According to Śaṅkara, because the individual is nondual brahman in reality, they already are what they seek to be—unlimited, whole, and complete. The difficulty, however, is that one’s felt sense of finite identity contradicts nonduality and engenders a seeming distance between the person and brahman. Mokṣa thus appears to be a future attainment rather than a recognition of present reality. This false premise entices one into action with the intent to gain or become brahman, but one cannot attai