Maya

Webster's Dictionary

(n.) The name for the doctrine of the unreality of matter, called, in English, idealism; hence, nothingness; vanity; illusion.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Sanscrit, Illusion) is a term applied by the Hindus, in a philosophical or mystical sense, to that power which caused or created the visible phenomena of the universe. The Hindu, like Berkeley and other European philosophers, assumes that external objects have no absolute existence, but that they are mere impressions on the mind. Maya, in Hindu theology, is, according to some, that mighty goddess the wife or consort of Brahma. See Moor, Hindu Mythology, s.v.; Wilson, Sanscrit Dictionary, s.v.; Thomas, Dict. Biog. and Mythol. s.v.