Maya/Illusion is not always seeing falsely — sometimes it is overlooking what is lovingly present.

The mind remembers pain easily. A hurtful word from years ago can remain alive within us, while the love quietly present around us today often goes unnoticed.We replay old betrayals, disappointments, and emotional wounds, yet forget the people who continue supporting, caring, and standing beside us now.

This is one of the subtle ways maya works.

Maya is not only illusion about the outer world — it is also the mind’s tendency to give more attention to hurt than to love, more energy to absence than to presence.

Where attention goes, energy flows.

When attention repeatedly returns to pain, suffering deepens. We become emotionally attached to old memories instead of becoming available to the love and grace present in our lives now.

This is why spiritual practices and healing techniques are so important. Meditation helps us observe thoughts without becoming trapped in them. Breathwork calms emotional turbulence and quiets mental repetition. Gratitude shifts awareness from what is missing to what is already present. Healing practices help release emotional impressions/psychic imprints that keep old pain active within us.

Slowly, attention begins to heal.

We stop feeding old emotional wounds and start recognizing the love, support, and peace that have been quietly present all along. Spiritual growth is not denying pain. It is learning not to build our inner world around it.

Maya/Illusion feeds the ego with hurt. Awareness frees the heart through love.

–Contributed by Sujatha Sivapooja