From Unhappiness to Enlightenment or
Escaping Maya's Traps
by Christa Chilson
Introduction
From Unhappiness to Enlightenment or Escaping Maya's Traps
The stories that you will hear in this storybook held the key to enlightenment for some of the characters you will meet here. You will hear about their circumstances and their transformation, if they had one. And who knows, maybe you will be next to become enlightened? Well, do you want to be next? First of course, you want to know what enlightenment is and then, you want to think about whether you really want to be enlightened.
Let's start with your first question: What is enlightenment? To answer your question, close your eyes for a moment and imagine everything that brings you happiness. And please be very generous! Okay, open your eyes again. Now think of all your ideas like a drop of water in the ocean compared to what real enlightenment is. It is quite beyond our imagination what it means, but it is that for which we all long for from deep within us.
Now to the second question: How do you know you really want that? Aha, you don't really know, because you don't understand what it means to be enlightened. If you knew what enlightenment was, then there would be no doubt in your mind that you want it.
You may have a third question. You might ask: And what does Maya have to do with anything? Maya, she is the queen of illusion. Her job is to keep you away from enlightenment - she makes sure we will not get there, until we are ready, until we want to get there. Her job is to show us what enlightenment is not. Since we can't grasp what it is, we usually understand what it is not. After eating the chocolate cake, we realize that that wasn't quite it. After reaching our career goal in life, we will know that that was also not it. We may be more happy reaching little goals in life, but then there are always the unpleasant things as well; there is death, sickness, separation, and so on.
Maya is the one to tell you that no matter what your efforts, you will not reach enlightenment. She may also tell you that there is no such thing. On the other hand, she will show you a million ways that supposedly make you happy, but true happiness will always stay out of your reach. True happiness is one that can't be disturbed by what happens around you, good or bad.
Am I saying that enlightenment is the same as happiness? Yes, I am saying that happiness is a good term to describe enlightenment. Other good terms are peace, bliss, fulfillment. Always remember that our ability to imagine what it really means is like a drop of water compared to the ocean.
Did I say ocean? Ah, that reminds me of how the following stories began. Are you ready to accompany me on an excursion to the ocean? Here we go. It starts with a disaster, but let's not focus on the tragic part. Disasters sometimes have the potential to transform lives, as is the case here. It all happened on April 14th, 1912 when the Titanic hit an iceberg. Ah, you know about that one, but you probably missed the story about five people who ended up in a lifeboat together. One of them was a beautiful lady with the name Ahadyla. Another one was Kakooni a very mischievous, cunning, and unmarried woman. Then there was a very powerful business man with the name Powerana. Then there was Makara. Finally there was Karaman, whose name reminds us of Rama and Karma. He is our storyteller. Find out more about the individual characters, their survival, aspirations and the effect Karaman's stories have on them when you click on their names. (It is recommended to read the stories in order, since in each story there is some reference back to the previous story. Well, if you really just have time for one story, my personal favorite one is Story 4: Makara)
Story 1: Ahadyla
"I shouldn't have come on this cruise. Now I am in a lifeboat! I don't even know if we will survive. How far are we from the shore? Is anyone coming to rescue us? If my husband knew that I was in this situation..." The thoughts were raising fast in Ahadyla's head. She had come to this cruise with her secret lover and she did not even know where he was right now. Of course her husband was a very nice and thoughtful man, but she had never even experienced another man and she wanted some adventure. She had told her husband that she needed some time alone, but now she might never even see him again. What would she give to be lying in his arms right now instead of having this adventure!
While Ahadyla was still lost in her own thoughts, she suddenly heard Karaman's soft and calm voice, "Someone will come and rescue us. I am sure of that, but in the meantime, I will tell you some stories," and so he began:
"Once there was a stunningly beautiful woman by the name of Ahalya. (Ahadyla was immediately struck by the similarity of that name to her own. His voice was piercing her heart.) She was married to Gautama, a very kind and intelligent professor of religious studies,who was not only teaching about religion, but following Dharma was the main goal in his life. He loved his wife dearly and she had everything she desired: beautiful looks, many friends and a good job. In fact, she was a teacher of Sanskrit at a local college. What she was lacking, or so she thought, was the experience of how it would be to make love to another man. ("That is just like me," Ahadyla thought.)
