For instance if I thought that I saw a persons shadow in my room, but it was actually the shadow from a stuffed animal, it would be Maya. In the belief of the Hare Krishna movement, the human body is seen as Maya. People are the eternal energy of the lord Krishna. Maya takes form in many other forms of life too, not just in human form. However while in the form of an entity, the Maya must act like that entity. But people need to reject this sense of self and realize that they are pure spirit in their true form. Assuming this, not realizing that the material world is an illusion causes suffering. Another dimension of religion is the ethical dimension. This dimension also deals with the philosophy of religion, but in a different way as to seem ethical. It is based on the way we live our lives through religion. The Hare Krishna Movement has several rule which it’s followers must adhere to. They are a very moralistic religion. They do not believe in eating any meat. They do not engage in immoral sexual behavior. And they believe in loving each other regardless of who they are or where they’re from. One philosophy that goes along with the principal of ethics and morals is the philosophy of Karma, the universal law of action and reaction. Karma is a cause and effect based philosophy. It basically states that whatever you do has an effect whether it is direct or indirect. According to Vedic structure this applies to both physical and nonphysical levels. It states that there is no such thing as chance, that everything happens for a reason and is caused by something else. Everything is caused by a higher purpose. However karma is not predestination. It is the mixture of predestination and free will. Both of these aspects have to be present in order for karma to work. The way I would explain this to someone is that if you do something then you were using your own free will to make the decision, however you will have to live with the i...
