MAYA AND PURE CONSCIOUSNESS AS THE GODDESS’ OWN TRUE SELF
[The Goddess proclaims herself to be the preexisting cause of the universe, from whom evolved the creative power of Maya.]
The Goddess spoke:
“May all the gods attend to what I have to say. By merely hearing these words of mine, one attains my essential nature.
I alone existed in the beginning; there was nothing else at all, O Mountain King. My true Self is known as pure consciousness, the highest intelligence, the one supreme Brahman.
It is beyond reason, indescribable, incomparable, incorruptible. From out itself evolves a certain power renowned as Maya.
Neither real nor unreal is this Maya, nor is it both, for that would be incongruous. Lacking such characteristics, this indefinite entity has always subsisted.
As heat inheres in fire, as brilliance in the sun, as cool light in the moon, just so this Maya inheres firmly in me.
Into that Maya the actions of souls, the souls themselves, and the ages eventually dissolve without distinctions as worldly concerns disappear in deep sleep.
By uniting with this power of mine I become the cosmic seed. By obscuring me, its own basis, this power is prone to defects.
Through its association with consciousness, Maya, is called the efficient cause of the world. Through its evolution into the visible realm, it is said to be the material cause.
Some call this Maya the power of austerity; others call it darkness; still others, dullness, or knowledge, illusion, matter, nature, energy or the unborn.
Those versed in Shaiva works call it intelligence, while the Vedantins call it ignorance. Such are its various names found in the Vedic and other sacred texts.”
[The Goddess distinguishes between nonconscious Maya and her own true Self as pure consciousness.]
“Since Maya is something we can perceive, it has the nature of non-conscious matter; since knowledge destroys it, it is not truly existent.
Consciousness is not something we can perceive; what we perceive is indeed non-conscious. Consciousness is self-luminous; nothing else illuminates it.
It does not even illuminate itself for that would lead to the fallacy of infinite regress. As an agent and the object acted upon are distinct entities, so consciousness itself is like a lamp,
While shining brightly, illuminates what is other than itself. Know this, O Mountain King, for thus have I demonstrated that consciousness belonging to my own nature is eternal.
This visible world appears and disappears constantly in the various states of waking, dream and deep sleep. Pure consciousness never experiences such fluctuation.
Even if consciousness itself became an object of perception, then the witness of that perfection would abide as the real pure consciousness, as before.
And so those versed in religious treatises, regarding the real, declare consciousness to be eternal. Its nature is bliss, for it is the object of supreme love.
The feeling, ‘Let me not cease to be; let me exist forever,’ is rooted in love for the Self. Certainly there is no actual relation between me and all else, since all else is false.
Therefore I am regarded truly as an undivided whole. And that consciousness is not an attribute of the Self, for then the Self would be like an object.
In consciousness no possible trace of the object state can be found. And so consciousness also has no attributes; consciousness is not a quality separable from consciousness itself.
Therefore the Self in essence is consciousness, and bliss as well, always. It is the real and complete, beyond all relation, and free from the illusion of duality.”
Devi Gita 2.1-21 (Brown 1998, 85-92)
