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The Fourth Lesson: The Vedanta System.1197
subjective self, or “inner consciousness.” Others hold that Brahman desires
to express himself into relative objectivity and activity, and attempts to do
so over and over again, but finding that the same is impossible, he is forced
to beat a retreat, and relinquish the effort—but this last is rather more the
speculation of a Vedantist affected by the Buddhist or Schopenhauer-like
thought of an unconscious and unintelligent Absolute trying to express
itself into consciousness, and being forced to a retreat by the pain arising
therefrom. This idea is not true to the Vedantist ideal and conception,
although it has been advanced by some good teachers. To others it has
seemed that Brahman first conceived of the abstract ideas of Time) Space
and Causation—the three Great Relative Principles—and in meditating
upon these three relativities he began to consider himself in connection
with them—through their triple glasses of thought, as it were—and thus
arose the Avidya that produced the Maya, that produced the phenomenal
universe, and caused Brahman to consider himself as the Many in Time,
Space and Causation.
In all of the speculations (which concern themselves with the “How” rather
than the “Why,” of Maya, remember) there is the underlying thought that
Maya must be a mental something—that is, something arising in the “mind”
of Brahman, if such a relative term may be used; and also the conception
that in some mysterious way Brahman is involved and rapt in his imaginings,
dreams, or conceptions, or mental creations. These two ideas underlie all
of the speculation regarding Maya. And all agree that pain, misery and
unhappiness result from this involvement of Brahm in his mental creations,
even though, as the teachers say, the “total period of the creation, existence,
and death of universe, is as but the twinkle of an eye to Brahman”—that
is, it is practically instantaneous, from start to finish just as even a man
may dream a lifetime in a few moments. One of the Hindu teachers gave
this parable illustrating the idea of Brahm being involved in his creative
processes: “Indra, one of the gods, once descended into Nature, or Prakriti,
in order to gain experience, and so incarnated as a pig, losing all knowledge