Advaita Vedanta and the Ontological Argument

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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

From Physicalism to the Pure Consciousness of Vedanta

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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

Vedanta, Metamodernism, and the Future of Western Spirituality

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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

Advaita Vedanta and Sri Ramakrishna’s Divine Immanence

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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

Advaita Vedanta: the One and the Many

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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

Advaita Vedanta, Thomas Merton, and the Future of Religion

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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

Vedantic Christianity and Its Essential Message

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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

Christianity and Advaita Vedanta: The Kingdom of God is Within

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This essay is a meditation on Christianity and Advaita Vedanta, specifically Jesus’s mystical insight that the kingdom of God is “within” and its perfect parallel with the concept of Self as understood in Advaita Vedanta. As always, I owe all my understanding of Advaita Vedanta to the wise and erudite fountain of Vedantic knowledge that … Read more

Advaita Vedanta and Christianity: Towards a Cosmopolitan Spirituality

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This essay is a partly autobiographical story of how I discovered the beautiful combination of Advaita Vedanta and Christianity, along with an attempt to work out a Cosmopolitan Christian-Vedantic Spirituality inspired by the wonderful wisdom of Swami Vivekananda and his still-unrealized vision for a religion of the future. I believe any modern spirituality worth its … Read more

What is Brahman in Advaita Vedanta?

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What is Brahman in Advaita Vedanta? What is the Absolute? This short essay will attempt to answer this question in plain English, to the extent that is even possible given the inherent limitations of language when talking about this subject matter. I owe an infinite debt to the wisdom and erudition of Swami Sarvapriyananda for … Read more