Vikshepa is an affliction of the mind that consists of worldly distractions; various spiritual exercises (sadhanas) are undertaken to overcome it and realise the Divine. The sadhanas include meditation, concentration and performance of good deeds for achieving purity of mind. When one succeeds in overcoming Vikshepa, one is confronted with avarana (akin to a thick covering in which one is enveloped). This covering is known as maya (delusion). It envelops everything in the universe. The eyes with which one can see everything that is outside cannot see themselves. Likewise, Maya, which reveals the entire universe, cannot reveal the Divine. Because we are enveloped in Maya, we seek worldly pleasures and do not seek our own Divine essence. ‘Yaddhrushyam than-nashyathi - Whatever is perceptible, is perishable.’ In the pursuit of fleeting and impermanent pleasures, we are throwing away the permanent, the unchanging and the real elements in human life.

- Divine Discourse, Jul 17, 1997.