| Stance | Monism | Dualism | Participation |
|---|
| Summary | All is One | Everything is clearly distinct from everything else. Especially me | Reality is indivisible but diverse |
|---|
| What it denies | Differences, boundaries, specifics, individuality | Connection, dynamic interplay, unbounded responsibility | |
|---|
| What it fixates | Unity; also over-emphasizes connection | Boundaries, separateness, limitations, definitions | |
|---|
| The sales pitch | You are God | Clarity gives you control | |
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| Emotional appeal | I am all-powerful, all-knowing, immortal, invulnerable | I am not contaminated by other beings, and have only specific, limited responsibility for them | |
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| Pattern of thinking | Willful stupidity | Distrust | Engagement |
|---|
| Likely next stances | Eternalism, mission, true self, specialness | Can combine with either eternalism or nihilism | |
|---|
| Accomplishment | Directly perceive all things as One | Perfect independence | Phenomena (including oneself) understood as neither distinct nor identical |
|---|
| How it causes suffering | Have to blind self to diversity of physical reality | Alienation due to being cut off from world and others | |
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| Obstacles to maintaining the stance | Obviousness of diversity | Obviousness of connection | Difficulty of understanding the complete stance |
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| Antidotes; counter-thoughts | Appreciation of diversity | Appreciation of connectedness | |
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| Intelligent aspect | Non-obvious connections are common and often important; all categories are somewhat nebulous | The world is endlessly diverse | |
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| Positive appropriation after resolution | Provisional understanding of indivisibility | Points toward appreciation of diversity | |
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