So, while her husband was out of town attending a conference, she invited that interesting-looking guy, Indra, to come to her house. She knew that he liked women and she knew that he liked her and she did not have to tell him what she wanted, because he seemed to have that same interest. He reminded her how beautiful she was and she savored his attention. So, they made love together. (At this point Karaman looked at Ahadyla, but all he gave her was a reassuring smile; there seemed to be no hint of a judgment in his gaze.)
The next day, however, she wondered, if her experience had really made her more satisfied. Had she gained anything from it? Anything at all? She had experienced a pleasurable time, that is true, but at the same time, she felt kind of empty. Maybe even a bit like she had been taken advantage of. The whole experience had been kind of shallow and she had never really connected with Indra's personality. She had received the confirmation that she was still attractive and that she could have another man, but why had this been so important to her?
She suddenly realized that she had fallen into Maya's trap. Maya had fooled her into thinking that she was missing out on something, that it would be valuable to get some affirmation about her sex appeal from someone besides her husband. And she? She had been so eager to follow her curiosity and to test her power to attract men that she had not been able to see the trap. Suddenly,she laughed out loud about her foolishness and she understood that the experience had taught her a lesson. She felt a deep relief. She finally knew that she really loved her husband and that she was so lucky to have him. Did he not tell her plenty of times how beautiful she was? She now felt calm, but she still faced the problem of telling her husband. Well, her curiosity to experience another lover and to confirm her attractiveness was surely gone. Actually, she felt like having a big celebration when her husband came back. If he loved her as much as she thought he did, then he would be happy together with her about her transformation. Her husband had always been very supportive and understanding. Why should it be different this time? "Whatever your next trick," she told Maya, I am planning to let Dharma guide me from now on, and thus I hope to transcend all the hurdles of my life.
When her husband, who was very much enlightened, came home and heard her story, he hugged her and they made love together. Yes, I am telling the truth here. He had indeed shown her his love, understanding and forgiveness, because he was happy about her honesty and trust in him. He had always felt that there was something that had kept a small distance between them and he felt that this little distance had now disappeared." - Tears streamed down Ahadyla's eyes. Did Karaman know her story? This was clearly a message to her. Did he want to encourage her to confess her adventure with her lover to her husband? Did he suggest that she would receive his understanding and love in return? If she would make it back to the shore alive, then that would be exactly what she would do. She felt a deep peace after she had made up her mind to get her life in order. Karaman looked at her and he seemed to understand.Had she come here on this boat to learn a lesson on how to escape Maya, the queen of illusion? Ahadyla had heard of Maya before, but she never had noticed her in her own life. She decided that she would study these new concepts of Maya and Dharma and no matter what her husband would say, she wanted to live a life of truth.
Author's Note:
Karaman is an all-knowing figure and he is not here to judge, but rather to provide comfort, guidance and encouragement for us to follow the right path. He uses Ahalya's story from the Ramayana to help us recognize Maya's traps. If we already fell for it, then his only judgment is love. Love and understanding are very powerful to help us transfore.
I changed the story of Ahalya quite a bit. In my version, Ahalya is unfaithful, but she is not punished by her husband; in the original version of the story, Gautama punishes Ahalya for her unfaithfulness, and he punishes Indra, too. Gautama only takes her back after she has been imprisoned in the form of a rock until she is finally released by Rama. In my story, Ahalya's transgression, if we want to call it that, has cleansed her of her desire and she now is able to clearly see the trap that she fell into. Now that she can see the trap, it is no longer dangerous to her. She has learned her lesson, so why should she be punished?
In Buck's version of the story, it even appears that it was Ahalya's fault that she and Indra made love together. I think that this is very harsh. After all, he came disguised as her husband. I think that the picture shows Ahalya's happiness at having escaped Maya. She did fall into Maya's traps, but she used that to come closer to enlightenment and to fulfill her Dharma.
