YOU CHOOSE WHAT YOU BEHOLD: GOD OR MAYA

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

50. YOU CHOOSE WHAT YOU BEHOLD: GOD OR MAYA
This world in which you live, the things you are surrounded by, at once constitutes the
illusory creation of maya—deluding, attracting, tempting, pulling you out, an enchanting bazaar of
false appearances drawing you away from your right direction, away from your goal—and at the
same time it also constitutes nothing but God, God appearing in ever so many forms, a great grand
revelation, a manifestation, a cosmic expression.
And the paradox is that our scriptures declare and affirm both these things. At one point
Lord Krishna says: “Very hard and difficult indeed is My maya, made of the three gunas, to cross,
to go beyond. Most succumb to its attraction, lose the way and get caught in the net of death and
rebirth.” In the same Gita teachings, He says to Arjuna in the eleventh chapter: “Behold the reality
of this universe.” Arjuna looks and sees only God, God alone everywhere.
So you live in this paradox. What does it mean to you? What do you make of it? Are you
living in God, or are you surrounded on all sides and overwhelmed by maya? What is the truth? It is
for you to decide. He that hath eyes, let him see. He that hath ears, let him hear.
The paradox will be there. But the paradox may not be a paradox. It is simply to say that
Brahman and maya coexist. God and His deluding power coexist. It is for you to choose what you
will see. The Upanishads give the analogy of the munja grass which has an inner core that can be
drawn out of the outer covering. If you are not aware of this you will only see the outer appearance.
Similarly, the outer side of all things is the deluding, tantalising, tempting maya. But the
inner side is the one, all-pervading, ever-present, divine Cosmic Reality. It is, therefore, for you to
decide towards which you will direct your vision. As you look, so you will behold. If you look at it

with the eyes of non-discrimination, you will behold only the outer appearance. If you look at it
with the eyes of discrimination, then you will behold the hidden God.
You must look with a special eye. Just as in the eleventh chapter of the Gita the Lord clearly
declared to Arjuna that he would not be able to see with his ordinary eye, and so He bestowed upon
him an extraordinary eye; so, in this century, Gurudev came amidst us to try to give us the right
vision, to bestow upon us a divine way of looking at things, of beholding the Divine Reality hiding
within the outer appearances. He tried to bestow upon us the right vision through his writings,
through his teachings and through the wisdom he imparted to us by the way he lived his life.
Whether you behold God or maya depends upon you. They coexist. You cannot separate
them. It is for you to be wise, for you to be awakened within, for you to use discrimination and
behold the essence and not be deluded and overcome by the appearance. If you thus live, the world
will elevate you to sublime heights each moment. It has the potential to inspire you, elevate you, fill
you with Divinity.
Therefore, look and behold the Reality. Do not allow your mind to be drawn away by the
appearance. Let your life be lived in wisdom and discrimination. Let your life be lived with an
awakened vision, never missing the essence, at all times beholding only the Reality: samam
sarveshu bhuteshu tishthantam paramesvaram vinasyatsv avinas- yantam yah pasyati sa pasyati
(He sees, who sees the supreme Lord existing equally in all beings, the unperishing within the
perishing). Thus the Lord has declared.
Therefore, if you live with this eye of discrimination, you can also say: “I live, move and
have my being in God.” God will become the greater reality to you. Maya will fade away and take a
back seat, and you will practise the presence of God. You will benefit by the divine proximity. Life
will become to you an Upanishad. Thus may you live and become blessed forever!
You have this great blessedness of having a dual awareness—a lesser awareness which is an
error, and a greater awareness which is the truth, the correct awareness. And this wonderful fact
grants you the privilege of being in a position to make yourself an instrument, not merely of the
limitations, finitude and imperfections of your temporary, fleeting human personality, but
choosing, on the other hand, to make yourself an instrument for the expression and manifestation of
all the perfections that comprise your true, essential divine nature.
You have the privilege of making this choice: I shall make myself an instrument of my
divine perfection, not my human imperfections. I shall make myself a centre of God. I shall make
myself a centre of God’s perfection, beauty, truth, purity, compassion, forgiveness, wisdom,
harmony, love, tolerance, peace, friendship, helpfulness and divinity.
In short, I shall choose; and I will apply and utilise this great privilege that I have of making
myself an instrument of all that is lofty, noble and sublime. I shall supply to the world that which it
lacks. I shall not add more clouds to the firmament. I shall bring a ray of sunshine!