maya en · NOUN
Etymology
Borrowed from Sanskrit माया (māyā).
Meanings
- (qualifier:Hindu mythology, uncountable) Magic; supernatural power as held by the gods.
-
(Hinduism, uncountable) The power by which the universe is made to appear; the illusion of the phenomenal world, as opposed to its true or spiritual reality.
Shankara prescribed meditative reflection, through which each individual could pierce the veil of maya and come to recognize the identity between his or her essence and the universal spirit.
2016, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, published 2017, page 58: