Acosmism

Acosmism is the metaphysical view that the finite world has no independent reality and exists only as an expression or appearance of the absolute or divine.

Absolute: An ultimate reality understood as unconditioned, unlimited, and independent of anything else. Acosmism treats the finite world as dependent on this ultimate reality.
Pantheism: The view that God and the universe are identical or that everything is divine. Pantheism identifies divinity with the universe, while acosmism can deny the universe independent reality.
Advaita Vedanta: A Hindu philosophical tradition that teaches the nonduality of Brahman and the deepest self. Its account of Brahman and the apparent world is a major historical analogue of acosmism.
Maya: In Indian philosophical and religious traditions, the power or appearance through which the world of plurality is experienced. Maya names a way the world can appear without possessing ultimate independent reality.
Nihilism: A family of views that deny or challenge the existence of objective values, knowledge, or meaning. Acosmism denies the world’s independence, not necessarily its experienced existence or all value.
Appearance and reality: The philosophical distinction between how things seem and what exists independently of seeming. Acosmism interprets the finite world as appearance rather than independent reality.
Panentheism: The view that the universe exists in God while God also exceeds the universe. Panentheism gives the universe a place within divine reality without simply reducing it to appearance.
Gaudapada: An early Advaita Vedanta philosopher known for teaching that ultimate reality is unborn and nondual. His doctrine of non-origination gives a classic account of the world’s lack of ultimate reality.
Vivarta: The Advaita Vedanta account of apparent transformation, in which the absolute seems to change without actually changing. Vivarta explains how a changing world can appear while Brahman remains unchanged.
Moksha: Liberation from the cycle of rebirth in Indian religious traditions. Advaita links liberation to realizing that the apparent finite self is not ultimately separate from Brahman.

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