Advaita Vedanta and the Ontological Argument

AI Art Midjourney of person standing in golden library

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

AI Midjourney art of abstract whirls of oil paint

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

Christianity and Advaita Vedanta: The Kingdom of God is Within

Midjourney AI painting of woman standing before a giant brain in a museum

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 Explained Simply

Painting of adi-shankaracharya

This essay will not be focused on rigorous argumentation and logic-chopping. I will rather focus on stating conclusions about fundamental reality that I have learned from studying Advaita Vedanta from Swami Sarvapriyananda’s lectures (freely available on YouTube). I am not expecting you, the reader, to accept these statements intellectually. Rather this is a poetic exercise … Read more

Advaita Vedanta: Why You Are Not the Body

black and white photo of a human back with their head bent forward and the spine sticking out

“You are not the body, nor is the body yours; you are not the doer nor the enjoyer. You are Consciousness itself, the eternal Witness, and free. Go about happily.” ~ Ashtavakra Gita, Chap. 15, verse 4 In this statement is contained the essence of Advaita Vedanta. In this essay, I will defend the following … Read more

God, Consciousness, and the Spiritual Life of Fungi

Fungi

Philosophers and theologians often describe God as a kind of ultimate necessary being that undergirds the contingency of the world. And not a “being” as a kind of “entity.” God is not an entity. God is not an agent in the ordinary sense. If God is anything, they are beyond the limitations of that distinction. … Read more

Consciousness and the Mysteries of Transcendence

Paradox

Humans are a part of Nature, and God is said to transcend Nature. But yet Christ is supposed to be within us always. So God is both within us and beyond us. She is us. But She is beyond us as She is beyond everything. But somehow also incarnated in everything.  This makes ideas like … Read more