What does Duality and Nonduality Mean? 10 Powerful Examples

OVERVIEW: This guide explores the meaning of duality and nonduality for beginners.

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What is the nature of duality?

What exactly does nonduality mean?

What’s the difference between duality versus nonduality? And why is it important?

Are there “nondual meditations” you can practice?

In this in-depth guide, we’ll explore these questions and much more.

Let’s dive in …

CONTENTS

What is Duality?

The term duality can be used in two different contexts:

First, duality can mean polarity or opposition. For example, black versus white, light versus dark, or masculine versus feminine can represent dual structures.

A common duality in politics is left versus right, liberal versus conservative.

Second, duality can simply refer to the world of form. In the context of duality versus nonduality, the former represents every quality and trait of our three-dimensional world is a part of duality.

In this latter context, duality is so all-encompassing that we might incorrectly assume that’s all there is.

Everything within the manifest universe represents duality including:

All physical objects
Language/words
Physical bodies
Thoughts
Nature
Emotions
The five senses
Cosmos
Time
Space

With duality, we have differentiation: this or that, either/or, pleasure and pain, subject and object.

Duality represents separation. The dualistic manifest reality is the world we observe, perceive, and experience.

What is Nonduality?

Nonduality is an English translation of the Sanskrit term Advaita which technically means “not two.”

Nonduality is challenging to define because it can only be perceived by what it is not.

For example, while duality is related to time, space, linearity, and limitation, nonduality is defined by the timeless, nonlocal, nonlinear, and infinite.

But that’s not entirely accurate either. Since words are dualistic, how can you use duality to describe nonduality? You can’t. Therefore, we can only approximate the meaning of nondualism with language.

While nonduality is sometimes considered a philosophy or even a religion associated with Hinduism and Buddhism, it is ultimately a principle understanding found throughout all ancient wisdom traditions.

Duality and Nonduality Comparison Chart

Duality and Nonduality Definitions

Duality is easier to define. If you can perceive it, it’s dual.

Why? Because there’s an observer (you/subject) and the observed (object). By definition, this is duality.

Can you perceive …

A toothbrush, a book, or a pot?
Another person (body)?
Yourself?
Nature?
Experience of time?

Simply put, anything perceivable is part of the manifest universe and is, therefore, dual.

Nonduality, however, is not as easy to define. The nondual is, by definition, non-perceptible by the five senses. It can not be divided into two; it has no subject-object relationship.

Said another way, the nondual is indivisible and uncognizable. Do you see the challenge here?

How can you define something indivisible that cannot be cognized?

You can only approximate a definition. You can only point to what the nondual is. And that’s what the nondualists do.

Shankara, one of India’s great nondualists explains:

The world is illusory,
Brahman [Spirit] alone is real,
Brahman is the world.

That’s nonduality.

Let’s proceed …

Duality and Nonduality: The Three Gunas

Guna is a Sanskrit term that means qualities or attributes. The three gunas are considered the qualities of consciousness.

The three gunas in the Yogic tradition are Tamas, Rajas, and Sattva.

Duality and Nonduality: The Three Gunas

Tamas

Tamas represents inertia, apathy, inactivity, and darkness. In a Tamasic state, one might feel lazy, depressed, helpless, hopeless, bored, or confused. Tamas manifests as ignorance and delusion.

Tamas leads the ego to claim doership (“I am the doer”).

Rajas

Rajas is the quality of action, change, movement, and energy. In a Rajasic state, one might feel motivated, energized, and ready to work. Rajasic energy builds the world.

Rajas is the dynamic quality of consciousness.

Sattva

Sattva is the attribute of balance, clarity, harmony, peace, and purity. In the experience of a satvic state, tamas and rajas are reduced, enabling one to realize moksha (Self-liberation).

Sattva is the quality most closely associated with consciousness itself. (More on this topic below.)

Nirguna

From a non-dual perspective, all three gunas, or attributes of consciousness, are aspects of duality. They each represent an expression of form in the manifest universe, and each guna expresses itself through a subject (person/being).

However, in a nondual state, one is considered nirguna—without attributes.

How can you adequately describe something that is without attributes?

Nonduality as the “Fourth State”

Another way to conceptualize nonduality is to combine the three-bodies doctrine in Hindu philosophy with nondualist Ramana Maharshi’s “fourth state.”

