nonduality

Nonduality refers to philosophical and spiritual positions that affirm there is no ultimate separation between apparent opposites such as self and other, mind and world, or subject and object. It emphasizes unity, interdependence, or the limits of conceptual distinction in describing reality.

In Hinduism, Advaita Vedanta teaches that the individual self (atman) is ultimately identical with the universal reality (Brahman); the sense of separation arises from ignorance (avidya). In Buddhism, analyses of emptiness (sunyata) and dependent origination challenge fixed dualities, while some schools describe a nondual awareness that transcends conceptual divides. Taoism presents the Dao as the undivided source of all patterns, beyond oppositional categories. Nonduality is also found in Sufi and Christian mysticism as the experience of oneness or the dissolution of ego in the divine.

Practices associated with nonduality include self-inquiry (such as asking “Who am I?”), various forms of meditation, mindfulness of experience, and directed insight by teachers. Realization is often portrayed as an experiential shift rather than a doctrinal assertion, with emphasis on direct perception of non-separation in moment-to-moment awareness.

Scholars and critics note that nonduality can be interpreted in ways that seem to deny ordinary experience or ethics if taken as a total negation of difference. Some caution against conflating nondual realization with solipsism or with simplistic slogans. In contemporary usage, nonduality appears in secular psychology and spiritual communities, producing a range of interpretations.