MAYA IS REAL
Matter gets transformed to energy and energy to matter. Nothing is created from the void. Creation and destruction are transformation from one state to another. This is a scientifically accepted fact.
The Saiva philosophical concept of the worldly things and the cosmos reflects the above scientific view.
Always Existing
What is real only comes to existence. This concept is called Satkariyavatham in Saiva Siddhanta philosophy. It consists of three words sat, kariyam and vatham. Sat means one which is real; kariyam means the product; vatham means concept. From this, it follows that nothing comes to existence from nothing or void. According to Saiva philosophy, all things are born out of a subtle entity called maya. It is the seed of the world we live in. Saiva Siddhanata views maya as real and eternal. It is not an illusion. Like energy, it pervades everything and is used by God when required. It is customary to divide the word maya into 'ma' and 'ya', and to say that 'ma' indicates involution and 'ya' indicates evolution. By this the origin and decay of things are explained as transformation from and to maya. Death is a transformation of the physical body to maya and birth is vice versa.
For the soul to act, it requires the body, and the mental and psychological faculties. These are called respectively as dhanu and karana. It also requires the world, called bhuvanam to stay in. For its actions to come to experience it requires materials of experience or enjoyment, called bhogam. Dhanu, karana, bhuvana and bhogam are the products of maya. Like a pot which disintegrates and get transformed to clay, these things which were made of maya decay and get transformed to maya.
Like a Lamp
The soul's power of knowing is impaired by anavam. In association with the products of maya it engages in action and gains experience. Through experience it gradually gains knowledge. With God's Grace, Soul's knowledge improves and the shackles of anavam get loosened. Thus it evolves spiritually. Like a small lamp, helping in darkness till the sun dawns, maya helps the soul till it receives the divine light.
The soul is an association with anavam. It gains knowledge through the senses and mental faculties which are products of maya. This knowledge is not perfect and often creates confusion. Because of this, the maya which helps the soul to gain knowledge is also considered as a malam or impurity.
Nature and Division
Maya is a singel entity. By the nature of its action, it is divided into two parts called sudha maya (pure maya) and asudha maya (impure maya). In association with the anava malam, it causes confusion and misunderstanding and in this state it is called asudha maya. It is also the cause of mental attachment and hence is called moga karani. Sudha maya is not in association with the malam and does not cause any attachment. Hence it is called karani.
Souls, as explained earlier, are divided into three categories, vijnanakalar, pralayakalar and sakalar. Since they are of three categories, the 'world' required for them is also of three categories. They are respectively called sudha maya, asudha maya and prakriti maya worlds. Prakriti maya is the product of asudha maya and hence it is also asudha maya.
When danu karana buvana boga originates from maya, they first appear as subtle bodies called tatvas. Saiva Siddhanta speaks of thirty six tatvas, while other philosophies speak of twenty four tatvas(of prakriti maya). Out of the thirty six tatvas, five are classified under sudha maya, seven under asudha maya and twenty four under prakriti maya.