The three bodies are:

Gross body (Sthula sarira)
Subtle body (Sukshma sarira)
Causal body (Karana sarira)

This same three-state structure is used in Buddhism as well. These three bodies represent the three levels of relative consciousness:

Duality and Nonduality: The Three Relative States of Consciousness

The Gross Level

We are most familiar with the gross world as it represents our waking state (visva).

The gross level is the three-dimensional plane of existence or the manifest reality from which our physical bodies operate.

The Subtle Level

The subtle realm is the dreaming state (taijasa)—the dimension of our dreams, imagination, astral level, and psyche.

All primordial images (Jung’s archetypes) reside within this level. The subtle level is beyond gross form, but it’s still dualistic.

The Causal Level

The causal level is associated with deep sleep (prajñā). It is far more subtle than the prior two. The “causal” is the unseen cause of the waking and dreaming states of consciousness.

The causal level can be likened to quantum physicist David Bohm’s enfolded universe.¹

Note that all three of these states of consciousness—gross, subtle, and even causal—represent duality.

The “Fourth State”

Nondual sage Ramana Maharshi explained there was also turīya, a “fourth state.”

He explained that the Self is that “which is the witness of these states, that it is called the fourth (turīya).”²

That is, the Self is the underlying reality supporting the appearance of the three relative states of consciousness.

In the context of nonduality, the three relative states are not ultimately “real.” They are aspects of duality and, therefore, expressions of Maya (illusion).

Ramana Maharshi explains:³

There is only one state, that of consciousness or awareness or existence. The three states of waking, dreaming, and sleep cannot be real. They simply come and go. The real will always exist. The ‘I’ or existence that alone persists in all the three states is real.

Maharshi beautifully explains this penetrating nondual realization.

“The real will always exist.” Why is this necessarily so?

Because anything subject to time is dualistic; that which always exists is not subject to time (timeless, eternal, unlimited).

The “fourth” is considered a substratum of all that unfolds—the only real Truth of our Being.

According to Maharshi, it is in transcending this so-called “fourth state” (turiyatita) that one realizes the Self.

Duality and Nonduality: The Sense of “I Am”

Now, let’s take a quick step back because if you’re new to this material, what’s expressed above might sound too conceptual.

So let’s clarify a few terms—nondual-style. (Note: You’ll find a quick glossary at the bottom of this guide for reference.)

To understand the nondualists, we need a direct, first-hand understanding of consciousness itself, specifically how nondualists use this term.

The Body-Mind Identification Problem

The problem starts with the physical body—not the body itself but one’s exclusive identification with it.

The identification with the body-mind organism forms the illusory ego. The ego is one’s self-identity. It says, “I am [state your name]” and the body associated with that name.

Once the ego forms, one becomes entrenched in duality regarding what is real. We experience separation, and Samsara (suffering) begins. We are now divorced from the Self.

As nondualist Nisargadatta Maharaj explains:⁴

You are not able to give up your identity with the body. This is the great maya—the Illusion.

Simply put, the identification with the physical body-mind organism as “I” creates the experience of duality, obscuring the nature of consciousness and the nondual.

The Sense of “I Am”

You know you are. You know you exist.

How do you know this? What is the quality of “I-am-ness” that provides this sense of awareness or experience of existence?

As the nondualists explain, the physical body combined with vital energy (prana) and consciousness creates the sense of “I am.”

The sense of “I Am,” however, isn’t personal—that’s the illusion. Instead, this knowledge of “I Am” is impersonal; it is beingness or consciousness itself.

However, through early conditioning in our first few years, the sense of “I Am” or beingness mistakenly identifies with the body.

Once this misidentification occurs, a subject (you) experiences an object (body), resulting in duality.

The chit or universal consciousness (consciousness of Self) silently slips into the background and the experiencer (tamas; ego doership) takes center stage.

Consequently, nondual masters like Nisargadatta Maharaj and Ramana Maharshi repeatedly emphasize that one is not the body; that is, one is not the experiencer.

Consciousness as Beingness

So, if you’re not the body-mind organism, what are you?

You are the universal consciousness through which experiencing is witnessed.

As the nondualists explain, consciousness or beingness is the outcome of the five elements (fire, water, earth, wind, and metal) and what they call the “food-essence body.”

Nondualists direct you back to this consciousness because it is the only “capital” we have. But this consciousness or beingness is still representative of form. That is, there is still a witness of this consciousness.

Therefore, there is something that transcends consciousness…

Beingness and the Absolute (Nonduality)

Nisargadatta Maharaj explains:⁵

Now I have told you about the beingness, which is the outcome of the five-elemental play and the result of the food-essence body. But “You” as the Absolute are not the body, and not even the indwelling beingness.

