Madireksana-refers to one whose eyes are so attractive that one who observes them becomes maddened by her. In other words, madireksana means a very beautiful young girl. According to Jiva Gosvami, madireksana means the personified deity of bhakti. If one is attracted by the bhakti cult, he becomes engaged in the service of the Lord and the spiritual master, and thus his life becomes successful. Vaidarbhi, the woman, became a follower of her husband. As she left her comfortable home for the service of her husband, a serious student of spiritual understanding must give up everything for the service of the spiritual master. As stated by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadaḥ: if one wants actual success in life, he must strictly follow the instructions of the spiritual master. By following such instructions, one is sure to make rapid progress in spiritual life. This statement by Visvanatha Cakravarti is in pursuance of the following injunction from the Svetasvatara Upanisad yasya deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau tasyaite kathita hy arthaḥ prakasante mahatmanaḥ "Unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed." (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.23) ataḥ sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaiḥ sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ "No one can understand Krsna as He is by the blunt material senses. But He reveals Himself to the devotees, being pleased with them for their transcendental loving service unto Him." (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.234) bhaktya mam abhijanati yavan yas casmi tattvataḥ tato mam tattvato jnatva visate tad-anantaram "One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God." Mahabharata-an ancient, Sanskrit, epic history of Bharata, or India composed by Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasadeva, the literary incarnation of Godhead, in 100,000 verses. The essence of all Vedic philosophy, the Bhagavad-gita, is a part of this great work. Maha-bharata is a history of the earth from its creation to the great Kuruksetra war fought between the Kuru and Pandava factions of the Kaurava dynasty, which took place about five thousand years ago. The battle was waged to determine who would be the emperor of the world: the saintly Yudhisthira, a Vaisnava king, or the evil-minded Duryodhana, the son of Dhrtarastra. Marxism-The rationalist political and economic doctrine of the nineteenth century German social revolutionary Karl Marx (1818-1883). Marx is considered to be a materialist, but his materialism is special. He believed the material (especially economic) facts of a society determine its mental aspects: social laws, religion, culture and other patterns of thought. In short, Marx believed the material determines the mental. But materialism is actually the belief that the material is the mental. Marx was much influenced by the idealist Hegel, whose philosophy of history predicted the progressive development of human consciousness towards knowledge of the absolute. Marx translated that notion of progress into economic terms. But the historical end he foresaw for humanity perpetual communisms idealistic, not materialistic. According to materialism, nothing is perpetual except primordial matter. Phenomena are ever-changing. Hence, no social system can be permanent. Theorist of economy that he was, Marx was not able to provide for his wife and children. He and his family were supported by his fellow revolutionary Friedrich Engels, a rich man's son. See Humanism, Idealism, Materialism, Rationalism. Maya-Mayavada philosophy. Mayavada in Sanskrit means doctrine of illusion. In India, the philosophies of the Buddha and of Sahkaracarya are called Mayavada. The second grew out of the first. The fundamental principles accepted by both are the following: 1) name, form, individuality, thoughts, desires and words arise from maya or illusion, not God; 2) maya cannot be rationally explained, since the very idea that anything needs explaining is itself maya; 3) the individual self or soul is not eternal, because upon liberation it ceases to exist; 4) like maya, the state of liberation is beyond all explanation. The main difference between the two is that Sahkaracarya's Mayavada asserts that beyond maya is an eternal impersonal monistic reality, Brahman, the nature of which is the self. Buddhism, however, aims at extinction (nirodha) as the final goal. Of the two, Sahkaracarya's Mayavada is more dangerous, as it apparently derives its authority from the Vedas. Much word-jugglery is employed to defend the Vedic origins of Sahkaracarya's Mayavada. But ultimately Mayavadis dispense with Vedic authority by concluding that the Supreme cannot be known through sabda, that the name of Krsna is a material vibration, that the form of Krsna is illusion, and so on. The Sahkarites agree with the Buddhists that nama-rūpa (name and form) must always be maya. Therefore Vaisnavas reject both kinds of Mayavada as atheism. Buddhists generally do not deny that they are atheists, whereas the Sahkarite Mayavadis claim to be theists. But actually they are monists