The Inner Buddha chose to be born to a royal couple in a region that nowadays is known as Nepal, near the Himalaya; the parents were of the clan of the Shakya, and the mother that was chosen was named Maya. She is often called Mahamaya or Mayadevi. This word Maya is simply the name of the Goddess. Any Goddess in Hinduism is Maya.
"Royalty" in an initiatic story indicates membership in an initiatic tradition. In all of our ancient traditions, the kings were always priests; the kings were always the holders of the esoteric knowledge. We also know this in relation to the parents of Buddha Shakyamuni, because it is recorded so in the scripture:
There lived once upon a time a king of the Śhākya, a scion of the solar race, whose name was Śhuddhodana. He was pure in conduct, and beloved of the Śhākya like the autumn moon. He had a wife, splendid, beautiful, and steadfast, who was called Mahamāyā, from her resemblance to Māyā the Goddess. - Buddhacarita of Aśhvaghoṣa, I.1-2
The king belonged to the Solar Race: in other words, he was already Twice Born, someone who was born again, like Moses or Jesus. The Solar Race refers to those initiates who developed the Solar Bodies (To Soma Heliakon, in Greek), the Mercabah (Hebrew), the chariot of the soul (see Ezekiel or the Bhagavad-gita).
All of the divine kings of the past were Solar Beings, and were responsible for protecting the sacred knowledge.
The story goes that during the time of the month when Mahamaya was in her monthly purification retreat (in other words, having her menstrual cycle), she had a dream. And in this dream, a great white elephant came from Heaven and entered into her womb. The elephant is a symbol of the Innermost, the Being, the Contemplation Buddha. She was dreaming during that period of the month, which, traditionally, according to Asian ethic, is a time when the woman and the man, the husband and wife, suspend their sexual relations. And it is also stated in the tradition that the king and queen did not have a child. In other words, Maya was a virgin. Here we have an Immaculate Conception, where the white elephant, the Contemplation Buddha, enters into the womb of this virginal queen. Symbolically, a king or a queen would be a Malachim, someone who had awakened consciousness: an initiate. And as someone who understood the doctrine and was practicing the teaching, she, Maya, the queen, the mother, represents the Divine Mother, the Goddess, Maya, from whose womb emerges the Savior. In the same way, we see Mary in the Christian tradition.
When we say she was a virgin, we mean in the esoteric sense. This indicates that she was pure, without defilement. Defilement relates to the mind and how we utilize energy. Someone who is corrupt with desire is impure. Those who have no desire are pure. A virgin is someone who is undefiled: they are free of desire.
This title of Maya literally means “appearance.” The way it is typically translated though is as “illusion.” Western scholars have somewhat misconstrued the meaning of this word Maya, as being something that is always negative, but it is not. Maya is the name of the Divine Mother, but the Divine Mother has many aspects.
When we look to the Arcanum 6, we see two women on either side of the initiate. These are two aspects of the Divine Mother: the pure and the impure. We have the pure Divine Mother, who is the truth, who is a virgin, and then we have the Divine Mother Death, the Queen of the Abyss, who takes her children to the Second Death. She still loves her children, but she is a defiled mother; she is impure because her children are impure.
These are the two Feminine principles of the universe, the Virgin and the Harlot, the Divine Mother or White Moon and Astaroth, Kali, or Black Moon, which refers to its tenebrous aspect. - Samael Aun Weor, Tarot & Kabbalah
Normally, when western scholars discuss Maya, they are discussing the impure mother, the mother of illusion, deception, and deceit. But be clear in your understanding of the word maya: it does not always mean something negative. The term Maya is actually a title for the wife of Shiva, who is also known as Shakti. Shiva could not exist without Maya, without his spouse. And this combination of male-female, Shiva-Shakti, is the basis of existence. It is also interesting to note the word Maya is also the name of an entire population in Latin America, and they also worship the Goddess.
The mother of the Buddha is symbolic of the pure state of consciousness required in order for the Buddha to be born within us. If we remain defiled with desire, then we are slaves of the Whore; therefore, the Buddhic consciousness is out of reach. It cannot manifest.
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In the Kabbalistic Tarot, Arcanum 1 is the Magician, which symbolizes the Spirit: the Contemplation Buddha. Arcanum 2 is the Priestess, and symbolizes matter, or the vehicle through which the Spirit can act. If the matter is impure, corrupted with desire, then the Spirit cannot use it.
The white elephant symbolizes the pure, robust intelligence of the Spirit, who descends into the womb of the Divine Mother Maya at a time when her husband cannot touch her: in other words, at a time and place where there is no desire. Therefore, Maya is virginal: she is uncorrupted, pure, just like Mary, the mother of Jesus.
The number one, the Father who is in secret, is the Eternal Masculine Principle. He is within Himself Brahma, who has no form, is impersonal and ineffable, and who can be symbolized by the sun. The number two is the Divine Mother. She is the Eternal Feminine Principle that can be symbolized by the moon. Brahma has no form, He is what He is. But, in Himself, He is the governor of the universe. He is Ishvara, the Eternal Masculine Principle, the Universal Principle Of life.
The Universal Principle Of life unfolds in the Eternal Feminine Universal Principle, which is the Great Pralaya of the universe, of the cosmos, Her fertile bosom where everything is born and where everything returns. - Samael Aun Weor, Tarot & Kabbalah
The combination of these two results in the creation of existence, which is Arcanum 3.
