Editing Upanishads (section)

===Reality and Maya===
{{main|Maya (illusion)}}
Two different types of the non-dual Brahman-Atman are presented in the Upanishads, according to Mahadevan. The one in which the non-dual Brahman-Atman is the all-inclusive ground of the universe and another in which empirical, changing reality is an appearance (Maya).{{sfn|Mahadevan|1956|pp=62-63}}

The Upanishads describe the universe, and the human experience, as an interplay of [[Purusha]] (the eternal, unchanging principles, consciousness) and [[Prakṛti]] (the temporary, changing material world, nature).<ref>[[Paul Deussen]], {{Google books|2h0YAAAAYAAJ|The Philosophy of the Upanishads|page=161}}, pages 161, 240-254</ref> The former manifests itself as [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Ātman]] (soul, self), and the latter as [[Maya (illusion)|Māyā]]. The Upanishads refer to the knowledge of ''Atman'' as "true knowledge" (''Vidya''), and the knowledge of ''Maya'' as "not true knowledge" (''Avidya'', Nescience, lack of awareness, lack of true knowledge).<ref name=beamsc>Ben-Ami Scharfstein (1998), A Comparative History of World Philosophy: From the Upanishads to Kant, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791436844}}, page 376</ref>

Hendrick Vroom explains, "the term ''Maya'' [in the Upanishads] has been translated as 'illusion,' but then it does not concern normal illusion. Here 'illusion' does not mean that the world is not real and simply a figment of the human imagination. ''Maya'' means that the world is not as it seems; the world that one experiences is misleading as far as its true nature is concerned."<ref>H.M. Vroom (1996), No Other Gods, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, {{ISBN|978-0802840974}}, page 57</ref> According to [[Wendy Doniger]], "to say that the universe is an illusion (māyā) is not to say that it is unreal; it is to say, instead, that it is not what it seems to be, that it is something constantly being made. Māyā not only deceives people about the things they think they know; more basically, it limits their knowledge."<ref>Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (1986), Dreams, Illusion, and Other Realities, University of Chicago Press, {{ISBN|978-0226618555}}, page 119</ref>

In the Upanishads, Māyā is the perceived changing reality and it co-exists with Brahman which is the hidden true reality.<ref name=aegough>Archibald Edward Gough (2001), The Philosophy of the Upanishads and Ancient Indian Metaphysics, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415245227}}, pages 47-48</ref><ref>Teun Goudriaan (2008), Maya: Divine And Human, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120823891}}, pages 1-17</ref> ''Maya'', or "illusion", is an important idea in the Upanishads, because the texts assert that in the human pursuit of blissful and liberating self-knowledge, it is ''Maya'' which obscures, confuses and distracts an individual.<ref name=knaiyar>KN Aiyar (Translator, 1914), Sarvasara Upanishad, in Thirty Minor Upanishads, page 17, {{oclc|6347863}}</ref><ref name=adishankaratu>Adi Shankara, {{Google books|d0oAAAAYAAJ|Commentary on Taittiriya Upanishad}}, SS Sastri (Translator), Harvard University Archives, pages 191-198</ref>