Evrim Tekin

Nonduality

Where does “you” stop and the world begin?

What it is

Nonduality names a family of contemplative traditions that question the split between subject and object. Advaita Vedanta, several schools of Buddhism and Zen approach it through practice rather than argument: look closely at experience and see whether a separate self is actually found.

It is a claim about how experience is structured, not a scientific finding. This site presents it as a tradition to understand and test in attention, not as established fact.

Updated 5 November 2026 · 2 sourced facts

Conceptual diagram

Seer, seeing, seen

The three-part structure of experience that nondual traditions question.

Source: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

A diagram of ideas, not a measurement.

Ideas to carry

  1. 1

    Not two

    Advaita means “not two”: the claim that self and world are not ultimately separate.

  2. 2

    Look for the looker

    Many practices ask you to find the one who is seeing, and to notice what you actually find.

  3. 3

    Practice over belief

    These traditions tend to say: do not believe it, test it in attention.

Established What we know

  1. Advaita Vedanta, the non-dual school of Vedanta, is most associated with the 8th-century teacher Śaṅkara.[1]
  2. Zen grew out of Chinese Chan Buddhism and became established in Japan from the late 12th and 13th centuries.[2]

Interpretation The older lens · Upanishads

The Chandogya Upanishad’s “tat tvam asi”, you are that, compresses nonduality into three words.

Reading

  1. c. 8th–6th century BCETat tvam asiChandogya Upanishad
  2. early 1900sWho Am I?Ramana Maharshi
  3. 1966The BookAlan Watts

Me: where is the self?

The self, looking for itself: 👀

Made in-house, for fun.

Connected subjects, projects and writing

Sources

  1. Vedanta, Advaita Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Checked 5 Nov 2026.
  2. Japanese Zen Buddhist Philosophy Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Checked 5 Nov 2026.