Why Modern Physics Demands Non-Dualism: Pūrṇa-Advaita as the Convergent Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics, Information, and Consciousness

This paper argues that three of the most persistent open problems in contemporary physics and philosophy of mind — the non-locality revealed by quantum entanglement, the ontological problem of quantum field theory, and the hard problem of consciousness — converge on a metaphysical picture that the Indian non-dual tradition has articulated for two and a half millennia. The framework of Pūrṇa-Advaita ("Whole Non-Dualism") holds that consciousness is fundamental and unified, while the apparent multiplicity of observers and material substances is consciousness's self-observation. Pūrṇa-Advaita does not prove itself from physics, but it offers the most parsimonious metaphysical resolution where physicalist accounts strain. The paper proceeds in five parts: §1 shows how strict observer-multiplicity, given Bell-test physics, requires either spooky action at a distance, pre-established harmony, or collapse into a unified experiential substrate; §2 develops the ontological problem of QFT — fields cannot be fundamental because spacetime cannot be probed below the Planck scale; experience is the only undeniable foundation; multiplicity of selves fails the cross-observer coordination test; §3 connects to the measurement problem and Chalmers's hard problem; §4 surveys convergent thinkers (Schrödinger, Wigner, Wheeler, Bohm, Penrose, Chalmers, Kastrup); §5 explicitly lists what Pūrṇa-Advaita does not claim. The metaphysical framework itself is treated separately in a companion paper: "Pūrṇa-Advaita: Completing Non-Dualism."