Nonduality: The Truth We Keep Forgetting.
Nonduality: The Truth We Keep Forgetting.
Nonduality simply means “not two” or “no second”. Yet, the moment we hear it, something in us resists. It seems to contradict everything we've been taught. Our schools, institutions, governments, and religions all reinforce the idea of duality—of separateness, of more than one. From birth, we are conditioned to see ourselves as distinct individuals, divided by identity, beliefs, and geography. But is this fragmentation real, or is it simply an inherited habit—an illusion we have never questioned?
We live as though we are isolated beings cut off from one another, from nature, and from the universe itself. We imagine ourselves as singular, self-contained entities. But does anything in existence actually work this way?
Would you believe a child who claimed they were not born of their parents? Would you accept the idea that a body could exist independently of the food, water, air, and sunlight that sustain it? Such claims are absurd. And yet, isn't it just as irrational to insist that we, as human beings, are separate from one another and from the vast, interconnected reality that gives rise to everything—including us?
If nonduality were false, then every being, object, and phenomenon would have to exist in absolute isolation—self-created, self-sustaining, untouched by anything else. But look closely at reality:
Your body is not an independent or singular entity. It is a composite of an infinite number of Earth, powered by the sun, shaped by air and water, and formed through an endless chain of causes stretching back to the beginning of time. The body has no inner nature that could bring about its own existence. It does not generate itself. There is no "you" apart from the totality of existence that produced it and lived through it—just as a wave cannot separate itself from the ocean.
Your mind is not an isolated observer. It is not a fixed, singular thing that recognizes, perceives, thinks, and feels in isolation. It is a flow—an ever-changing stream of consciousness in which each moment arises from the previous one, shaped by an infinite web of causes and conditions. No moment of mind possesses an independent nature that generates itself into existence. The mind is a continuum, a perpetual flow without a singular beginning. No thought, perception, or emotion exists independently. It is all movement within the whole.
Reality itself is not a collection of separate things. It is a seamless, ever-unfolding process, manifesting in infinite forms. The distinctions we perceive between people—race, nationality, culture—are not fixed traits or personal possessions. They belong to no one. They are simply the universe expressing itself in countless ways.
Look at your own experience: The cells in your body are not yours. They are borrowed from the Earth, constantly replenished by the food you eat, the water you drink, and the air you breathe. Your thoughts and emotions are not self-generated; they arise from a vast network of influences—your environment, relationships, experiences, and the inherited tendencies of countless generations before you.
Nothing exists in isolation. You are not separate. You are the universe in motion.
And yet, we cling to the illusion of duality—of separateness, of more than one. We create borders, identities, and divisions. We fight wars over imagined distinctions. We label others as "different" or "other" and live as though we are strangers to the very world that gave birth to us. But this is like mistaking ripples on a pond for separate entities, forgetting that beneath them, all the water is one.
To recognize nonduality is to see through this illusion. It is to realize a profound truth: we are not independent, fragmented beings—we are expressions of the same boundless reality. The differences we cling to are not truly ours; they belong to the whole, to the universal nature that produces everything and lives through us as a seamless whole.
The belief that we are self-contained individuals is as irrational as a tree claiming it is separate from the soil, water, and sunlight that sustain it. Just as no wave can break away from the ocean, no being can exist apart from the totality of existence.
It is time to reconsider everything. To recognize that nothing stands alone, that we are not merely connected to the universe—we are the universe, experiencing itself in infinite ways.
And yet, our education systems continue to reinforce the illusion of duality of separateness. Shouldn't we be teaching the truth of our indivisibility, our non-dualistic nature—truths that could free us from fear, division, and conflict? Shouldn't we be guiding our children toward the reality of their wholeness rather than burdening them with false ideas of fragmentation?
What do we gain by continuing to uphold this illusion?
Isn't it time we stopped passing down this misconception and instead revealed the truth that has the power to set us free?