and pantheists. Their claim to theism is refuted by their belief that the Supreme Self is overcome by maya and becomes the bound soul. Sahkaracarya's Mayavada is similar in significant ways to the Western doctrine of solipsism. Like solipsism, it arrives at a philosophical dead end. The questions that remain unanswered are: If my consciousness is the only reality, why can't I change the universe at will, simply by thought? And if my own self is the only reality, why am I dependent for my life, learning and happiness upon a world full of living entities that refuse to acknowledge this reality? See Brahmajyoti, Brahman, Buddhism, Four Vaisnava Sampradayas and Siddhantas, Monism, Pantheism, Sahkaracarya, Scepticism, Solipsism, Six systems. Maya-illusion; an energy of Krsna's which deludes the living entity into forgetfulness of the Supreme Lord. That which is not, unreality, deception, forgetfulness, material illusion. Under illusion a man thinks he can be happy in this temporary material world. The nature of the material world is that the more a man tries to exploit the material situation, the more he is bound by maya's complexities; This is a Sanskrit term of many meanings. It may mean energy; yoga-maya is the spiritual energy sustaining the transcendental manifestation of the spiritual Vaikuntha world, while the reflection, maha-maya, is the energy of the material world. The Lord's twofold maya bewilders the jiva, hence maya also means bewilderment or illusion. Transcendental bewilderment is in love, by which the devotee sees God as his master, friend, dependent or amorous beloved. The material bewilderment of the living entity begins with his attraction to the glare of the brahma-jyoti. That attraction leads to his entanglement in the modes of material nature. According to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, maya also means that which can be measured. This is the feature of Lord Krsna's prakrti that captures the minds of scientific materialists. The Vaisnava and Mayavada explanations of maya are not the same. See Mayavada philosophy, Modes of nature, Spiritual world. Mezze-Middle Eastern hors d'oeuvres or appetizers. Mezze is essentially a Lebanese creation but has spread throughout the Middle East. Delicious vegetarian mezze included in this book are fresh, round Middle Eastern Breads (Pita) and dips such as Chickpea and Sesame Dip (Hummus), Lebanese Eggplant Dip (Babagannonj, and Syrian Yogurt Cheese Labreh). Lebanese Bulgur Wheat Salad (Tabbouleh) invariably appears on the mezze banquet table, as do varieties of Stuffed Vine Leaves (Dolmades), along with simple items such as slices of cucumber, olives, fresh raw or blanched vegetables, nuts, whole cooked chickpeas, and lemon wedges. Mind-Some prominent theories of the mind are the following: 1) it is an eternal transmigrating soul; 2) it is a product of the action of the soul upon the body; 3) it is a non-material substance totally unlike the body; 4) it is a succession of mental events; 5) it is a by-product of the body; 6) it is a function of the form of the body, as vision is to the form of the eye; 7) it is function of the organism as a whole; 8) it is the behavior patterns of the body; 9) it is identical to the brain; 10) it is matter in motion. None of these theories exactly correspond to the Vedic version, and some are completely materialistic. The Vedas state that the seed of the mind is the desire of the soul. If desire is pure, the mind that develops out of it is spiritual. If desire is impure, then what develops is subtle matter in the mode of goodness. The development of the mind of the living entity is governed by the Supersoul (Aniruddha). According to Lord Krsna, the functions of the mind are sahkalpa-vikalpa (acceptance and rejection; see SB 11.2.38). See Consciousness, False ego, Intellect, Mind/body problem, Modes of nature, Soul, Subtle body, Supersoul. Mind/body problem Throughout history, philosophers of the East and West have offered speculations about the exact nature of the relationship between the mind and the body. They can be grouped under the following headings: 1) Dualism: mind/body as two substances, mental and material. 2) Logical Behaviorism: mind as the logic of the body's behavior. 3) Idealism: mind/body as one substance, mind. 4) Materialism: mind/body as one substance, matter. 5) Functionalism: mind as the functions of input, processing, output, analogous to the functions of a computer. 6) Double aspect theory: mind/body as aspects of a substance that is neither mental nor physical. That substance is supposed by different philosophers to be the totality of everything, or a neutral monistic stuff, or the fundamental concept person, of which mind and matter are aspects. 