That is, you are a principle that transcends form in all its expression.

The Absolute is often translated as Parabrahman (the Supreme) or Paramataman (the Supreme Self).

Nonduality Expressed in Taoism

To draw an analogy from Taoism, beingness represents conscious knowledge while the absolute is real knowledge.

Conscious knowledge stems from the conditioned mind (personal); real knowledge is unconditioned and derives from the Original Spirit (impersonal).

The Absolute as a Non-Being State

It’s important to note that this Absolute state cannot be “achieved” by the beingness. Again from Maharaj:⁶

The Absolute state cannot be obtained. That is your state. To the Absolute state the witnessing of the consciousness happens.

He’s explaining that you are already THAT. The Absolute is a non-being state representative of nonduality.

The Supreme Self (Paramataman) impersonally witnesses the manifest reality (but not as a subject-object). The Absolute transcends and includes the illusionary world of form.

Maharaj explains:⁷

The initial humming of the beingness as “I am, I am” is the duality. But who accepts the duality? The “non-beingness” accepts duality with the beingness. The Absolute “non-being” state, by assuming the being state, becomes dual in manifestation.”

This is the essence of nondual teachings. You are the “I” as the Absolute, but not the personal, dualistic “I.” Again from Maharaj:⁸

“I”, the Absolute, am not the personal “I.” The personal “I” cannot tolerate the impersonal beingness and is afraid of death. The factual, eternal “I,” the Absolute, has no fear of death.

Illustrations for Understanding Nonduality

The nondualists provide clever and creative metaphors for explaining nonduality. Let’s examine a few of these illustrations.

The Telescope Metaphor

One’s consciousness or beingness is likened to a telescope.⁹

As an observer, you can view the stars, sun, and moon through a telescope.

But you (as the observer) are not the field of observation or the telescope itself.

Now, apply this understanding to one’s consciousness.

What is witnessing the manifest universe?

According to nondual sages like Nisargadatta Maharaj, witnessing (observation through the telescope) doesn’t result from one’s beingness (consciousness).

Instead, witnessing happens to the Absolute—an eternal principle called Parabrahman (the supreme state of the Absolute).

This Absolute is neither the medium of witnessing nor the manifest universe being witnessed.

Illustration of the Self as a Projector (from Ramana Maharshi)

The Cinemas Metaphor

Ramana Maharshi illustrates the ego and the Self with an analogy of a film projector:¹⁰

The light from the lamp throws shadows through the lens causing pictures to appear on the screen.

Similarly, the phenomenal (manifest) world appears to the individual in the waking and dream states as long as latent mental impressions exist in the mind.

The projector’s lens magnifies the specks on the film into a large size, throwing off many images within a second.

Similarly, the mind enlarges the “sproutlike tendencies into treelike thoughts” creating inumerable images and realities.

The light source within the projector is like the Self. The projector’s light source is only visible when there is no film in the projector.

Similarly, the Self is realized only when the mind’s tendencies drop away during the three relative states of consciousness.

Just as the light source illuminates the lens while remaining unaffected by it, the Self (nondual) illuminates the ego (dual) and its proclivities while remaining unaffected.

Western Psychology, Duality, and Nonduality

Since the guides on this website largely center around psychological insights from depth psychology (Jung), humanistic psychology (Maslow), and similar sources, let’s quickly address how Western psychology relates to duality and nonduality.

The short answer is that virtually everything within Western psychology deals exclusively with duality.

Duality and the Personality

Virtually all of Western psychology is oriented around the personality. The personality is an aspect of duality.

From a nondual perspective, the personality is not real. It’s part of the Maya (illusion).

The personality results from mental conditioning that starts when the I-Am emerges and mistakenly identifies with the body (usually around age two or three).

Western psychology, in contrast, seeks to develop the personality—to create what they call a “healthy ego.” As such, it deals with mental illness and mental health.

Nonduality doesn’t address the personality except to reaffirm that it’s not real. Nondual realizations transcend the ego.

Jungian Psychology and the Self

Jungian psychology and a few modern adaptions like Internal Family Systems (IFS) use the concept of the Self.

However, the Self in these systems is still not the impersonal Atman. That is, the Self in these systems does not transcend the individual (as is the case with nondual teachings).

For example, Jung’s individuation process seeks to make the person whole (a complete individual) while nonduality destroys the concept of the individual.

