What is maya and whether all the non-Indians are under maya?
A male devotee (Name hidden) asked like this:
Dear sir, I wanna your views. We all know, there is only one supreme god “shree vishnu”. But most of the world population even don’t know the name of shree Vishnu or don’t wanna know about shree Vishnu. Are they in illusion?? If they are not in illusions, then their prophets and lords are also the messenger of shree Vishnu in other forms ??? If it’s true then why their culture is totally different from Hinduism culture …?? Why ???
REPLY:
Whatever country they belong to (Including India) and whatever race or religion they belong to (Including Hinduism), it does not matter; If anyone thinks that this materialistic way of life is the real one he should desire for, then, he is in illusion.
Briefly, those who think good as bad and vice versa are under the clutch of maya.
(Since this world is under Maya, how can we fully surrender to Krishna? READ HERE!)
As all of us know, Krishna/ Vishnu is the master of maya. Maya is also acting as per the directions and control of Krishna. So, if anyone lives forgetting the master of maya, ie, Krishna, then, he is in illusion.
What is maya or illusion?
If anyone considers the temporary things as permanent and vice versa, he is considered to be under maya. Had he realized that Krishna conscious life is the only activity that leads one towards the eternal kingdom of Krishna stopping further births and deaths, then, he wouldn’t consider this temporary material life as eternal one.
The person under maya considers the sense related short-term pleasures as permanent one. He thinks that he can always enjoy such pleasures. When he starts to feel the distress followed by pleasures, he sits in lamentation and scolds God for giving pains to him.
(What is ‘SIN’ as per the Scriptures? Definition of Sin & Tips to avoid sins! READ HERE!)
How Krishna can be responsible for the pains that we face in life? When a person enjoys the smoke of the cigarettes, he is flying because of intoxication. But, he forgets that he is causing his lungs to get affected by the toxic chemicals in that smoke. Then, his lungs become weak or affected by cancer and hence he faces serious pain. How can he scold Krishna for such pain? He alone invited that pain by smoking and enjoying the same. If he had chanted instead of smoking, he would have enjoyed eternal bliss with the mercy of Lord.
If a person aims to please his wife by gifting plenty of gold jewels every salary day, he is also inviting pains. How? His wife will start to expect gold on every salary day. When some other expenses make him unable to spare for gold, his wife starts to get disappointed and hence heated exchanges start among them. Whose fault it is to make his wife expecting gold every month? If he had given the exposure to plenty of harinams to his wife every day, his wife would have become uninterested in material belongings and hence they can lead a smooth life.
Thus, whether he believes in Vishnu or not, let it be. If he considers this material life to be always happier one, he is under maya. But, he can not realize that he is under maya because he has not been taught about maya and her controller Krishna.
But, we the Indians and others who are fortunate to know about Krishna, can identify which act is under maya and which is God conscious. We can also separate impermanent material pleasures and eternal bliss offered by the devotion to Krishna.
(Is Mayadevi closer to us than Krishna as she is our immediate controller? READ HERE!)
About your second question. Yes, all the messengers who spoke about god in different places of this world are also sent by Krishna. But, such preachers preach to a certain level according to the level of the people existing in every zone. If they preach about vegetarianism in a country that has people who can not remain without meat even a single day, what will happen? No one will hear the preaching of that messenger. So, some messengers preach to certain level only in such areas. However, in a country like India, the messengers can preach about anything even to advanced level because India is considered as the holy land having matured people. H.H.Bhakti Vikas Swami states that only fortunate people will take birth in India. So, such advanced preaching in India.
If anyone likes to know the real facts about SELF and GOD, such persons will be blessed with a birth in India, or, such persons will be blessed with the preachers/ acharyas in their zone itself like Srila Prabhupada went to all continents and preached about the Lord and His names to fortunate people who were longing to know about their real position and God.
All we have to do is to develop desire to know about our SELF and GOD. Then, God will send suitable persons to them based on the level of their desire.
Hope you are clear about what is maya and whether all the non-Indians are under maya.
(WEAPONS TO BEAT MAYA – TILAKA, TULASI BEADS AND PRASADAM! READ HERE!)