Story 2: Kakooni
"What a foolish story this Karaman told us," thought Kakooni. "This unfaithful woman, Ahalya, should have been punished, not rewarded. Well, she found a dumb enough husband to put up with her." (Kakooni still had her virginity and she was very jealous that Ahalya was so beautiful and that she already had had two lovers; however, Kakooni did not think very much about the bad things that she had done in her life. For example she had pretended that she was collecting money for the poor, but then she used the money for this cruise instead. Also, she had just wrecked a happy marriage by spreading rumors about the infidelity of the partners to each other.) "Why can I not find a lover? Life was never fair." Her thoughts were interrupted by Powerana's request. "Please tell us another story, Karaman," he said, looking towards him. "It makes me forget that we are out here on the ocean." "Very well," said Karaman and he began:
"Once there was a woman by the name of Kooni. She always felt cheated in life and thought that life was very unfair to her. For that reason she was very jealous of anyone who seemed to her to have gotten a better deal in life than she had. Kooni also felt that it was not fair that she was rather ugly, that her skin wrinkled so easily and that her hair already started to turn gray when she was only twenty-five years old - not to mention all the bad luck she had already had in her life! What she didn't know was that in her past lives, she had done some horrible things and now her Karma was creating unfortunate circumstances for her."
"What does Karma mean?" Powerana interrupted.
"Very good question! Well, Karma simply means that every deed and every thought of a person has an effect. Good ones have good effects and bad ones have bad effects. These effects may show up in the person's current lifetime, or in a future lifetime. Sometimes, a negative effect may be canceled, as was the case with Ahalya, because she recognized that she had done something wrong and was willing to accept her lesson. Does that make sense? Shall I continue with the story?" "Yes, please," said three persons on the boat. (That is, everyone except Kooni. Karaman continues with his story).
"Now, Kooni had an extremely bad Karma, because in her previous life, she had fooled the queen Kaikeyi to exile her son Rama for fourteen years in the wilderness, although he was just about to be crowned king. Kooni was very cunning and she knew how to trick Kaikeyi by feeding her with lies about the terrible consequences, if she didn't intervene in Rama's coronation. In reality, Kooni just couldn't bear to see Rama, who was the embodiment of love and virtue, on the throne. She did not change her character in her future lives and she always made it her business to destroy other people's happy lives the best she could. One of her worst weapons was that of spreading rumors. She would invent lies that had no foundation at all, yet by the time people realized the rumors were groundless, the damage had often already been done.
Maya had found a good tool in Kooni. The sad or we may call it the happy thing about this whole story is that, deep inside, hidden beneath many layers, Kooni was actually just as beautiful and pure as Ahalya." (These words brought a tear from Kakooni's eyes, but invisible Maya quickly whispered into her ears: "Don't listen to such foolish talk. A clever and cunning woman like you must not be fooled by this kind of nonsensical tattle." Kakooni quickly regained her usual self.) "Yet, because she was very far from recognizing her own beauty," Karaman confirmed, "she continued to bring misery to others and most of all to herself." (Kakooni sat there with a real sour face. It was becoming unbearable for her to be on this boat. She wished that they would be either rescued now or drown. Her patience had run out.)
"I wish I could help Kooni," said Ahadyla.
"Oh, get on with a new story," said Kakooni grumpily. "This other one was no good."
"Just one more question, please!" said Ahadyla. "Will Kooni ever become enlightened?" "Oh, yes, that is for sure," said Karaman, "but it will take many, many lifetimes."
Author's Note:
I use this story to introduce the concept of Karma. Karma is quite an important part of everything that happens in the Ramayana, but you will not find an explicit definition in the Ramayana as to what it means. So, in my story, I had Karaman give a definition of Karma, so that the people in the lifeboat could clearly understand what it means. I think that my second story fits perfectly after my first one which ended all happy and where the characters (Ahalya and Ahadyla) were so open to learn. Kooni brings a stark contrast to that and she also evaluates the first story. Maybe some readers will evaluate the story in a similar way?