As Jung humbly noted in his foreword to The Spiritual Teachings of Ramana Maharshi,¹¹

Psychology cannot contribute anything further to [the nondual insights of Maharshi and other nondualists], except the remark that it lies far beryond its scope to propose such a thing.

By this remark, Jung acknowledged that nonduality lies beyond the range of Western psychology.

Maslow and Self-Transcendence

Maslow also addressed the concept of self-transcendence.

Self-transcendence is a state of consciousness beyond the confines of the limited ego.

However, this conception is also still oriented toward the subtle and causal states of consciousness. Therefore, self-transcendence still represents duality—not nonduality.

The Self in Nonduality

While in Jungian psychology, the Self represents the organizing principle within the psyche, in nonduality, it has a more all-inclusive meaning.

Ramana Maharshi was asked to explain the nature of the Self:¹²

What exists in truth is the Self alone. The world, the individual soul, and God are appearances in it, like silver in mother-of-pearl; these three appear at the same time and disappear at the same time. The Self is that where there is absolutely no “I” thought. That is called Silence. The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is “I”; the Self itself is God; all is Shiva, the Self.

That is, the Self in psychological thought is still dualistic while the nondual Self (Atman)—especially Paramatman (Supreme Self)—is indivisible (nondual). The Self IS the totality.

Nondual practices guide you back to the Self, leaving behind one’s false identification with the empirical self (body-mind organism).

Nisargadatta Maharaj explains:¹³

The body has importance only because the “I Amness,” the consciousness, is dwelling therein. If the “I Amness” or consciousness is not there, the body will be disposed of as refuse. Call the knowledge “I Am” as your Self, don’t call the body as knowledge.

Identification with the body-mind organism fosters separation and illusion; stabilizing consciousness in the Self clarifies the error.

Matter & Consciousness: Which Comes First?

Those working from a standard “scientific” understanding of the cosmos will be challenged to appreceive nonduality.

Material reductionism is the concept that everything can be reduced to its smallest form, assuming that the base material is matter itself.

Material reductionism is a rampant ideology that pervades much of modern science. This presumptive belief system makes understanding nondual principles virtually impossible. Let’s look at two quick examples.

The Official Narrative in Physics

In the “official narrative,” matter comes first. Life develops and evolves by random chance. Only then can consciousness enter the picture.

The “Big Bang” theory is the pinnacle expression of material reductionistic thought.

From the perspective of mystics and sages throughout recorded time, the official narrative has things entirely backward.

Consciousness comes first. Only then can matter manifest. This phenomenological, experiential insight is shared in all ancient cosmologies including Taoism, Hinduism, and Buddhism (as well as Western religions).

Of course, numerous physicists have transcended the “official” paradigm. For example, see physicist Amit Goswami’s The Self-Aware Universe or David Bohm’s The Implicate Order. There are countless others.

This distinction is important because only duality can exist if you believe that matter comes first. There’s no place for god, nonduality, or the Self in material reductionism.

(There’s a good reason why so many scientists are atheists. A non-spiritual perspective is baked into their prevailing ideology.)

The Official Narrative in Neuroscience

Current neuroscience suffers from the same ideological handicap.

Many neuroscientists believe that consciousness is just some chemical or molecule in the brain that can and will be isolated and replicated.

As such, they will be searching for this magical and mysterious molecule for a very long time! The nondual reality will remain elusive.

In this field, there are exceptions too. For example, neuroscientist Karl Pribram’s theory of the holographic brain with nonlocal memory storage. (See Michael Talbot’s The Holographic Universe.)

Chit, universal consciousness, exists before the formation of the body and then mistakenly identifies with the form as “I.”

Common Traps Related to Nonduality

In the context of psychological development, nondual teachings can trigger certain common traps we should be mindful of. These psychological pitfalls include:

The spiritual bypass and
Disassociation

Let’s address both of these traps.

Spiritual Bypass

Nonduality is akin to the Buddhist doctrine of Anatta or No Self.

This doctrine appeals to many “spiritual aspirants” who are, consciously or subconsciously, seeking an escape from their daily lives.

As such, the uninitiated can use nondual principles in an act of avoidance behavior, known as a “spiritual bypass.”

With a spiritual bypass, individuals use spiritual ideas like nonduality to avoid addressing unresolved psychological wounds and emotional trauma.

Avoiding this trauma stalls one’s psycho-spiritual development, leading to stagnation.

