The Illusion of Separation

> "We do not ‘come into’ this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree."

One of the greatest misunderstandings we live with is the belief that we are separate from the world around us.

It feels so normal that we rarely question it — like the air we breathe.

But this sense of separation is not the truth.

It is a story we’ve been told, and learned to repeat to ourselves.

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How the Illusion Begins

From the moment we are born, the world begins to tell us who we are:

a name, a family, a nationality, a set of rules and expectations.

These labels create a mental border — me on one side, everything else on the other.

It is useful in some ways.

It helps us navigate daily life.

But over time, we start to believe the border is real.

We forget that the lines exist only in our minds.

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Signs of the Illusion

You can notice this illusion whenever you think:

This way of thinking turns life into a kind of stage play — with you as a small, separate actor trying to control the whole show.

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Why the Illusion Hurts

Believing you are separate from life creates a quiet tension.

It’s the feeling of being a stranger in your own home.

It makes you search endlessly — for meaning, for belonging, for a place to “fit in.”

But how can you fit into something you were never outside of?

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A Glimpse Beyond

Every so often, the illusion cracks.

Maybe it happens in nature, when you watch the ocean breathing in and out.

Or in music, when you forget yourself completely in the rhythm.

Or in a moment of love, when the border between “you” and “the other” dissolves.

In these moments, you are not in life — you are life.

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The First Step

Seeing through the illusion of separation doesn’t mean you lose your individuality.

It means you stop mistaking the surface for the depth.

You realise that your individuality is a unique expression of the same whole that flows through everything.

The first step is simply to notice how often you think of yourself as separate.

Not to judge it, but to watch it.

The watching itself begins to dissolve the illusion.

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> "You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean, in a drop."