7) Phenomenology: mind/body as a problem of experience, rather than a problem of theory. The mind/body duality is really a problem of the materialistic soul's intention toward matter, from which all dualities arise. The mind and body of the bound soul are material. The mind and body of the liberated soul are spiritual. See Consciousness, Dualism, False ego, Gross body, Idealism, Intellect, Logic, Materialism, Mind, Modes of nature, Phenomenology, Soul, Subtle body, Supersoul. Modes of nature-There are three gunas, or modes of material nature: goodness (sattva-guna), passion (rajo-guna) and ignorance (tamo-guna). They make possible our mental, emotional and physical experiences of the universe. Without the influence of the modes, thought, value judgement and action are impossible for the conditioned soul. The English word mode, as used by Srila Prabhupada in his translations of Vedic literature, best conveys the sense of the Sanskrit term guna (material quality). Mode comes from the Latin modus, and it has a special application in European philosophy. Modus means measure. It is used to distinguish between two aspects of material nature: that which is immeasurable (called natura naturans, the creative nature) and that which seems measurable (called natura naturata, the created nature). Creative nature is a single divine substance that manifests, through modes, the created nature, the material world of physical and mental variety. Being immeasurable (in other words, without modes), creative nature cannot be humanly perceived. Created nature (with modes) seems measurable, hence we do perceive it. Modus also means a manner of activity. When creative nature acts, it assumes characteristic modes of behavior: creation, maintainance and destruction. Bhagavad-gita (14.3-5) presents a similar twofold description of material nature as mahat yoni, the source of birth, and as guna prakrti, that which acts wonderfully through modes. Material nature as the source of birth is also termed mahad-brahman, the great or immeasurable Brahman. Mahad-brahman is nature as the divine creative substance, which is the material cause of everything. Material cause is a term common to both European philosophy (as causa materialis) and Vedanta philosophy (as upadana karana). It means the source of ingredients that make up creation. We get an example of a material cause from the Sanskrit word yoni, which literally means womb. The mother's womb provides the ingredients for the formation of the embryo. Similarly, the immeasurable creative nature provides the ingredients for the formation of the material world in which we live, the seemingly measurable created nature. The clarity of this example forces a question: what about the father, who must impregnate the womb first before it can act as the material cause? This question is answered by Krsna, the speaker of the Bhagavad-gita, in verse 14.4: aham bija-pradaḥ pita, I am the seed-giving father. In Vedanta philosophy, this factor of causation is termed nimitta-matram (the remote cause). It is important to note that by presenting creation as the result of the union of two causes (the material and the remote), the Bhagavad-gita rejects the philosophy of Deus sive natura, the identity of God and nature. In short, though creative nature may be accepted as the direct cause of creation, it is not the self-sufficient cause of creation. The seed with which Krsna impregnates the womb of creative nature is comprised of sarva-bhūtanam, all living entities (Bg. 14.3). And Bg. 14.5 explains that when Krsna puts the souls into the womb of material nature, their consciousness is conditioned by three modes, or tri-guna. The modes are three measures of interaction between conscious spirit and unconscious matter. The modes may be compared to the three primary colors, yellow, red and blue, and consciousness may be compared to clear light. The conditioning (nibhadnanti: they do condition) of consciousness upon its entry into the womb of material nature is comparable to the coloration of light upon its passing through a prism. The color yellow symbolizes sattva-guna, the mode of goodness. This mode is pure, illuminating, and sinless. Goodness conditions the soul with the sense of happiness and knowledge. The color red symbolizes the rajo-guna, the mode of passion, full of longings and desires. By the influence of passion the soul engages in works of material accomplishment. The color blue symbolizes tamo-guna, the mode of ignorance, which binds the soul to madness, indolence and sleep. As the three primary colors combine to produce a vast spectrum of hues, so the three modes combine to produce the vast spectrum of states of conditioned consciousness that encompasses all living entities within the universe. See Krsna, Threefold miseries. Mysticism-From the Greek mystes, one initiated into the mysteries or secrets of higher knowledge. Andrew Weeks, a scholar of this subject, points out the difficulty of coming to clear terms with what mysticism actually is: The concept of mysticism is controversial and ambiguous in its core. There is no agreement among scholars on the question of who ought to be classified as a mystic. (from German Mysticism, 1993, p. 3) St. John of the Cross, a Christian mystic, wrote: In order to arrive at that which thou knowest not, Thou must go by a way that thou knowest not. In order to arrive at that which thou possesseth not, Thou must go by a way that thou possesseth not. As Srila Prabhupada once said, Mystical means misty. See Brahmajyoti, Ecstasy, Sphotavada.