Subconsciously, many are drawn to nondual teachings because they offer a means of avoiding the discomfort of addressing our prior wounds and trauma.

In these cases, a person may give lip service to nonduality, but an aspect of their shadow is still in control.

When this occurs, nondual principles are restricted to “philosophy” and become yet another set of mental concepts.

Disassociation

Held only as a concept, nonduality can also foster dissociation.

The mind can use nondual principles as a new set of beliefs.

While nonduality is designed to take you beyond body-mind identification, it can be misapplied to sever one’s connection to the small self (body-mind).

Philosopher Ken Wilber articulates this as “transcending and dissociating” versus “transcending and including.”¹⁴

That is, you can cut yourself off from your body and/or mind OR one can include it and move beyond your body and mind.

The reality is that many people are already somewhat dissociated from their physical bodies due to past trauma and living in their minds. In these cases, nonduality can potentially strengthen this dissociation.

Yes, nondualists are saying you’re not the body or the mind. But simply disassociating from the body-mind organism doesn’t bring you to a higher state of consciousness or deeper Self-realization.

Nondual Meditations: How to “Practice” Nonduality

Nondual teachers provide various sadhana (spiritual practices/methods) to realize nonduality.

The goal of any nondual practice is to silence the mind first and then stabilize in the Self.

Self-Inquiry

The primary, over-arching approach to nonduality is self-inquiry.

Self-inquiry is a form of nondual meditation that directs your attention to the source of your beingness.

Your awareness is placed on the sense that “I Am”—that quality of existence itself—leading to “nondual awareness” over time.

As Maharaj explains:¹⁵

You know you are. Because you know you are, everything is happening. Get to know that knowledge “I Am.” When you understand what that “I Amness” is, then the shell of the mystery is broken.

Whatever approach one takes to realizing nonduality, some form of self-inquiry is always at the root.

Neti-Neti

Neti-Neti translates to “not this; not this.” With this form of self-inquiry, you systematically negate everything you are not until you arrive at the Absolute (nondual).

For example:

I am not the physical body.
I am the five sense organs.
I am not any other bodily functions.
I am not the breath.
I am not the mind.
I am not the thoughts.

You continue to negate everything you are not until nothing cognizable remains. Then, you are THAT.

As Ramana Maharshi explains,¹⁶

After negating all of the above-mentioned as “not this, not this,” that Awareness which alone remains—that I am.

Marharshi’s Who Am I?

A famous form of self-inquiry from Ramana Maharshi is continuously contemplating the question, “Who am I?”

The goal here is the same as above: to bring you back to the Self.

The key is to contemplate this question ceaselessly and continuously. The intention must be genuine for the inquiry to take hold and override the conditioning of existing mental tendencies.

Maharaj’s Abide in the Knowledge “I Am”

The knowledge (or sense of) “I Am” is the source of one’s beingness or consciousness.

Instead of identifying with the body-mind organism, Nisargadatta Maharaj instructs you to abide in the I-am-ness that gives you the sense that you are. Remember that this consciousness isn’t personal; instead, it is universal.

The jnani (sage) explains:¹⁷

If you accept individuality you will not make progress. You must identify with the manifest totality from the first moment of daybreak.

Focusing on the sense of “I Am” pulls your attention away from body-mind identification and towards the Self.

Again from Maharaj:¹⁸

This “I Amness” is a function of nature, a product of the five elemental food body. It knows itself, it loves to be. With the aid of this knowingness, get to know your Self.

That is, become one with the beingness first. Then, the Self takes you the rest of the way.

Glossary: Duality and Nonduality

Below is a short-hand glossary in case you want to refer back to it later. Most of these definitions come from Robert Powell’s translations.

Advaita: nonduality

Atman: Self; the true, spiritual Self (as opposed to the body-mind self)

Brahman: the Absolute Reality

Chit: consciousness; the universal consciousness, the Self

Gunas: qualities of consciousness

Jnana: spiritual knowledge

Jnani: realized sage

Maya: the cosmic illusion

Nirguna: attributeless, unconditioned, nonqualitative

Neti-Neti: not this, not this.

Para: the Supreme; the Absolute

Parabraham: the supreme state of the Absolute (without attributes); the Unborn eternal principle (beyond “I am”)

Paramatman: the Supreme Self; the eternal Absolute state

Prana: the vital breath; life force

Sat-chid-ananda: Being-Consciousness-Bliss

Sattva: consciousness; seed-consciousness; clarity, purity, harmony