Naturally, philosophical discussions of Buddhism have reached great complexity over the past 2,500 years. One such discussion points out that, while everything is one, each thing is nonetheless distinct. In being interconnected, things do not cease to be themselves.

The Zen master Suzuki Roshi put it this way: When you look at someone, or some thing, think this: "We are not two... and not one." We are not separate; yet we are not identical. In this way, Buddhism seeks to avoid dissolving one's awareness into another's, or absorbing another's being into one's own.