Within Shaktism, the material world is understood as the very manifestation of the Divine Mother, not as something separate from or opposed to her. Shakti is regarded as the ultimate reality, the dynamic, conscious energy from which the universe arises and through which it is sustained. The cosmos is thus her body and her play (līlā), a field in which her creative power unfolds in countless forms. While the forms of the world are transient and ever-changing, they are nonetheless real as expressions of Shakti, rather than mere illusion in the sense of being devoid of divinity. This view affirms both her transcendence, as the infinite consciousness beyond all particular forms, and her immanence, as the very substance and energy of those forms.

In this framework, matter is not treated as inert or spiritually inferior, but as condensed or “frozen” consciousness—Shakti’s own energy appearing as physical reality. The traditional polarity of Śiva and Śakti is interpreted as two aspects of a single nondual reality: Śiva as silent consciousness or potential, Śakti as active energy and manifestation. Shakti is both the material cause and the efficient cause of the universe, meaning that the world is not merely created by the divine but is the divine in manifest form. Consequently, the body, nature, and everyday life are honored as sacred, functioning as temples and expressions of the Divine Mother rather than obstacles to spiritual realization.

Spiritual practice in Shaktism therefore does not revolve around rejecting the material world but around recognizing its true nature as Shakti. The world is seen as a field for spiritual realization, where every experience can become a doorway to the awareness of the Divine Mother’s presence. Liberation involves a shift in perception: from seeing oneself and the world as separate, finite entities to recognizing them as modes of Shakti’s own being. In many traditions within this stream, this process is symbolized by Shakti turning back upon herself within the individual, leading from identification with gross matter to the realization of unity with the Divine Mother who both pervades and surpasses all things.