
longer obscured his understanding. The world became the glorious manifestation
of the Divine Mother. Māyā became
Brahman. The Transcendental Itself broke through the Immanent.
Sri Ramakrishna discovered
that Māyā operates in the relative world in two ways, and he termed these "Avidyā–Māyā" and
"Vidyā–Māyā".
Avidyā–Māyā
represents the dark forces of creation: sensuous desires, evil passions, greed,
lust, cruelty, and so on. It sustains the world system on the lower planes. It
is responsible for the round of man's birth and death. It must be fought and
vanquished.
But Vidyā–Māyā is the higher force of creation: the spiritual
virtues, the enlightening qualities, kindness, purity, love, devotion. Vidyā–
Māyā elevates man to the higher planes of consciousness. With the help of
Vidyā–Māyā the devotee rids himself of Avidyā–Māyā; he then becomes Māyātita,
free of Māyā.
The two aspects of Māyā are
the two forces of creation, the two powers of Kāli; and She stands beyond them
both. She is like the effulgent sun, bringing into existence and shining
through and standing behind the clouds of different colours and shapes,
conjuring up wonderful forms in the blue autumn heaven.
Peace love harmony
