Avidya Moha Viparyaya

Problem Definition

Everyone thinks they are religious, virtuous, understand everything. They have Gods in their side, so I compiled mantras which people chant in the name of God with agni and devas as witness.

https://danasurdanu.blogspot.com/2024/10/hinduism-on-important-subjects.html

People can say anything and take the Gods to be on their side, that is norm. It has become like sleight of hand.  Also people dont think that there is any need of anything like books.

Our Wishes have Divine Sanctity? 

For me God is something like a pivot on which hangs a combination of many things which I see in God. Remove them and the idea of God doesnot exist. It is like when you see the painting and describe it, but you may not know the things which consist in that painting, the details, you only see whole picture.

Subjective God (subject of our intuition) of every human is different as he/she is only centered on mind which imagines that combination or quality. Just like mother of every human is different, your mother takes care of you only. Same way your God listens to you only. Have anyone heard their God telling them about someone else's inner things? Like when I pray to God, I tell my problems, my hopes, my requests, my condition. He/she only knows my heart. Or rather my heart has created my own God. And my God tells me back, he/she is listening only to me among zillions of living beings. Is it objective reality? Or creation of my own mind? 

People come to more educated people in good position and seek their favor to get job or money from them, that doesn't happen. But educated person can give the right advise and people can follow that and achieve goals. But people have to do the Karma. People seek to evade karma by seeking favour. It is same in spiritual life, people believe in all kinds of magic in their favor, and don't want to follow anything which requires hardwork.

In Vedas Upanishads, There are natural laws and there are prayers. There is a third thing that is wish, so in puranas and late books and kathas there is a lot about wish fulfilment. There is a very thin line between prayer and wish. People think their wishes are natural, they are laws of nature and divine. That thing we have such strong view about our wishes, the world inside our mind feels like being complete and true, that is the Maya. Human beings need education, which is relearning because often what we wish is incorrect. If all that came to our mind is true then Vedas will not be needed or written.

In the Vedas and Upanishads, the focus is largely on understanding and aligning oneself with the natural laws (Rita) that govern the universe, which require conscious action and adherence to certain principles. While prayer (as in a true connection with the divine) can be an act of surrender or seeking guidance, wishes tend to come from the ego or personal desires. When people blur the lines between the two, they may start to think that their wishes should automatically come true because they feel "natural".  This is where Maya, or the illusion of reality as perceived through our desires and incomplete understanding, comes in. The world inside our minds, with its desires and self-centered thoughts, often feels so real and complete that we mistake it for the truth. Education, or relearning as you call it, becomes crucial because it helps to break through this illusion.                                                                    

The Upanishads emphasize that truth (Satya) is not what the mind desires, but what is aligned with the deeper reality of the universe.                                                                                               

These texts exist to guide us beyond our ego-driven desires, to a place of understanding where we can see the difference between what we wish for and what truly is.

There is difference between freedom, imagination, independent thinking on one hand and believing in your imagination as source of all reality and truth. Independent thinking and imagination is essential for creativity. But later is illusion. Avidya – Mistaking one's imagination or perception as the ultimate reality, leading to illusion. Vidya leads to liberation, while Avidya binds us to illusion and ignorance. Avidya is what causes people to believe their individual, subjective wishes are aligned with universal laws, when in fact they are trapped in a limited view of reality. A second better word in Hindi would be Moha. Moha is emotional attachment that clouds one’s judgment. It’s the state where a person becomes attached to their own desires, emotions, or perceptions, mistaking them for reality. it's a kind of attachment that binds a person to illusion and distorts their understanding. Moha represents that emotional and psychological investment in one’s own imagination or wishes, confusing them for universal truths.

Even better word is Viparyaya, which refers to the concept of misperception or wrong knowledge—seeing things in a distorted or inverted way. It’s described in Yoga Sutras by Patanjali as one of the obstacles to correct understanding, where a person believes something that is false to be true, often due to attachment, desire, or misunderstanding. So we have four things: Natural Laws (Rita) Prayer (Upasana or Bhakti) Wish (Iccha) and Viparyaya – The mistaken belief that one’s subjective imagination or desires are aligned with reality or truth. People become superstitious because of Wish and Viparyaya.

