Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s9.t8.5

v1.c7.s9.t8.5

While expounding the issue of the formation of the world, Vivekananda advocated that Bráhman manifested (or created) the world through the media of time, space and causality. Time, space and causality were like a mirror. Bráhman manifested all things in the world with the aid of reflections in this mirror. The universe includes not only the physical world, but also the mental world or spiritual world. The relationship between material world and spiritual world was not the relationship between primary and secondary, but a parallel and juxtaposed relationship, of which both originated from Bráhman. Here, he had changed the concept of “Maya” in traditional Vedanta. The traditional Vedanta usually regarded “Maya” as a kind of magic power, so the world manifested through “Maya” was an illusory world. However, Vivekananda believed “Maya” was not a magic force or magician, but the real time, space and causality. The time, space and causality were real existences, thus the world manifested through the media of time, space and causality by Bráhman was bound to be true. His interpretation of “Maya” enabled his new Vedanta philosophy to step out from the dilemma of the traditional Advaita Vedanta, which believed the world was illusory, and could explain all kinds of phenomena in the world in more scientific ways.