Plan 2. Maya
When one becomes a player, the sense of unity is lost in the excitement of the game. In this change of consciousness lies the whole charm of the act of the game. One turns into many to play the cosmic game of hide and seek with oneself. To satisfy his ego, the player starts the game by accepting its rules and follows these rules until the end of the game.
Unity is reality, plurality is an illusion. The illusion of plurality is created by the reality-hiding power of the One (Higher Consciousness). This power is called maya-shakti or simply maya. It is she who creates the illusion of a separate "I", "mine", "you" and "your", which gives rise to ignorance in the individual consciousness. Those who understand this call this state avidya (a - "absence", vidya - "knowledge"; ignorance, or lack of knowledge, about one's nature). Ignorance enters the consciousness of a person through the mind, and yoga, in turn, is a method of stopping the work of the mind (this is one of the main goals of yoga). By stopping the internal dialogue, the yogi can go beyond the mind and realize his true nature, which lies beyond the illusion of "I" and "mine." The world of names and forms is Maya. Maya is a stage and scenery in which the player plays out the tragicomedy of his life as a microcosm. Maya is the game itself, offering the player to go through many different situations, each of which carries the keys to understanding his true nature.
The illusion can be seen at any level. The human body itself is not an independent unit of existence, it consists of a huge number of different cells. It is the individual ego (ahamkara) that creates the individual units of existence, but that itself is maya (illusion). The ego cannot function without the mind, and the mind cannot function without the senses either. Thus, completely renouncing the sense of "I" and "mine" is possible only with complete control over the work of the mind. It is to this state that those who practice yoga aspire. When it is reached, the illusory awareness of oneself as a separate independent being ceases. Direct experience of reality in the state of samadhi gives a person a different perspective on the work of maya-shakti; now he sees the drama of human existence and the world around him as manifestations of the divine game, Leela.
Maya-shakti is the driving force behind the evolution of the world of phenomena, which is carried out due to the interweaving and interaction of the three gunas: sattva, rajas and tamas.
The Cosmic Consciousness becomes individual consciousness through its own maya. In the Hindu tradition, one can find a variety of descriptions of maya in many contexts, but still it is impossible to describe all its manifestations - it is as infinite as the Cosmic Consciousness itself.
All the player has to do is realize that he is a player and that the sense of separateness he is experiencing is an illusion. All perceptions received by the player from the outside world exist inside him in the form of signals coming through the senses, and are an illusion. Modern science, which tries to investigate the nature of reality with its own methods, confirms this position. Both in modern science and in ancient knowledge, it is believed that there is one primary substance, to which all various forms of matter can be reduced. The existence of all phenomena is nothing but one of many manifestations of the same basic unit. All elements are different forms of this single substance. The difference in the experience of different people is explained by the transformation and various combinations of atoms of matter, in the form of which this primary substance exists. This diversity in unity is an illusion and is due to the work of the maya of the Supreme Consciousness. A person is born to take part in this game, to understand how the principles of the subtle world work in the dense world. And its goal is unity, the cessation of duality.
Two carries the qualities of duality, that is, illusion. This number is obtained when the unit repeats itself. Two is an illusion, since both of its opposites are present in the One. This is the inner and outer world, unmanifested and manifested, Shiva and Shakti, masculine and feminine principles, sun and moon, dense and subtle world, Absolute and Maya, noumenon and phenomenon. So two is the number of maya. Two is an even number and, like all even numbers, is part of the lunar family. She is especially strongly associated with the Moon and lunar energy.