Nisargadatta Maharaj presents the apparent individual and the universe as co-arising appearances within a single, impersonal field of consciousness. What is usually taken to be a separate person is, in this view, a temporary configuration of memories, habits, and identifications associated with the body–mind, much like a wave that seems distinct yet is never anything but ocean. The universe, too, is not granted an independent, ultimate status; it is described as a projection or manifestation within the same consciousness that gives rise to the sense of individuality. Subject and object, “me” and “world,” stand or fall together as two sides of one process of manifestation.

From this standpoint, the root error lies in identification. By taking the body, thoughts, and experiences to be the core of identity, a sense of being a separate individual in a vast external universe is generated. Nisargadatta points repeatedly to the more fundamental “I Am” or pure being-awareness as the true locus of reality, emphasizing that both the personal self and the cosmos appear within this impersonal presence. When attention shifts from the personal story to this witnessing consciousness, the perceived gap between individual and universe begins to dissolve.

In that clarified vision, there is no longer a real relationship between two distinct entities, because the supposed entities themselves are seen as conceptual constructs within awareness. The individual is not a fragment inside a larger universe; rather, both “individual” and “universe” are expressions of one indivisible reality, pure consciousness or being-awareness. What remains is the recognition that the same “I Am-ness” shines through all beings and all things, and that the apparent multiplicity of forms does not compromise the underlying unity. The individual and the universe are thus understood as inseparable, non-dual manifestations of the one reality that alone is ultimately real.