Sustainability from within: Self-reflection

Saturday, 25 October 2025 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A four-stage journey from separateness to oneness

Signs of Disconnection vs. Signs of Connection

By Dr. Rohana Ulluwishewa

The more I observe my own inner life, the clearer it becomes that the root of the unsustainability we see in the world is not only in external systems but also in the inner state of human beings. At the core lies a feeling of self-inadequacy and a subtle sense of emptiness that often remain hidden in the background of consciousness. This inner void is what drives most individuals, myself included, into activities that are not really necessary for life. These activities, repeated across humanity, collectively make our lives a burden rather than a resource to both society and nature.

When I am in this state of disconnection from myself — what I call Stage 1 of the inner journey, I am mostly unaware of it. Yet in this state I feel incomplete, restless, and dissatisfied. To fill the emptiness, I seek pleasure from external sources. Sometimes I compare myself with others to feel superior. At other times I replay pleasurable past experiences or imagine future victories, arguments won, respect earned, and recognition received. These fantasies give brief relief but usually end in subtle disturbances.

I now realise that these mental activities strengthen desires, which then turn into actions that are often unnecessary and unsustainable. My attachment to desires naturally produces aversions toward their opposites, and together these make my relationships selective, exploitative, and disharmonious. In this way, my behaviour — and the behaviour of most people who remain in Stage 1 — contributes to the very patterns of unsustainability that plague the world today.

Yet there is a path forward: a four-stage journey from separateness to oneness.

The insight reveals that desires themselves are the root of suffering and unsustainability. As desires dissolve, so too do attachments and aversions. What remains is a deep sense of connectedness, with myself, with others, and with nature. In this state, action is motivated not by emptiness but by a sense of oneness. Such actions are whole-centred, compassionate, and inherently sustainable.

Towards sustainability within

From these reflections, I see that the deepest cause of unsustainability is not external consumption alone but the inner disconnection that fuels it. The feeling of self-inadequacy and emptiness pushes individuals toward desires, attachments, and aversions, fragmenting their inner life and leading to actions that burden society and nature.

But the same human mind also holds the seed of transformation. When disconnection is observed without judgment, disturbances dissolve into insight. Desires and aversions weaken. In their absence, the sense of oneness shines forth. Actions motivated by oneness are simple, whole-centred, and sustainable.

Thus, true sustainability is not only an external project but an inner awakening. By journeying from disconnection to connection, from separateness to oneness, we open the possibility of a sustainable world that arises from within.