Descartes’ division of thinking substance from extended substance is the best-known Western dualism. In India, Sāṃkhya distinguishes puruṣa, pure consciousness, from prakṛti, nature, and Dvaita Vedānta holds God and the soul eternally distinct. Mystical writers often seek to heal the split dualism leaves between knower and known.
Dualism
The view that reality has two fundamental kinds, such as mind and matter, or spirit and nature.