I only refer very briefly to the original story about Kooni and it is also a very short part in the Ramayana by Buck, but I leave the content unchanged: Rama was exiled for fourteen years because of the wish of Kaikeyi who was in return influenced by Kooni. In this story, Kaikeyi requests Dasaratha to fulfill her wish and he does.
In my version, I provide new information about Kooni's background and her motives. This is not mentioned in Buck's Ramayana, but after Sita is free, he tells us that Kooni asks Sita for forgiveness and promises to be her servant. Also at this point, he calls her by the name of Manthara, but we do not get any information besides that about her. In my version Kooni does not repent what she has done and no change of heart occurs. While Ahadyla provided a positive example, Kooni is a negative one: the example of what not do. I think that the picture represents Kooni's confusion and her longing to be beautiful and loved, but her thoughts on that subject are out of touch with reality.
Story 3: Powerana
Powerana had enjoyed Karaman's stories very much and he was so thankful to be able to listen to that continually soothing and calming sound of his voice. As long as he was anchored in Karaman's stories, he felt okay. While he listened to Karaman, nothing existed for Powerana except the story he was listening to. He was a very powerful and rich man, who was well esteemed, but he had never experienced such an overwhelming influence of another person on himself as he felt from Karaman. "It must be caused by this exceptional situation out here on the ocean," he thought. "The content of those two stories did not quite relate to me so much, because I think that it is alright for a man to have an occasional girlfriend, provided he treats her well and I am certainly not jealous of other people's lives like Kooni was. If anything, then people are jealous of me, because of my new Porsche, my new mansion and the fact that I am able to employ people to take care of my house..."
Powerana felt quite confident about himself, but last week his ego got a bit of a kink when he set his eyes on the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He really wanted her, but she had played tough to get, so he came on this cruise just to distract himself and also in order to regain his strength. Meanwhile, he planned to buy the largest diamond ring that existed for his wife, because he loved her and he liked to spoil her. Yes, he treated his wife very well, and his occasional secret girlfriends too.
Now Karaman began his third story: "Once there was a very powerful king by the name of Ravana. He ruled the kingdom on the island of Lanka according to his wildest desires. He had a splendid, magic carriage for travel, many beautiful wives who longed for their turn to be in bed with him, and people who were waiting for his commands day and night to ensure his happiness. A snap of his finger was all that was needed to make hundreds of servants run to fulfill his next wish. His great strength and power was also visible in his appearance, since unlike ordinary people, he had ten heads and twenty arms. His women, in particular, enjoyed this feature, because there were ten heads to give them full attention and twenty arms to hug them.
This is what we see on the outside, so now let us look at what Ravana's inner state of happiness was like. Do you think his outer state of power and fulfillment mirrored his inner strength and power? Well, in reality, it mirrored only his inner lack; Ravana, however, did not recognize that, since he was too busy enjoying himself. What he did realize, however was, that he always seemed to just be one step away from happiness, although he always expected to find it with the fulfillment of his next wish.
One day when he saw the most beautiful woman in the world, he was sure that to possess her would make his luck complete. No doubt, it had to. Sita was more than any man could dream of. Feeling so close to fulfillment, Ravana started to burn on the inside so much that he could not think himself able to live without that beautiful woman, Sita, any longer. What he did not realize was that his longing for the beautiful and pure Sita was really his own longing for purity and beauty.
Yes, let me explain. Long ago, Ravana had acquired a very strong longing to live in harmony with all beings and to live by the dharma. And before he had become the powerful king, he had been an ascetic for many thousands of years and during this time he had gained a tiny glimpse of what enlightenment is. This inner development had created an intense longing for enlightenment in him and he even was very close to reaching it. But one day when he was not paying attention, Maya compelled him to use his great powers to ease his longing by allowing himself to indulge in worldly pleasures, and so he did. Of course, there is nothing necessarily wrong with worldly pleasures, but he now confused them with his real longing. He slowly forgot his goal. Well, not entirely, just his conscious awareness of it was gone. Nothing can ever really remove our deeply rooted goal for enlightenment.
