Maya and Illusion

Maya does not mean the world is fake, the way a hallucination is fake. It means the world as we perceive it — split into separate objects and beings — is a partial view of a deeper unity our senses cannot reach directly.

Think of seeing a rope in dim light and mistaking it for a snake. The rope is real; your perception is genuine. But the snake is maya — a construction your mind imposes on reality. This misreading is sustained by avidya (ignorance) — not stupidity, but a built-in limit of ordinary awareness.