Hinduism was less of a wish fulfillment religion and more about natural laws, guidance. As such Hinduism is not against independent thinking. Upanishad are not blind faith, they dont tell you always what you should do. They only tell you what will happen when what you do. You are free to not chant shlokas, and not read Vedas. Religions like Islam and Christianity are wish fulfillment machines. And they rely on blind faith. We also see blind faith in later Purans and katha when taken literally. Hinduism, especially in its earlier and philosophical texts, emphasizes a more rational, law-based understanding of the universe, focusing on natural laws (Rita), karma, and self-inquiry rather than rigid prescriptions or rewards for blind faith.

Upanishads are indeed not about dictating actions but about offering insights into the nature of reality, consciousness, and the self. They encourage seekers to question, explore, and discover truths through deep introspection, meditation, and reasoning. This leaves room for independent thinking and does not impose a one-size-fits-all approach. Upanishads invite a more open-ended exploration of truth, often posing questions rather than giving hard-and-fast rules, encouraging individuals to discover their own path.

Islam and Christianity, especially in their more orthodox forms, tend to emphasize strict adherence to a particular set of beliefs, rituals, and divine will as conveyed by their book. There's often a strong focus on belief in God’s will as supreme and unquestionable, with salvation or wish fulfillment (heaven, eternal life) being granted for obedience and faith. This can create a more faith-centered or "wish-fulfillment" approach, where devotion leads to rewards, and questioning is often discouraged. Puranas and kathas do sometimes take on elements of wish fulfillment, with stories of gods and goddesses granting whatever you want and performing miracles in response to prayers. However, these are more folk-level narratives that developed over time and can be understood symbolically rather than literally. When taken literally, they do seem to promote a form of blind faith similar to other religions.

Rational Analysis 

Basically religion has reduced to wishful dreaming, in which people do whatever they like, and wish whatever they want. As long as that wish is to some supernatural power they call it religion. Everyone has right to wish whatever they want, and that is the basis of new religion. Modern expressions of religion, in some cases, have shifted from structured spiritual or ethical systems into a more individualistic practice. People often tailor beliefs to fit their desires or justify their actions, and as long as those desires are channeled through the notion of a higher power, it gets labeled as "religion." This could be seen as a departure from traditional teachings where there were often strict moral, philosophical, or ritualistic guidelines.

In this view, religion may become more about personal wish fulfillment or comfort rather than a path of discipline, inquiry, or self-transcendence. There are two components of religious belief, (1) private belief, one can dream that he was so and so in past life. (2) Belief which affects others in some way. e.g. service, non violence, or honesty in dealing with others, he or she is queen or king of the world. Dreaming of becoming king of the world also affects others, because a king is king because he rules over others.

As far as I understand most of the virtue which society accepts is in regard to good done to others and is example of second type of belief. Those of first type are rare and others can laugh or smile or make faces, but are not judged, mostly nobody cares. These may evoke reactions like amusement or indifference, but they rarely carry the weight of moral judgment because they don’t impact others in tangible ways. They're seen as personal choices or idiosyncrasies, Celibacy is also of the second type. It is not strictly personal thing that makes it virtuous. It is related to trust in dealing with other humans, family building which is most important business of life.

So belief is only as virtuous as results (or intention for good results. Intentions are related to actions so can not be junked easily). Else video game with God figures and creation can also become religion.

There is secondary question, how something makes one feel. A person can do something ridiculous (first type) and feel heavenly, feel it to be a great religious act. Opinion or feelings hardly relate to objective reality, that is why world is called maya. But it is good that it brings happiness or some kind of medicine to the mind of that person. Goodness is limited to that, it is not more heavenly than how it makes feel. In that regard a high created by drug is comparable to high created by religious sentiment, not one to one, but in some way. Real value is just that. Such feeling does not necessarily correlate to an objective truth or greater moral significance. The real value, then, might lie simply in the personal relief, joy, or fulfillment one derives from these experiences.

