One of the most fundamental teachings in Vedanta and in the awakened heart of Buddhism is this: all human suffering arises from the hallucination of a separate self.

The separate self is the great untruth. It whispers of “I” and “mine,” erecting walls where none exist, and writing stories upon the infinite chapters of our Being. From this arises fear, grasping, and despair—because if one is apart, one must defend, compare, protect, and eventually mourn the inevitable dissolving of that which was never real.

The truth is luminous in its simplicity: the separate self does not exist. What we call “I” is a fleeting pattern, a story woven by the mind, and a mask worn by the Eternal for the play of experience. Beneath it, only wholeness exists.

We are one breath, passing through countless lungs.
We are one body, clothed in many forms.
We are one mind, dreaming through infinite imaginations.
We are one consciousness—an ocean appearing as waves, yet never ceasing to be the ocean.

When this recognition awakens in us, suffering begins to unravel, not because life becomes easier, but because the false centre around which pain gathered has vanished. The wound was never real—only the forgetting of wholeness made it ache. Thus, awakening is not the attainment of something new, but the remembrance of what has always been. We return to our natural state: vast, radiant, indivisible.

And it’s the belief in competition and scarcity that acts as the insidious culprit in our decline. These are the beliefs that are born from the hallucination of separation. When we imagine ourselves cut off from the Whole, we begin to fear there is not enough—enough love, enough beauty, enough life to go around. We begin to measure, compare, and grasp, forgetting that abundance is the very nature of existence.

Competition emerges as a false law, urging us to prove our worth by rising above another, when in truth, we can only rise together. Scarcity becomes the shadowed story of a world that has forgotten its Source, when in reality, the Source is inexhaustible, overflowing, and ever-giving. These illusions—of “not enough” and “not worthy”—erode our joy and fracture our collective spirit. They turn sisters into rivals, brothers into adversaries, and nations into warring factions. Yet all the while, the truth waits patiently: there is no lack in the heart of Oneness. In the eternal breath, nothing is withheld.

To awaken is to remember this—competition can dissolve into cooperation, scarcity can dissolve into sufficiency, and the myth of separation can dissolve into the living reality of unity. Imagine a world where the illusion of competition and separation has lifted, and humanity remembers its unity and belonging.

• Without the shadow of scarcity, generosity becomes our natural way of being. We share not out of duty, but out of joy, knowing that to give is to circulate the life-force we all partake in. The myth of “not enough” dissolves, revealing the truth: there is always enough when life is honoured as sacred and held in balance.

• Without the burden of competition, collaboration flourishes. No longer trapped in the illusion of climbing over one another, we discover the deeper rhythm of rising with one another. Innovation, art, and wisdom bloom—not as trophies to be hoarded, but as gifts to be offered to the Whole.

In this awakened world, leadership is no longer a grasp for power but a genuine desire to be of service. Success is no longer measured in accumulation, but in the depth of connection, coherence, and contribution. Communities become circles instead of hierarchies, woven together in mutual care and recognition.

Here, the body of humanity beats as one great heart.
The mind of humanity shines as one great clarity.
The spirit of humanity awakens as one great flame.

This is not fantasy—it is remembrance. The seeds of such a world already live within us, waiting for the soil of our willingness and the sunlight of our faith. When we choose unity over division, sufficiency over scarcity, and cooperation over competition, we step across the threshold into the radiant future that has been calling us all along.

Heart to Heart, Elizabeth