Māyā for Magicians, Tricksters and Jugglers
A short meditation on this complex Sanskrit term that fuses Illusion and Magic
After years of browsing through many sad shelves tagged Tantra that mostly contained self-help books to spice up the sex life of naughty New Age housewives, I finally found a decent introduction to this complex and confusing topic. I started reading Jan Fries’ Kali Kaula and Feuerstein’s Path to Ecstasy in parallel - apologies to all the linearity purists. I am genuinely excited.
Both books touched several times upon the term Māyā, a word with unclear etymology, usually translated as “illusion”. Many complex words like karma, nirvana and samsara have already established their presence in the western canon, but our colloquial understanding is often miles away from the original meaning. As with many Sanskrit terms, the reality is much more flowery as the word combines several streams of meanings.
Before I get carried away, a word of caution: I am not in any way self-imposed authority on Indology. I have a pile of unfinished books and access to *the internet* so please, treat all my words with sensible scepticism and if you find any factual mistakes, do correct me.
Māyā as Illusion
Have you no thought, O dreamer, that it may be all maya, illusion? ~ Walt Whitman
The nature of Māyā as a Deception varies between many Hindu and Buddhist teachings. Some non-dualist schools believe that the Māyā is the force that creates the illusion of the phenomenal world being real. It is a source of ignorance that makes us mistake our ego for the true infinite Self (Atman). The physical world is just a phantom produced by the unenlightened mind.
Tantric schools refuse this metaphysic. They agree that Māyā is an illusion to the unenlightened mind. But it is one with a purpose and practical implications. The physical world is not a shadow to be abandoned, but rather a glorious manifestation of god (Shiva). Tantra is an embodied teaching, and Māyā is an essential part of our bodily experience.
Both Mahayana and Zen Buddhists generally subscribe to the second definition, where Māyā does not mark the world as an utterly meaningless realm of petty illusion. In these traditions, Māyā and Nirvana are just intellectual distinctions and essentially equal in nature. Deception occurs when one assumes the phenomenological world to be the only permanent reality.
Māyā in Vedas and Upanishads was personified and eventually became a goddess of illusion and dreams. I have to admit, except for some very dodgy articles on pages like illuminate-yer-mind.blogosphere.com, I really struggle to find any primary sources. Māyā seems to be veiled by a mystery, and I do not sign under factual correctness of any of these: she shares the name with Buddha’s mother, she is the maiden aspect of goddess Kali, she created the difference between ‘I, my, mine and thine’1. She is an indispensable part of god’s feminine aspect, she is Shakti, and she is responsible for turning the Wheel of Destiny.
Maya as Magic
“The meaning of Maya is magic, affection, attachment, deception. That meaning, which results from mixing all of these, is called life. In other words, life is maya.” ~ Pratibha Ray
Things become really interesting when we look at the other stream of meaning pouring into the term Māyā. The original association of this term with “this great magic-work” appears to be much older, dating as far as Rig Veda. It becomes the fuel that enables gods to fulfil their duties. It is associated with various forms of deception and trickery that a magician employs to create an illusion. The ability of gods to appear in various shapes is also a common theme in Hindu mythology, where the divine identities flow seamlessly through various forms. This skill is also attributed to their apt use of Māyā.
It is claimed Māyā exists independent of morality, so this power seems to be a crucial aspect of the never-ending war between gods and demons. According to Athara Veda, The Asuras (Indra’s primary adversaries in Vedas) can acquire this esoteric power to trick and deceive through performing austerities and generally, they “depend for life on Māyā”.
So the early notions of Māyā seem to be essentially neutral - it’s a rocket fuel that can get us to the moon or spit ICBM across the pacific. The tainted vision of Māyā as the poison, the cause of all suffering and the ultimate binding illusion that is inherently evil came much later. Whether the understanding of the term was better refined and slightly modified for the era of Kali-Yuga, or other political reasons, I don’t know. There is always much more to find out.
I helped myself with some factual information from this wonderful overview and history of the term that can be found here.
Magicians and Jugglers
This odd confluence of meanings behind Māyā made me think of the Tarot Trump Magician. When I first saw the Major Arcana, I was wondering: Is this guy with a stick here an illusionist, trying to lure a coin or two from one’s pocket on a travelling carnival, or is this the wise sage sustaining his great work on piles of obscure grimoires and esoteric manuscripts?
As always, there’s not a simple answer. Every deck has its own visual interpretation and your understanding of what magic is most likely already coloured in by a thousand other underlying experiences and assumptions. The archetypal meaning of the card radiates with this duality: the magician, the trickster, the juggler.
The magician is one who realizes the flow of subtle energies and, through his will, spins them into a complex spiderweb. His domain of operation is an illusion, and his ability to see through the veils enables him to trigger changes that appear magical. The very dichotomy in the word magic - being it a skill to hide a card up the sleeve, manifest specific energy in the physical world or conjure a demon, consists of manipulating “reality” in a certain skilful way.
In a very Crowleyan sense, magic is technology. Just as you will not win a lottery without buying a ticket, magic is based on the karmic principle of causality. Action and reaction, it’s all manipulation within the phenomenal world of our existence, which essentially comprises of greater or lesser illusion.
Twisting all these threads together, I invite you, dear tricksters and bodhisattvas, to contemplate this duality of esoteric powers, on the means and the ends. Once we are far enough on the path not to question magic’s if, but rather why, we need to ask ourselves: Is my magic heading towards enlightenment, self-knowledge and kindness, or does it bind me stronger, through pleasure, arrogance and ecstasy, to the Wheel of Time?
Thank you for reading; please do share your thoughts over a warm (online) tea with me. Samhain has always been a great time for contemplation.
Book Reviews
The two books I’m currently chewing through:
Fries has an approach “do whatever works for you”. He’s a free-style shaman with quite unorthodox opinions regarding prescriptive manuals, a hard-to-swallow attitude for most traditionalists. The book meanders through many topics, sometimes suffering from the author knowing too much and getting caught up in details. On the other hand, it paints a bigger picture that gives you a bit more of a feel of the whole tradition. This is great help, as India and its colourful ways are very foreign to most westerners. The themes in Hindu writings don’t translate that well into our cultural mycelium without understanding the greater social and historical setting.
Feuerstein is, on the other hand, very academic, almost dry. He lists long sequences of terms, their philosophical significance and meticulously references specific passages of primary sources (I’m such a sucker for this). You are presented with the main metaphysical and cosmological doctrines necessary for an understanding of the essence of Tantra. Still, without the broader context, a lot of meanings just don’t stick.
I got an incredible list of book recommendations from the Instagram hive mind on the topic of (Hindu) Tantra. I’ll just leave a couple of them here:
Tantra of The Great Liberation (primary)
Bhairava-Kali-Dharma: Manifestations of Tantra by Adinath Jayadhar
The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India by David Gordon White
The Goddess of … Pronouns?
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS AND IM GRATEFUL U WRITE