Viparyaya

Viparyaya refers to the thought waves or mental patterns (vrittis) that create false knowledge or incorrect perceptions. 

According to Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, there are five types of vrittis, and one of them is Viparyaya. These thought waves can cloud our awareness, leading us to believe in something that is not true. The mind creates distortions based on limited information, emotions, and attachments, and these false perceptions take the form of:

Mistaken Identity: Seeing something as it is not. For example, mistaking a rope for a snake in the dark.

Subjective Desires: Believing that personal wishes or subjective perceptions are the truth, when they are only a reflection of one's internal state rather than objective reality.

Emotional Attachments: Becoming emotionally invested in a belief or idea that distorts reality, leading to moha or delusion.

These Viparyaya vrittis (misperception thought waves) are particularly dangerous because they prevent one from seeing reality as it is. Instead, they project illusions that the mind clings to.

Managing Viparyaya Thought Waves:

Jnana Yoga: Questioning the nature of reality, dissecting your thoughts and beliefs, and understanding what is true versus what is merely a mental projection. 

Mindfulness (Dhyana): Observing the thought waves without attachment allows you to recognize when Viparyaya arises and detach from it.

Discrimination (Viveka): Developing the ability to discern between the real and unreal, or between the eternal and the transient. 

Detachment (Vairagya): Letting go of emotional attachment to outcomes and desires that may distort perception.

Five vrittis in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras

1. Pramana (Correct Knowledge)

Pramana refers to valid or correct knowledge. It is knowledge based on direct perception, inference, or reliable testimony. These are the mental fluctuations that lead to truth or correct understanding. There are three sources of pramana in Yoga Sutras:

• Direct Perception (Pratyaksha): Knowledge obtained through the senses.
• Inference (Anumana): Knowledge deduced through reasoning.
• Verbal Testimony (Agama): Knowledge obtained from trusted sources, such as scriptures or teachers.

Example: Recognizing a fire based on seeing smoke and correctly deducing that fire must be present.

2. Viparyaya 

3. Vikalpa (Imagination or Fantasy)

Vikalpa refers to imagination, conceptualization, or fantasy, where the mind creates ideas or constructs that have no basis in reality. This can include daydreaming, speculation, or the mental creation of concepts that are purely abstract.

Example: Imagining the existence of mythical creatures or believing in hypothetical scenarios that aren't rooted in actual experience or observation.

4. Nidra (Deep Sleep)

5. Smriti (Memory)

Smriti refers to memory or recollection. This mental fluctuation involves the recall of past experiences, thoughts, or information. While memory can be useful, it can also distort the present if we become overly attached to or influenced by past experiences.

Example: Remembering a past event, which could be accurate or distorted based on emotional involvement or selective recall.

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Real World Example

I am seeing Bahraich murder. Problem is much deeper and it is with Hindus. Religion of a Hindu (basically Purans) is like whatever I believe God will listen and that is it, he doesnot appreciate other human beings. So he doesnot care when a fellow Hindu is killed, worse he engages in so called secularism for gains. His religious view is disconnected from reality, he is like Europeans who dont care for people next door, with added magical beliefs. He is selfish, seeks moksha for himself, prosperity for himself. Moksha doesnot exist, prosperity of a person is linked to prosperity of his society and country.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Like I said before most of what people call virtue is not independent and depends on what society thinks, how others think. A macho man is macho only because women like it. So people aspire for things which are interdependent, but appeal to God whose nature is fundamentally independent and superstitious (in the sense that people believe in their personal God, who will listen to him, cater to him alone, in contrast Muslim God is not of one Muslim, he is of all Muslims, that idea binds them together, just like a pack of dogs can hunt better). A Hindu has condescending attitude towards a fellow human, he thinks he is clever and works on his own means for salvation.

Mind doesnot conform to the world, the world conforms to mind.  The world as we experience it is shaped by the framework of the mind. People take their illusions very seriously.