MIST OF MAYA

Maya is what the world of form appears to be as opposed to what it actually is.  It is the illusory aspect of Brahman.

Vedanta uses the example of a snake and a rope.  We are walking along when up ahead we spot what appears to be a snake, except that when we get there we find that it is only a rope.

Swami Brahmananda (Maharaj) said that being chained to this maya, to this false perception, we do not realize how great our suffering is.  For instance, our bodies decay day by day, as do our minds, yet we remain asleep in maya, thinking everything is fine.

In maya, we forget the sacred mission for which we were born, which is to know God.  By not knowing God, by remaining ignorant of our identity with Him, we forever spin on the wheel of birth, death, and rebirth. 

Ironically, we have an advantage over all other forms of life in that it is by human birth alone that God can be realized.  It is through our knowing God that we wake up from maya, and our suffering ends.