We have sufficiently discussed to affirm that Shakthi is the kinetic energy. Mind and matter are the two components of this kinetic energy. Matter is perceived through the sensory organs that functions under the gambit of mind which alone could maneuver these sensory organs. This combination of mind and matter is called maya. As long as the body works under the influence of maya, the concept of duality continues. Therefore it is important to note, that maya will continue to exist in all the stages of spiritual life. If someone asks you to go beyond mind, that is not possible at all.

Even if you want to go to the stage of turiya, you have to necessarily move your consciousness away from your body which is not possible without mind. Mind can only be trained and tamed but can never be dispensed with. It is an essential component of our living. The second component of maya is matter. An object can be identified only by the self. Of course, there is a process for this identification, like eyes seeing an object and conveying it to the mind etc and this we have already dealt with in this blog quite elaborately. This identification of the matter by the self is maya. The self we are talking about here is the jivatma or the soul. Every object in this universe is the manifestation of the kinetic energy. The fact is that Shakthi as the origin of all the objects and also exists in all the objects covers herself with a veil, makes the jivatma or the soul to identify that object as different from its own self. This concept is maya. But what this maya has to do with self-realization? It has a lot to do as we have seen earlier that it is associated with mind. Both mind and matter originate from maya which is known as Shakthi.

Let us for a moment analyze how consciousness is created. Necessarily it has to originate from something or other. If we could analyze, we can understand that consciousness is the product of mind. The modification of the mind leads to different levels of consciousness such as super consciousness, sub-consciousness, consciousness and un-consciousness. The different stages of consciousness are not simply manifestation of the mind, but importantly they are the modifications of the mind. To progress in the spiritual path, modification of mind is important than manifestation, as manifestation is associated with thoughts and forms. This process of modification of the mind is called spiritual development. In the advanced stage of spiritual development the concept of maya undergoes radical changes due to the modifications that continuously take place in the mind.

As you make further spiritual progress, the Truth is realized. But what is Truth? Atma in its original form is unconscious, which we have seen in earlier postings. It attains consciousness when it is associated with mind and matter. When atma does not have a gross form, it is unconscious. Mind and matter resurrects the unconscious atma back to life, which is called rebirth. Further progress is made by the resurrected atma according to its karmic account. This atma consists of two components prakasha and vimarsha. These two components are also known as Shiva and Shakthi or Jivatma and paramatma or soul and Brahman. Unless these two components unite, there is no creation. This is called the union of Shiva and Shakthi, which is the ultimate Truth.