Anyway, for a long time, Ravana did not realize that his being drawn to Sita signified in reality his deep inner longing for enlightenment. Sita had come into his life for the very purpose to help Ravana return to the path of enlightenment and finally, the longing to have Sita did lead him back towards that path. However, it was not by receiving the beautiful Sita according to his desires, but by reclaiming his own inner beauty and inner strength. He realized how tiring life had been when he was always running after things that promised to quench his thirst, but never did. At his final hour, when death was brought to him by the hands of Sita's husband, Rama, he found inner peace again. Yes, with his last breath, he thanked Rama with his eyes, because recognizing the purity of Rama and Sita had brought back his memory of what he had really longed for all this time: his own enlightenment."
Powerana had listened to the whole story in complete awe and he could not take his eyes off Karaman, not even for one moment. Now this story was certainly talking directly to him and his situation. Oh my god, were they nearing death and had he therefore been given the chance to remember his true purpose? Powerana just closed his eyes and then he had this vision of all his possessions turning to dust before his mental eyes. It became clear to him, that they had never really given any meaning to him, but now this Karaman had.
"Look, a large boat is approaching in the distance," said Karaman. "We are almost saved."
Author's Note:
This story shows another aspect of what may hinder us on the path towards enlightenment. We strive for lots of things, as if to have them would bring fulfillment. Yet, in reality we long for much more than worldly pleasures can offer us. As for Ravana, he recognized his strong longing but, misled by the illusionist Maya, he misperceived its cause. However, circumstances never happen by chance, but are purposefully there to lead us exactly where we want to go. I think that the Ramayana also emphasizes this purpose as to why things happen throughout the story. Ravana's burning longing was for freedom from all chains in his life - or shall we call it enlightenment?
I recount the story of the powerful Ravana according to Narayan's version. Ravana realizes during the time of death that he had followed the path of illusion and he allows Rama's love to purify his heart during the last moments of his life. I do not change the content of the original story, but I interpret Ravana's longing for Sita as his inner longing to reach enlightenment. Also, I explain Ravana's confusion to be caused by Maya. In Narayan's story, we don't find an explanation as to why Ravana transformed from an ascetic hermit to a powerful king.
The name of the character Powerana is a combination of the words power and Ravana. His power is not just negative, but can also be seen as the ability to reach a goal. Karaman's voice has immediately a mesmerizing effect on him, because it resonates the truth for which he longs from deep within. Karaman's story is meant to show Powerana his deepest inner longing and how he has tried to replace it with accumulating power and goods, just like Ravana had.
I chose the color red for the background (as it was also on the web page where I found the picture) because it is a very strong color and sets the stage for feelings of intense longing, eagerness to fight and succeed....
Story 4: Makara
There is just enough time for one more story until everyone will be rescued by the approaching ship. So far, we have already met Karaman, Ahadyla, Kakooni, and Powerana, but Makara is still a complete stranger to us. He has not spoken a word thus far. It is time that we get to know him better as well. What does he look like and what is his story? Well, he looks rather handsome with his dark hair and large blue eyes. He looks somewhat muscular, yet at the same time, he seems so elegant and graceful. He had come onto this ship because of a prophecy that unless he would travel around the world by sea within 49 days, he would not see the love of his life, Sarita, ever again. (He didn't know where she currently was!) The prophecy also said that he would have to overcome many obstacles on the way. The sinking of the Titanic was yet another one of those obstacles, but Makara has not lost hope yet, or has he? Today is the 30th day for him and his trip around the earth is only half accomplished. His main challenge is not to give up hope that he will reach his goal. At times Maya tries to urge him to give up his travels by creating some seemingly unsurmountable obstacles and sometimes she even tortures him with an illusionary picture of his love Sarita being in bed with another man. Maya had also intended that the sinking of the Titanic would destroy Makara's hope of reaching his goals, but now let us see if Karaman has a story to encourage Makara on his journey.
