Hindu idealism is a precursor of western idealism and the philosophical opposite of materialism. Also known as Hindu-Buddhist idealism, this philosophy is the basis of the cosmology of the Vedas and most religions of India and the far east. ... Materialism is the philosophical view that the only thing that can truly be said to exist is matter; that fundamentally, all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. ...

The debate about the true nature of the world typically boils down to materialism or idealism. Idealism espouses the idea that conciousness, which at its root emanates from God, is the essence or meaning of all phenomena. The existence has a purpose that transcends any particular life. The evolving soul, by reincarnating in a life-form appropritate to development, connects the lifetimes. Even if each expressed living entity holds itself to be unique, it is but an expression of an immortal soul on its evolutionary journey towards the God-concisousness. The driving force is the pain of seperation from Gods love, that all beings feel, but is initially expressed towards other beings. The process of evolution is guided by the Law of Karma. Human conciousness, the most evolved on this planet, is basically a reflection of the God-conciousness. This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and derived henotheistic forms. ... Karma or Karm(Sanskrit: कर्म from the root kri, to do, meaning deed) or Kamma (Pali: meaning action, effect, destiny) is a term in several eastern religions that comprises the entire cycle of cause and effect. ...

By contrast, materialism treats conciousness as a by-product of material existence, which has no purpose other than what we imbue the life with, as expressed by e.g. Jean-Paul Sartre. For materialists, there is no continuum of existence or concious experience beyond this life, and certainly no God. By Sartre Americans and Their Myths Sartres 1947 essay in The Nation Sartre Internet Archive on Marxists. ...

To the spiritual teacher P.R. Sarkar idealism is superior to materialism in explaining the creation because whereas the mind is able to judge matter, matter is unable to judge the mind.