Sankaracarya's Vivekachudamani 572

बन्धञ्च मोक्षञ्च मृषैव मूढा

बुद्धेर्गुणं वस्तुनि कल्पयन्ति ।

दृगावृतिं मेघकृतां यथा रवौ

यतोऽद्वयासङ्गचिदेतदक्षरम् ॥

bandhañca mokṣañca mṛṣaiva mūḍhā

buddherguṇaṃ vastuni kalpayanti |

dṛgāvṛtiṃ meghakṛtāṃ yathā ravau

yato'dvayāsaṅgacidetadakṣaram ||

(Sankaracarya's Vivekachudamani 572)

Bondage and liberation are attributes of the intellect which the ignorant superimpose upon the Reality, as the hiding from eyes by clouds is superimposed upon the sun. In fact, this Immutable Reality is Absolute Knowledge, non-dual and unattached.

As the clouds covering the sun now, ordinary people think, 'oh! the sun has not come out. But the sun is there, our eyes are covered. Using the same metaphor of the sun, Lord Kapiladeva, states: "...the Absolute Truth is like the sun, which comes out for all to see. The sun does not hide, but we can try to hide ourselves from the sun closing the doors. To see the sun, we have to open the door. By the same way, Lord Madhava is there, God is there..."

"...living entities are controlled by illusions ..."

As the clouds hide the sun, similarly the Supreme Lord is hidden from our eyes. That doesn't mean is not existing. He is always existing. In Bhagavad Gita 2.12 Lord Krishna explains

na tv evaham jatu nasam

na tvam neme janadhipah

na caiva na bhavisyamah

sarve vayam atah param

Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.

So the Lord exists all the time without any attachment and without fail but in reality we are not able to understand the truth. Therefore we have to wake up from the lap of illusion to learn and understand the Lord.