Avidyamaya and vidyamaya

based on his mystical realizations. Literally, "vidyamaya" means "wisdom-illusion", and "avidyamaya" means "un-wisdom-illusion".

Ramakrishna implied that all things, good and bad, were "maya" (illusion). According to him, both love and hate, materialism and spirituality, egotism and generosity exist only due to our limited perception of Reality. However, he divided them into illusions that further bind us ("avidyamaya") and illusions that take us further onto the dispelling of maya ("vidyamaya").

According to his Hindu school of thought, as one cannot trust one's eyes before a trained magician, also the human five senses draw and drag us further into illusions and false conclusions. However, the embracing and realization of some concepts that are not sensual (i.e., of the senses), such as love, generosity, spirituality, all of them "vidyamaya", take us further away from sticking to what we see, touch, smell, hear, taste.