Eastern and Western lenses to Analytic Idealism with Bernardo Kastrup and Swami Sarvapriyananda

[silent thunder]

Both of these men have elicited my deep respect over time with their insights and sharings.  To hear them speak together and explore the commonalities inherent in their remarkably different approaches to exploring the nature of reality and human consciousness is a delight to me. 

 

One of my earliest exposures to the incredible crossover of quantum theory in western physics and the long established lineages of eastern esoteric knowledge came via the sharings of Fritjoff Capra's amazing book and his insights revealed in The Tao of Physics, in which he revealed the potent similarities of insight that western quantum theory was arriving at (much to the credit of the likes of Niels Bohr and David Bohm) and how western physics had come to mirror on nigh on every level, deep insights known in the east in vedanta, taoist and buddhist circles for many centuries.

 

Bernardo Kastrup, who's background is hard physics, has evolved into one of the leading proponents of philosophical Idealism which aligns with what my experience of reality has been from early childhood.  To see the similarities reflected in modern physics and idealism philosophical theory to ancient established lineages is a comfort and wonder of sorts.  Swami Sarvapriyananda will likely be very familiar to most here.

 

What delights me most of all is perhaps the reinforcement of the notion that source is one and we all are extensions of it, and so, when sincerely approached, any avenue of study can eventually lead to similarities of realization and insight reflected in how the human perceptual apparatus engages with and interprets the signals inherent in the field of energy we all stem from and occupy.

 

Thought some others might appreciate it as well, so here's the conversation.

 

[doc benway]

Looking forward to checking this out when I have some time.

I'm also a fan of exploring the convergence, and divergence for that matter, between science, philosophy, and spirituality.

I've enjoyed Carlo Rovelli's writings in this area recently.

[whocoulditbe?]

What Swami Sarvapriyananda says from 24:14–27:38, when he talks about the "peculiar inversion" between the conclusions of materialism and idealism, reminds me of Plato's Parmenides:

Quote

Then, said Parmenides, if you say that everything else participates in the ideas, must you not say either that everything is made up of thoughts, and that all things think; or that they are thoughts but have no thought?

 

The latter view, Parmenides, is no more rational than the previous one. In my opinion, the ideas are, as it were, patterns fixed in nature, and other things are like them, and resemblances of them-what is meant by the participation of other things in the ideas, is really assimilation to them.

 

The generalisations Kastrup makes about the "western mind" seem pretty made up. It's funny that he starts off by disparaging western thought as compartmental, but at 1:00:00 he defends his denial of matter against the "conflation" and "confusion" of western philosophy, favouring eastern ideas for their ability to compartmentalise different kinds of truth.

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4 hours ago, steve said:

Looking forward to checking this out when I have some time.

I'm also a fan of exploring the convergence, and divergence for that matter, between science, philosophy, and spirituality.

I've enjoyed Carlo Rovelli's writings in this area recently.

I've not encountered Rovelli.  I'll check him out.  thanks for sharing.