Philosophy, Spirituality, and Mysticism
This essay investigates Western theology’s ontological argument for God’s existence, analyzes its shortcomings, and puts forward the thesis that Advaita Vedanta’s ontological argument based on phenomenology escapes from Kant’s famous criticism. As always, I am indebted to Swami Sarvapriyananda from the Ramakrishna Order for his lectures on Advaita Vedanta. Any failure to do justice to … Read more
This is an essay about how I went from the world of physicalism and thinking consciousness is a mere linguistic illusion to the sublime heights of Advaita Vedanta, which argues Consciousness is the ultimate ontological foundation of reality. First, let me state I am not a teacher of Vedanta. I am but a mere student … Read more
Many students of the Western humanities are familiar with modernism and its historical response, postmodernism. But what comes after postmodernism? Some cultural theorists have proposed a synthesis of modernism and postmodernism that includes both but simultaneously transcends them. This transcendental-synthetic project is called metamodernism. In this essay, I will argue that the Hindu philosophy of … Read more
Praise be to Sri Ramakrishna for his teachings which have inspired so many to deepen their spiritual lives in this great age of materialism and spiritual decline. His teachings are desperately needed in the Christian West, which has lost a living, breathing tradition of mysticism straight from the wellspring of Incarnation. Let Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s … Read more
Preliminary note: I want to admit at the start that I have the utmost respect for Swami Medhananda, and I consider him to be a vastly superior scholar in the domain Advaita Vedanta and Ramakrishna-Vivikenananda studies. Furthermore, in full disclosure, I have not finished reading his book Swami Vivekananda’s Vedantic Cosmopolitanism. Some might think this automatically … Read more
Why did the One become the Many? Any student of philosophy, East or West, knows this question to be perhaps the most fundamental of all questions. In my opinion, traditional Advaita Vedanta has the most eloquent, precise, and spiritually enlightening answer to this question of any other competing philosophical school. I do not proclaim to … Read more
Richard Richard writes in his book The Universal Christ that modern Christianity is in a crisis and part of that crisis is lacking a sufficiently incarnational theology of Christ. For too long Christians have thought of God’s incarnation as localized only to 33 years of humanity in the life of a certain Jesus of Nazareth, … Read more
This essay is a meditation on Advaita Vedanta, Thomas Merton’s conception of Grace, and the future of rational religion in the Modern West, which is currently experiencing a tremendous crisis of meaning as we face the disastrous spiritual, ethical, and environmental implications of materialism and its logical entailment of nihilism. As always, I am indebted … Read more
In this short meditation on Vedantic Christianity, I will make the case that the Future of Christianity is Advaita Vedanta through and through. As always, I am indebted to Swami Sarvapriyananda for awakening my spiritual fire and teaching me the true lessons of Advaita Vedanta, which I am by no means qualified to teach but … Read more
This short essay is a meditation on Vedantic Christianity, which is a recognition of the essential, mystical truth of Christianity and its perfect parallel in the spiritual system of Advaita Vedanta, inspired by the Great Swami Vivekananda and his masterwork of spiritual philosophy Jnana Yoga. In all my writings, I do not consider myself a … Read more