The Origins of Delusion
The Bhagavad Gita VII:27
O Descendant of Bharata, Scorcher of Foes (Arjuna)! at birth all creatures are immersed in delusive ignorance (moha) by the delu-sion of the pairs ofopposites springing from longing and aversion.
— The Gita VII:27
A man witnessing a dream is affected from the very start by its pleasant or unpleasant nature. Similarly, as soon as a human being is born in a particular part of this cosmic dream, he begins to respond emotionally. He views the pairs of opposites as either pleasurable or disagreeable according to his individual liking or disliking. Thus, beholding the drama of contrary elements, he knows desire and aversion. Succumbing to the impulses of likes and dislikes, the discrimination and free choice of his soul are overwhelmed and he is plunged into delusive ignorance, moha, the ego's indivisible cohesion to delusion. The subjection from birth to the oppositional states of delusion, good and evil, is man's state of "original sin."
A person who looks out of a clean window and who then gazes through a dirty window will first see the objects outside clearly and in their natural colors, and then obscurely, as though dimmed by darkness. Similarly, according to the good or evil character of his own dream drama, a man is happily or adversely affected.
To be born in a physical body at all is a clue that man is in soul ignorance and has not realized his identity as formless Spirit. (The exceptions are masters who return here at God's command to guide their stumbling brothers.) To breathe at all is to breathe in maya. Thus from their very birth children are exposed to cosmic delusion and grow up helplessly under it. God gives them delusion first, and not Himself, in order to carry on His dramatic scheme of creation. If He did not cover Himself with the veils of maya, there could be no Cosmic Game of creation, in which men play hide-and-seek with Him and try to find Him as the Grand Prize.
When man is disillusioned by the lesser temptations of sense pleasures, he seeks the supreme temptation of life, God's bliss. ...
When the water in a pot is agitated, the moving water disturbs any reflected object. Similarly, when the calm waters of a man's heart are stirred by likes and dislikes, he is unable to solve his problems and to make wise decisions. Nor can a restless heart reflect the inward presence of the blissful soul.
Owing to prenatal habits of desires and aversions, a human being is agitated from birth by the triple qualities of cosmic maya. Except the wise, all men are born with delusion (moha), attachment to body consciousness. When an individual from early childhood shows signs of soul qualities, that person has been born with inherent superconsciousness earned by good karma in the past. [God Talks With Arjuna p. 702]
