[ SANSKRIT TERM ]
माया· maya
The illusion that makes the surface look like the whole.
MEANING
Maya is often translated as "illusion" but that's not quite right. Maya isn't that the world isn't real — it's that the world isn't ONLY what it appears to be. Maya is the apparent multiplicity that conceals the underlying unity. The Gita uses it specifically in Chapter 7: even the deeply intelligent are pulled around by maya because it operates below the level of thought. Seeing through maya isn't a one-time event; it's a slow recalibration of what you treat as primary.