Karaman began, "This is my last story for you all, and I think it is one of the most beautiful ones, but I will have to shorten it a bit, because we are so close to being rescued. The story is called the Ramayana, which means the journey of Rama. Rama was an extremely virtuous man and he also had the most beautiful and perfect wife one can imagine. Her name was Sita. No matter what their outer circumstances, the two lived together in great bliss and harmony until the day Sita was kidnapped by the demon king Ravana. After a desperate search for her, Rama had almost lost hope of ever finding her again. However, Rama had a very good Karma and so whenever Maya tricked him into giving up hope, some situation would arise that would encourage him again. Because of his good Karma, there was no obstacle that could keep him from reaching his goal. He did not know it at the time, but it was actually impossible for him to fail. The only thing he could do was to delay reaching his goal by a short time. One of his biggest challenges was the incident when Ravana's son Indrajit created a phantom Sita, which he then killed in front of Hanuman's eyes. When Hanuman brought the message of the slaying of Sita, Rama was sure that he would not be able to survive for more than another day. Of course, it was Maya who had given this "brilliant" idea of trickery to Rama's enemies. However, Rama's good Karma did not desert him and so his ally Vibhishana rushed to Rama to tell him and his friends that the dead Sita was nothing but an illusion. Of course, you guessed the ending. Sita was rescued and reunited with Rama. Also, during the whole time of her captivity, Sita had stayed faithful to Rama and Ravana had been prevented by a curse of death to ever force a woman against her will to go to bed with him. It would have been helpful for Rama if he had known that from the beginning.
Sorry, I had to shorten the story a bit, because they are already waving to us from that ship and they are getting ready to take us aboard. Here, Makara, take this. I have saved a copy of the book, The Ramayana, and I want to give it to you now. (He hands him a really old Ramayana with a beautiful picture of Rama and Sita on the cover. The words "The Ramayana" were written on the back of the book in golden letters along with the words, "This book is for you, Karaman!") Reading it will help you to never lose hope and to reach your goal just like Rama did. You have to read the details of the story yourself, because I don't think there will be any time for more storytelling once we are aboard that ship. The people will want to hear everything about the Titanic and how such a tragic accident could have happened. Let's go now. They are waiting for us to climb up." One could hear several voices saying "Thank you for your stories, Karaman," but I couldn't tell you for sure whether Kakooni's voice was one of them. I am very sure that you could hear the voices of all the others.
Author's Note:
One could see this last story in a mystical way as Rama meeting Rama, because both Karaman, the storyteller, and Makara have many similarities with Rama. Also, both have the letters R-A-M-A in their names and both names have almost the same letters. Both symbolize the search for truth, virtue, and enlightenment. Makara has to undergo many challenges to be reunited with his love, just like Rama did. Both grow through their experiences and both recognize at the end that their enlightenment is already within them. Rama is none other than the seventh reincarnation of the god Vishnu; however, as Rama, he does not remember that he is this god Vishnu, and he only realizes it when Ravana tells him so at the end of the Ramayana.
It is not mentioned above, but Makara is able to finish his journey in 48 days and then he is reunited with his love Sarita. The challenges he faced would fill a book that is about equal in size to the Ramayana. But here is what had really helped him the most during his journey. It is the following words of Karaman's story: "He did not know it at the time, but it was actually impossible for him to fail." These words have helped Makara in many situations that seemed hopeless. He always thought of these words and many times he received help in some miraculous way. Also, the more he read the Ramayana, the more he identified with Rama.
Maybe Makara was another incarnation of Vishnu on another mission? Maybe we are all some mystical incarnations of Rama on some mission. Maybe, we are also on a mission, that we actually can't fail? What do you think?
I made one small change to my story about Rama. In Buck's Ramayana, Vibhishana actually tells Hanuman about the phantom Sita and he dispels the illusion before the message of it comes to Rama. Also, Buck writes that Rama would have died if he had received the message of Sita's death.
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