Let us see how the inner world is created.
The creator of the internal world is the mind. In other words, our ideas, thoughts, hopes, wishes, and desires, which constitute the internal world, are created by the mind. And the mind is under the control of maya, as the Vedas tell us.
इन्द्रियेभ्यः परा ह्यर्था अर्थेभ्यश्च परं मनः ।
मनसस्तु परा बुद्धिर्बुद्धेरात्मा महान्परः ॥Indriyebhyaḥ parā hyarthā arthebhyaśhch paraṃ manaḥ.
Manasastu parā buddhirbuddherātmā mahānparaḥ.- Kathopanishad 1.3.10
महतः परमव्यक्तमव्यक्तात्पुरुषः परः ।
पुरुषान्न परं किंचित्सा काष्ठा सा परा गतिः ॥
Mahataḥ paramavyaktamavyaktātpuruṣhaḥ paraḥ.
Puruṣhānn paraṃ kiṃchitsā kāṣhṭhā sā parā gatiḥ.- Kathopanishad 1.3.11
The Vedas tell us that great are the senses. In other words, “Our senses are very powerful.”
But even greater, even more powerful than our senses, are the objects of the senses because they govern the senses. But even greater than these sense objects is the mind. And even beyond the mind is the intellect, because it governs the mind. And even beyond the intellect is the soul, and even beyond, greater than the soul, is maya. So in this way, the Vedas tell us that the mind is ultimately governed by maya.
Now here a question arises. Maya creates both the external world and the internal world. Then why is the external world real and the internal world unreal? The scriptures tell us; they give us the answer to everything, to every question we have or we can think of. The Ramayan tells us that maya has two aspects: vidya maya and avidya maya.
एक दुष्ट अतिसय दुखरूपा। जा बस जीव परा भवकूपा॥
एक रचइ जग गुन बस जाकें। प्रभु प्रेरित नहिं निज बल ताकें॥
Ek duṣhṭ atisay dukhrūpā. Jā bas jeev parā bhavkūpā.
Ek rachai jag gun bas jākēṇ. Prabhu prerit nahīṁ nij bal tākēṇ. - Ramayan
So, one aspect of maya creates the universe and the other aspect of maya rules over the mind. The aspect of maya which creates the universe is known as vidya maya or the ‘intelligent’ aspect since it is equipped with the knowledge of God. So it is vidya maya that creates the universe with the help, with the knowledge, of God.
And the other aspect of maya known as avidya maya is the ‘ignorant’ aspect of maya. And it is this ignorant aspect of maya which rules over the mind. And therefore, the external world is real and the internal world is unreal. Now because the external world is real, all its products are real and remain the same. For example, you will always see a tree having the same form. You would never see a tree with its head up and feet down. You would always see a tree with its head down and feet up, the roots down underground.
And what about the internal world of our mind? Because it is unreal, the world of our mind is ever-changing.
