Sri Ramakrishna, on the other hand, though fully aware, like
his guru,
that the world is an illusory appearance, instead of slighting maya,
like an
orthodox monist, acknowledged its power in the relative life. He was
all love
and reverence for maya, perceiving in it a mysterious and majestic
expression
of Divinity. To him maya itself was God, for everything was God. It was
one of the faces of Brahman. What he had realized on the heights of the
transcendental plane, he also found here below, everywhere about him,
under the mysterious garb of names and forms. And this garb was a
perfectly
transparent sheath, through which he recognized the glory of the
Divine Immanence. Maya, the mighty weaver of the garb, is none other
than Kali, the Divine Mother. She is the primordial Divine Energy,
Sakti,
and She can no more be distinguished from the Supreme Brahman than can
the power of burning be distinguished from fire. She projects the world
and again withdraws it. She spins it as the spider spins its web. She
is the
Mother of the Universe, identical with the Brahman of Vedanta, and with
the Atman of Yoga. As eternal Lawgiver, She makes and unmakes laws; it
is by Her imperious will that karma yields its fruit. She ensnares men
with illusion and again releases them from bondage with a look of Her
benign eyes. She is the supreme Mistress of the cosmic play, and all
objects,
animate and inanimate, dance by Her will. Even those who realize the
Absolute in nirvikalpa samadhi are under Her jurisdiction as long as
they
still live on the relative plane.
Thus, after nirvikalpa samadhi, Sri Ramakrishna realized maya in an
altogether new role. The binding aspect of Kali vanished from before
his
vision. She no longer obscured his understanding. The world became the
glorious manifestation of the Divine Mother. Maya became Brahman. The
Transcendental Itself broke through the Immanent. Sri Ramakrishna
discovered
that maya operates in the relative world in two ways, and he termed
these "avidyamaya" and "vidyamaya". Avidyamaya represents the dark
forces
of creation: sensuous desires, evil passions, greed, lust, cruelty, and
so on.
It sustains the world system on the lower planes. It is responsible for
the
round of man's birth and death. It must be fought and vanquished. But
vidyamaya is the higher force of creation: the spiritual virtues, the
enlightening
qualities, kindness, purity, love, devotion. Vidyamaya elevates man to
the higher planes of consciousness. With the help of vidyamaya the
devotee
rids himself of avidyamaya; he then becomes mayatita, free of maya. The
two aspects of maya are the two forces of creation, the two powers of
Kali;
and She stands beyond them both. She is like the effulgent sun,
bringing
into existence and shining through and standing behind the clouds of
different
colours and shapes, conjuring up wonderful forms in the blue
autumn heaven.
The Divine Mother asked Sri Ramakrishna not to be lost in the
featureless
Absolute but to remain, in bhavamukha, on the threshold of relative
consciousness, the border line between the Absolute and the Relative.
He
was to keep himself at the "sixth centre" of Tantra, from which he
could
see not only the glory of the seventh, but also the divine
manifestations of
the Kundalini in the lower centres. He gently oscillated back and forth
across the dividing line. Ecstatic devotion to the Divine Mother
alternated
with serene absorption in the Ocean of Absolute Unity. He thus bridged
the
gulf between the Personal and the Impersonal, the immanent and the
transcendent aspects of Reality. This is a unique experience in the
recorded
spiritual history of the world.