Hi Ram,
All is going well, working through the Panchadasi series at the moment…just brilliant, so grateful. I have a question on the subtle distinction between Maya and mithya if you have the time. I understand that they are one and the same broadly speaking but I want to be precise on this point and square it away.
Am I right in stating that mithya is an intellectual manifestation of Maya generated by the forces of Tamas and Rajas? So, once self knowledge is firm (ignorance removed) then Maya remains from a “physical” standpoint as an apparent multiplicity of objects and a subject experiencing them (duality) but the knowledge destroys mithya?
Mithya is not a “thing”, it is simply the non apprehension of satya due to Maya + prodiminent Rajas/Tamas + absence of knowledge. In other words mithya is just a word to describe ignorance of what REALLY is, pure awareness. Mithya seems to exist until it doesn’t but the apparent physical world generated by Maya remains?
Hope I’m making sense.
James: You’re making perfect sense, Michael. Good on you! Any object witnessed by you, existence shining as consciousness, seems to be real because said existence is not known for what it is. Mithya means seemingness or “looks like.” The firm knowledge that you are limitless (not modified by what you see) i.e. eternal has no impact on the world of objects, only their status. They shift from the real to the seemingly real category. This “shift,” which is not a physical shift is just the disappearance of avidya, personal ignorance. Maya, collective ignorance, keeps on generating objects and the belief that the objects are real for everyone else.
Love,
Ram
