Illusion / Maya
Illusion-1 (Psychological):
Distorted perceptions or beliefs created by conditioning and ego filters.
Appears as thoughts like “I am broken” or “The world is against me.”
These illusions are self-referencing loops with no independent reality.
Illusion-2 (Cosmic / Māyā):
The grand play of appearances where Brahman manifests as multiplicity.
Not “false” in the sense of non-existent, but provisional — a refracted view of the undivided whole.
Māyā = the cosmic dream: Brahman appearing as subject/object, this/not-this, self/other.
Additional Detail
Inquiry: The question is not whether illusion exists, but how deep it goes. Even body and mind, perceived through the ego tunnel, may be illusory in this sense.
Nature: Illusions appear solid because they are filtered through identity-constructs. Without the filter, there is no separate “thing” to grasp.
Integration: Illusion and Māyā point to the same dynamic. Psychological illusion is the personal expression; cosmic Māyā is the universal expression.
Analogy: Like a dream — real as an experience, yet revealed on waking to have no independent substance.