Duality and Non-Duality

Non duality and Duality 

The subject of non-duality and duality has been intriguing my mind constantly. I had posed a question not too long before in a social media group dedicated to Non Duality. The question was “ what purpose does Non Duality serve?”

Today the question that arose in my mind was slightly different.

“What is the purpose of learning about non duality?”

Why do philosophers and saints keep talking about non duality or absolute reality or Brahman or God?

While we live in this world we cannot be in denial about duality. We cannot deny the differences between ourselves and others. My thoughts at any given time are not identical with three people in the room. My actions are not identical with those of others. My style is different too. There could be similarities but differences exist in the midst of any similarities. 

So why not simply acknowledge duality? 

What purpose does it serve to learn about non duality? 

Does non duality erase duality? 

Is it necessary to erase duality? 

Does it serve a purpose to erase duality? 

Can duality truly be erased?

These are different ways of looking at both concepts and the utility of understanding them both.

Here’s what my tiny brain has gathered so far. 

In the very word Non Duality, Duality makes its presence known. Although visually absent in the word Duality, paradoxically, non duality is implied as an alternative possibility when duality is mentioned. 

What does that mean?

That one cannot be considered without the other.

What is ordinarily apparent, either through the senses and/or the mind-intellect cannot become apparent in the absence of something that is not apparent. To put it differently, what “became“ apparent cannot do so without its earlier state of being non apparent! Becoming cannot happen without an invisible state preceding it. Becoming also is inevitably followed by unbecoming. So the invisible state not only precedes but also follows the visible state. What happens to the invisible state during the existence of the visible state? Is it not there in that phase?

The answer to this question is best found by self enquiry. Whatever I say from my understanding is irrelevant and meaningless to anyone reading this until they do the self enquiry into this question. 

The invisible state, in my understanding, is the one that recognizes the visible state. It is in the role of a spectator when anything is visible. If this spectator wasn’t there, to what entity would the visible entity be visible to?

So, again I write per my humble understanding, the invisible remains in its place before, during and after the existence of any apparent object or thought or feeling. 

It makes sense that ordinarily a human brain would only make a note of what is apparent to it. 

The extraordinary amongst us like the philosophers, mystics and saints delve beyond the visible to realize the presence of the invisible through reasoning and experience. Just reasoning is inadequate and just experience can’t be trusted by others. Validation of one person’s experience by another independent mind and each experiencer’s support of his/her experience with reason increases the reliability of the findings.

The findings are important pieces of evidence to understand our world and our existence. Without a fuller picture our understanding will be limited. Limited understanding leads up to problems. Improved understanding solves problems. 

As we are familiar, our visible world and our own life in the domain of duality is confined by time and space. So also is our understanding a function of time and space. 

My experience is that as the understanding goes on expanding, the distinction between the visible and the invisible goes on blurring. 

Perhaps that’s what Dnyaaneshwar meant when he made the conclusive statement:

Saguna Nirguna Eku Govindu re ! 

Dnyaneshwar Mauli has concluded that the manifest and unmanifest are one entity. 

Duality is perceived in the manifest form. Non-Duality can be experienced in the unmanifest form. One cannot cancel the other. Both must be understood to get a clearer picture. 

I cannot erase the manifest part of me nor unsee the Unmanifest me after experiencing it. The manifest part is riddled with several if not all of the shortcomings of other manifestations I come across around me. This includes intermittent experiences of false ego, insecurity, prejudice, guilt, shame, fear, desire, anger, aggression, superiority, inferiority, confusion, conflict, doubt amongst other things. 

This is not necessarily bad news. There are many positives to this. 

First positive is that I am able to recognize each shortcoming as it makes an appearance. 

Second, that it keeps me grounded for the most part.

Thirdly, it allows for me to feel empathy towards others who are afflicted with or battling with similar shortcomings. 

Fourthly, it leaves me with a sense of purpose to keep learning, keep rising above the existing shortcomings each day. 

What advantage do I enjoy from knowing the Unmanifest side ? 

Firstly, that’s the one that allows to recognize the manifest side with better clarity.

