Maya

When I saw the movie matrix, I felt that they tried to visually portray the concept of "Maya" which is very much a ancient vedic philosophy. This whole world what we see is not as real as what we think. Whenever I sit in a Mall or watch the road from my office windows, I see scores of people busy walking, driving, yelling and so on. I do the same thing once Iam there in that maddening traffic. But away from the maddening crowd, it is kind of interesting to watch others behaviors. This escapism from whats happening around you always builds a perspective that the people involved in the task wont get.

You may ask how is maya connected to this. Once you feel you are not part of a thing, you dont consider it as something real. Its just a background noise. If you have this attitude towards the world in general and its happenings, then this is precisely a escapism into a non-worldly thing. You may ask why one need to escape out of whats going on? By escape I donot mean physically going to a forest or sitting away in meditation. It is about having that background check to allow you to do things but still be retaining your ground. I mean not getting involved deeply and get assimilated by the system. A sort of beating the system by being away from it.

To confirm that you are in this mode rather than into the Maya (or Matrix :-)

1. You will not find a need to talk much as you had been doing before.
2. You will not find a need to do something without there being a need.

Rather

Nothing needs to be done and nothing needs to be spoken unless it be. Often we have the (imaginary) pressure of doing something and talking something without there being a REAL need. Thats precisely what I call as you reacting to the "Maya". If you react, you are dead. Just understand this and turn the focus to you and see that there is indeed "nothing much to be done".

The world as we see is created because of this "non-stop" talking and doing and indulging in what we talk and do. You do not need to react to this chatter. Just keep cool and see whats going on around with the background thought that the whole thing is a "maya".

All the seers and swamijis seem to be trying to do this exactly to all the "grihasthas" (those who indulge in material world) by making them practice all kinds of things. Nothing is going to get you out, unless there is a switch in your brain that starts looking at things differently. You may have momentary "satoris" or "escapism" by doing what they say. But nothing is permanent. You have to make that decision and start watching whats happening around you and take a decision of whether you want to get involved or not.

Again remember the above two rules that should be a litmus test for you to know if you have achieved anything at all in this world.