[Advaita-l] Advaita and Vedanta

[murali mohan]

Dear all,
  The two terms Advaita and Vedanta seems to be used interchangeably - do they mean the same thing? As I understand Vedanta means end of Vedas and is the crux of the teachings in Vedas such as tatwamasi etc. Advaita is basically non-duality. Did Advaita as a philosophy exist before Adi Shankara? Or is it nothing but Vedanta in a different form?
  - Murali

		
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