Secondly, the clarity along with the closeness to ‘that’ which can observe all the shortcomings within the manifest side, tends to make it harder to deceive myself. I may be able to fool someone else who trusts me but I am unable to fool myself. And I can’t live with myself for much time when I make the slightest attempt to go into denial of what I see and know. Literally I can see the slightest flicker of thought and emotion in my mind. My mind can no longer get past me for too long without acknowledging things as they are. Have I been lazy? Have I been too harsh? Have I let my ego come in the way at any moment? Have I been unfair? Have I erred in my judgment? Nothing goes unnoticed. 

This would have been hard on me, one would think. Yes and no. It certainly demoralizes from time to time. But when it begins to bog me down where do you think I seek relief? 

So the third advantage to having an access to the Unmanifest side is that the mind finds a resting place there when the problems on the manifest side become too difficult to handle. Problems only exist in the domain of manifestation. There are no problems in the Unmanifest pure existence. Thoughts get suspended in that domain. Mind frees itself from the clutches of thought, gets a respite from fatigue and enjoys a calm and bliss that cannot be described in words. 

Since the mind springs back from that state again into the world of thought and perception, its intermittent temporal existence cannot be denied. Until the mind doesn’t quit its back and fro movement permanently, duality must be recognized. 

And until duality remains recognizable, for reasons discussed in the beginning of this article, non-duality will also need to be considered. 

There is a subtle and not so subtle difference between the two questions:

What purpose does non-duality serve?

Vs

What purpose does it serve to learn about non-duality?

Non-duality, or for that matter, also, duality, serve no purpose by themselves.

Purpose becomes a valid question only when looked at from the perspective of a mind rooted in duality. For such mind, learning is an essential function. So learning about non-duality is a different thing than non-duality by itself. Non-duality by itself may have no purpose but learning about non-duality has a purpose, as described earlier, to expand human understanding. 

The other questions were:

Does non duality erase duality? 

I believe that has been answered during the discussion at the very onset.

Is it necessary to erase duality? 

Nothing is necessary until our mind feels it necessary. If mind gets comfortable in its temporary home of duality it can continue to do so. 

Does it serve a purpose to erase duality? 

I don’t know if this question has a single definitive answer. Just like the infinite diversity we see in the thinking of people, this question too may have diverse answers. It boils down to whether a particular mind becomes inclined to transcend the state of duality permanently. 

Can duality truly be erased?

I do not have personal experience to answer this question. However I have no good reason to believe that Dnyaneshwar and some other noble souls may be lying when they affirm that yes, duality can be erased from the mind by folding the mind irrevocably into the pure being or consciousness.

If and when duality ceases to be perceived or recognized, I’m not sure if that state can be given a name. Because when duality would cease, there would also be nothing that could be termed as non-duality. Both terms or concepts exist because of one another. 

Concepts and terms are expressed in words. When concepts cease to exist, words would not have any utility. But absence of words would start another circular debate if we give it a name, silence. 

Thus the state in which duality and non-duality would both have no place, that state cannot be said to be a place of silence either. It would transcend silence.

That’s what probably the Vedas declare when asked to point out to it.  Neti, Neti.

Put neti neti together with Dnyaneshwar’s declaration of Saguna Nirguna Eku Govindu re….

And my insignificant mind can get a vague idea of the import of the Mahavakya:

Sarva khalu idam Bramha ! 

It (mind) cannot get the full import of another Mahavakya until it(mind) continues to exists! 

That Mahavakya is Aham Bramhasmi! 

Again Bramha or Brahman are merely terms used to describe what cannot be described with words. One could coin any word if one chooses. The word is not important. Understanding what it stands for is what is important. 

That changeless, formless, wordless, invisible “ thingless thing” influences all changes in all things. Without getting the blame or credit of being the influencer. 

How?

That’s the mystery.

The wise have attempted to solve the mystery. 

We can either believe their story and inference or we can’t. 

We can either try to find out for ourselves or have no interest to do so.

Everything is valid for the mind. 

Thinking is the biggest freedom for the mind. 

And also its biggest prison. Thoughts are its handcuffs! 

Absolute freedom is permanent dissolution of the mind.

I wonder if the mind has the capacity to achieve this! And when it does it, would it be considered a mind at all?

June 18, 2026