Why Mass Matters: The Non-Dual Implications of Mach’s Principle

You don’t think about it much, but everything around you is moving.

Not just the cars and the clouds, but the ground under your feet, the stars above your head.

It’s all in motion. And yet, here you are, comfortably sitting still, reading this. Why aren’t you flung into space? Well, according to Mach’s Principle, the mass of everything in the universe is keeping you grounded. Not through some mystical force, but by defining the nature of inertia itself. In other words, mass matters for motion—and this idea cuts deep, right through the heart of how we understand reality, and even how we might awaken from it.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First, you need to know who Ernst Mach was…

…and why his principle is a bombshell hiding in plain sight.

Ernst Who? The Man Behind the Principle

Ernst Mach was a 19th-century physicist and philosopher with a bit of an attitude.

He didn’t just want to understand how the world worked; he wanted to strip away the fluff, the nonsense, and get to the real meat of the matter.

He had no time for theories that didn’t match up with experience. And while you might recognize his name from “Mach speed” (a nod to his work on the speed of sound), his biggest contribution to science was a thought experiment about inertia.

According to Mach, the reason you feel resistance when you try to move something isn’t because of the object itself. No, it’s because of everything else in the universe. That’s right, every star, planet, and black hole is conspiring to create what we call inertia. When you push on a boulder and it pushes back, that’s the entire universe responding. Wild, huh? Mach’s Principle suggests that inertia (the tendency of objects to resist changes in motion) isn’t an inherent property of mass. Instead, it’s a relational property—meaning, it depends on the mass of everything else in the universe.

Think about it: when you slam on the brakes in your car and get thrown forward, it’s not just you and the car in play. Every bit of matter in the cosmos is involved in that moment. Mach was essentially saying:

“Hey, maybe it’s all connected.”

And doesn’t that sound just a little bit…non-dual?

The Mass of the Universe in Your Morning Coffee

Let’s break this down a bit more. Imagine you’re stirring sugar into your coffee.

The spoon moves through the liquid, and you feel resistance. That resistance is inertia, sure, but according to Mach, that inertia is defined by the mass of the entire universe.

The coffee in your cup is doing a little cosmic dance with everything from distant stars to the dark matter lurking in the void. Mass matters. But why? In physics, mass is often just a number we throw around to make equations work. Yet, Mach’s Principle suggests that mass is more than just some standalone property; it’s a web of relationships. It’s the universe communicating with itself, defining motion, defining resistance. And just like that, what seemed like a simple cup of coffee becomes an expression of the cosmos.

And it’s not just about coffee. Every action, every movement is tied into the cosmic web. This idea isn’t just philosophically neat—it’s radically unsettling. It suggests that nothing exists in isolation. You can’t tug on one thread without vibrating the whole tapestry…

…that’s a very non-dual way of thinking, don’t you think?

Inertia: The Cosmic Rope that Binds Us All

So, what’s inertia really?

It’s the thing that makes it hard to push a boulder, yes, but it’s also the same thing that makes you feel “heavy” when you’re depressed and “light” when you’re on cloud nine.

Mach’s Principle is physics on one end, and on the other, it’s the bedrock of non-dual philosophy. The idea that everything is interconnected, that no object—or person—can be understood in isolation from the whole, this is the same point that sages and mystics have been hammering away at for millennia. Inertia, in Mach’s sense, isn’t just a physical phenomenon. It’s a metaphor for life. It’s the reason why it’s hard to change anything—your habits, your mind, your life. When you try to shift, it feels like everything in the universe is pushing back.

And you know what? That’s exactly what’s happening. The inertia of your life is defined by the inertia of the universe. You are stuck in your patterns, in your ego, in your illusions because everything else is holding you in place…

…and that, my friend, is where non-dual awakening comes in.

Mach’s Principle and Non-Duality: A Cosmic Wake-Up Call

Here’s where things get interesting.

Inertia is the force that keeps you asleep. Not just physically, but spiritually. It’s the weight of everything that came before, everything you believe, everything you think you are.

It’s Maya, the grand illusion, keeping you locked in the dream of separation. Non-duality says there is no separation. Mach’s Principle, in its own way, says the same thing: that everything is defined by everything else. You, sitting here, reading this, are defined by the mass of the universe. Your mind, with all its clutter and confusion, is just as much a product of the stars as your body. And the reason it’s so hard to wake up? Inertia. Spiritual inertia.

The mass of the universe is your ego, your sense of self. It’s what keeps you from realizing that there’s no ‘you’ separate from the whole. When you think about waking up, about breaking free from the illusion, what you’re really doing is trying to overcome cosmic inertia…

…and that’s no small task.

Overcoming Inertia: The Non-Dual Way

So how do you break free? How do you transcend the inertia of existence?

Simple: you stop fighting it. Here’s the thing: inertia works both ways. The same force that keeps you stuck can, with a little push, launch you into awakening.

Once you realize that everything is connected—that your very existence is a function of the universe—you stop resisting. You stop trying to change things piecemeal. You stop trying to wake up by “doing” spiritual practices. You wake up by understanding that you’ve never been asleep. The universe is always moving, always changing. You are part of that motion, not separate from it. Inertia, in its non-dual context, isn’t something to be overcome.

It’s something to be understood. You are the motion. You are the universe. You are the mass, the resistance, the change. You are all of it…

…and none of it at the same time.

Why You Should Care About Mach’s Principle

Mach’s Principle isn’t just some obscure physics theory.

It’s a profound insight into the nature of reality. It tells us that everything is connected, that mass and motion are relational, and that nothing exists in isolation.

More importantly, it hints at something even deeper: that our sense of self, our struggles, and our inertia are all part of a much larger cosmic dance. If you’re on the path of non-dual awakening, Mach’s Principle can serve as a powerful metaphor for understanding the interconnectedness of all things. It shows us that there is no separation between “self” and “other,” between “I” and the universe. And in realizing that, the inertia of the dreamstate begins to dissolve. You start to see that the resistance you’ve been pushing against isn’t real—it’s just the universe, and you, moving together.

In the end, it’s all one big cosmic joke. The harder you try to wake up, the more inertia pushes back. The moment you let go, you’re already awake. The mass of the universe isn’t just holding you in place…

…it’s inviting you to dance.