Abstract

Due to apparent duality in this world, one has to face a lot of difficulties while searching for the Truth. Our ego is the root cause for perception of duality and this in turn leads to suffering. This suffering can only be extinguished by attainment of the Truth, i.e, non-duality. However, in order to enable the finite intellect to comprehend the incomprehensible non-duality, this undifferentiated whole is sometimes denoted by nothingness (śūnya) or fullness (pūrṇa). Non-duality is usually understood by the numeral ‘1’ which stands for unity or oneness. The main aim of this paper is to show that non-duality is best represented by the numeral ‘0’, Mādhyamika śūnya (advaya) and Upaniṣadic pūrṇa (advaita). This paper also attempts to touch upon the hitherto untouched and profound implications of zero in view of its being a simultaneous indicator of nothingness as well as wholeness. It also humbly tries to tackle the perpetual mathematical problem of ‘zero divided by zero’ and in this regard tries to establish how the solution is consistent with the concept of non-duality. In a nutshell, this paper’s endeavour is to approach the Ultimate Reality via threefold path: through the neutral means of mathematical zero “0” as a concept, negative means of Mādhyamika śūnya, and the positive means of Advaita Vedānta’s pūrṇa.