Have you ever wondered whether you are but one being? Though you may have affirmed your existence by gazing into the mirror, by being seen and affirmed by others, or through thinking, have you ever found yourself so fully absorbed in your actions that they no longer demanded conscious input? And have you ever experienced a thoughtless existence, however fleeting, seemingly detached from your physical being?

Though humankind might have lamented distance for its accessibility challenges, it is not always distance that bars one from accessing what lies nearest. Had it been otherwise, humankind would not only have mapped the farthest galaxies but would also have long decoded the most intimate being one carries within. If the distance has barred anything, it is just the self. This paradox of distance suggests three key limitations: 1) The pursuit of the self is a relatively recent one. 2) Linguistic limitations have kept the pursuit of the self confined within narrow conceptual bounds. 3) The primary instinct for survival has kept humans preoccupied with........

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