Maya’s 3 qualities
See that beautiful tree outside your window? OK, before the tree was there, what was there? The seed. Similarly, before the Universe was there, what was there? Maya. Maya is the seed (unmanifest state) of the entire universe.
But Maya itself, does not exist without something else. What is that something else? Brahman. Just like a pot does not exist without the clay. The very existence of the pot is sustained by the clay. So no clay, no pot. Similarly – No Brahman, no Maya. Maya’s very existence is sustained by Brahman. What is Brahman? Consciousness. Totally confused? I thought so! Just clearly understand the Upanishad’s ‘clay pot’ example and then it is easy. See here: http://advaita-academy.org/blogs/brahman-maya-the-creation-of-the-universe/
Now, Maya consists of 3 qualities (gunas): Sattva, Rajas, Tamas. Sattva = Knowledge/Intelligence. Rajas = Action. Tamas = No knowledge/action (inert). Because the entire universe comes from Maya, therefore the qualities of Maya will naturally be found in the universe you see around you right now (karana gunah karye anuvartante). In other words, all things in the universe can also be broadly categorised into these 3 qualities. For example:
1. Sattva: a human mind exhibits knowledge/intelligence. It is uniquely capable of knowing things, unlike other objects in the universe. So the mind is a manifestation of the ‘sattva’ quality (guna) of Maya.
2. Rajas: your heart beats every second. It is not intelligent like the mind is, it is not capable of gaining knowledge about the world like your mind. But it is certainly active. It is not inert like a stone (assuming you are still alive!). Therefore it is neither sattva (intelligent) nor tamas (inert), it is inbetween – it manifests the Rajas (active) aspect of Maya.
3.Tamas: A stone is not capable of knowing anything (sattva), nor is it active like a heart (rajas). Therefore it is totally inert. This is a manifestation of the Tamas aspect of Maya.
To summarise: The universe came from Maya. And Maya consists of 3 Gunas. Maya is Brahman (Consciousness). And that consciousness is…who? You! You are Atma. Tat Tvam Asi.
Om Tat Sat
Aditya.
