THE Doctrine of Maya - HolyBooks.com

"io8THE DOCTRINE OF MAYAphatically broughtstance, he remarks on page 488out than in Sankara. For inAll empiric action is true, so long as the knowledge ofthe Self is not reached, just as the action in dreams beforeawaking takes place. As long in fact as the knowledge ofunity with the true Self is not reached, one does not have aconsciousness of the unreality of the procedure connectedwith standards and objects of knowledge and fruits of works,but every creature, under a designation of I and mine,mistakes mere transformations for the Self and for characteristics of the Self, and on the other hand leaves out ofconsideration their original Brahman-Selfhood ;thereforebefore the consciousness of identity w r ith Brahman awakens,all worldly and Vaidic actions are ljustified."This fact is often ignored, and consequently theVedanta ischarged with fostering inaction, pessimism, leading finally to a zero-point, etc. Suchobjections are simply due to a misunderstanding orignorance of passages like these.With Sankara closes our survey of the doctrine ofMaya. The theory as held to-dayis in no way conflicting with the views of Sankara. After havingbeen made the object of polemics from differentquarters, this theory was againrevived with fullforce and vigour thoughit has never been dead inits influence by modern writers on the Vedanta.The same ideas of Gaudapada and Sankara were stillfurther elaborated, though the style of expression1The spirit of such passages is exactly analogous toKant s axiom that the transcendental ideality of the worlddoes not exclude its empiric reality.