Guruji I think Neuroscience is calling Jiva as conciousness. Brain is holding jiva. Jiva is called Tantra, represented with Jupiter & Moon in astrology. It will be duality. Atma is different which never born never die which is non dual.
Bernardo Kastrup's Analytic Idealism actually resonates with Advaita Vedanta a lot. There are even some talks between him and Swami Sarvapriyananda here on RU-vid.
The man is a genius. I was a nonspiritual athiest who thought the brain produced consciousness until I heard Bernardo explain in such a logical way why that was wrong. I've since been on a better path.
There is significant difference between the two views even though prima facie they seem to have a lot of concurrence. I watched an extensive discussion between ,Kastrup and Michael Matthews, an Advaita vedānta master. Matthews emphatically declared that all experience and suffering was illusory while Kastrup insisted that all experience was real but all reality was mental, therefore the everything was real. The denial of the reality of suffering was very difficult for Kastrup to accept and I felt exactly the same I think this new discussion going on between Eastern metaphysics and analytical idealism is going to prove fruitful. For me, I have detected a weakness in Advaita vedānta : it's focus on cosmic reality leads it to actually deny other levels of being / experience as unreal. The radical ontology of Advaita does not answer our human needs. Whereas analytical idealism can see that ALL reality is non physical or "mental" but all experience which arises from excitations of cosmic consciousness are absolutely real. The illusion is of physicality pet se but NOT of experience. Thus, analytical idealism bridges the gap between ontic reality and experience, between cosmic bliss and suffering, and shows where these levels might taken together find us a roadmap towards true understanding.
Swamiji, this is one of the most lucid videos that explains Consciousness while not shying away from counter arguments. You have cleared ALL my lingering doubts in my spiritual quest .Pranams and I am grateful.
Swamiji good attempt to explain Advait Vedant. (The soul of Sanatan Dharma) But be responsible what you convey for the society….. Advaita Vedant arise from “ suniyawad or zeroism of Buddhism”. Buddhist scholars repeatedly said don’t move in the trap of “ zeroism” becoz it will lead to a world of non- existence or non-real world where the purpose of life lost. This mean when you realise that our existence is of nothing. our existence make no sense…..or other word doing anything is useless. This understanding make society lazy, non-productive and full of orthodoxy teaching of Gods…..that is happening in India Those who teach Advaita Vedant also support Idol worship ……..which is no where near!!!!! Please don’t be in the delusion of grandiosity which cost darkness to the society Please practice what you teach……if you teach Advait Vedant than remove all idol worship, if you teach idol worship remove Advait Vedant from the teaching……….🙏🙏
Thank you Swamiji for exemplifying the spirit of self-inquiry- the ultimate quest! Imagine how disappointing it would be to find the source of consciousness and put it in a bottle or define it in an algorithm. Rather I sense, it is because consciousness is not graspable that everything is possible. To sink into the essence of your very own being is to understand consciousness as the source of itself. To get even close to this is like watching the most beautiful sunrise - the heart begins to melt in uncontainable pure joy. Consciousness is not an isolated ’dead’ thing. The journey of self discovery, is enabled by the purification of the heart and the mind, that goes through the heart and through the mind. The perceivable world is full of life and death, all coming and going, the witnessing of which renders one into dumbstruck awe. Consciousness is not even the ‘life” that I feel.. not even “the feeling of existence”, who I think I am .. or am not.. and therefore not death either… Despite all the doubt, speculation, conjecture & disappointment. Embracing all aspirations, hope and wonder stands the immediate knowledge of our true selves - that we name “consciousness” - the realisation of which is pure love - enough to make you cry the pure tears of a child come home forever 💛🌸🌏✨✨🙏
The final statement is a very important one. You're right in thinking that this discussion of the scientific origins of reality's might threaten Vedanta teachings. But the problem with science is lacking its own understanding of subjectivity. This is why Vedanta teachings teaching will stand the test of time 😉. However as part of limitations of self inquiry one could assume that Vedanta would be limited in objectivity. However in my experience (and i hope keen readers also understand this) this leads to enhanced objectivity. Why? Because i am aware of my own conscious experience and so i am aware of what i am projecting onto reality. Anyone who pursues and understands vedantic teachings can use science as a way to understand this manifestation of reality we find ourselves in.
please study the development of language and in particular written language, which, in essence, allows for this awareness of my own conscious experience.
Wonderful - this was an illuminating Lesson. I believe you are gifted with an amazing ability of presenting very deep, complicated, even abstract subjects in a way that clears the path before us. I enjoyed this Lesson very, very much
I am Self Realized after 30 years of agonizing inner work. After everything I have experienced and learned...the Individual Soul is absolutely real and is Divine. The Source of the Divine within is located deep inside the heart. The Source of the Soul is the Divine Oneness ...the Absolute...that is the Ground of Being and sustains all living beings without fail. Every Soul is like a wave on the Ocean of the Divine.
The only thing they could ever do is show you a correlate, but never the Qualia. And as we know, correlation does not equal causation . Matter, only looks like matter because our perceptions have evolved to present it to us that way, same goes with neurons and brains. Matter/neurons the way they appear does not have its own stand alone existence apart from the observer. Bernardo Kastrup explains this beautifully if anyone’s interested.
@@vinceofyork neuroscience correlation is discovering Tantra. Tantra is dualism called jiva. Atma is Adwaita. Jiva takes rebirth atma never born nor die. Neuroscience assuming jiva as conciousness. 😂
Many Thanks Swamiji for this superlative comprehensive video. Truly the need of the hour! You have given a brilliant simplified overview of so many conflicting theories . I cannot even begin to imagine the hours of intense study involved to make this 30 minute video with such clarity. Eternally grateful,,🙏🙏🙏
As someone who leans toward Jnana Yoga, I consider Advaita Vedanta the right path for me. Your beautiful exposition clarified things even further for me. May I request the following topics for your future videos: "What is the difference between Advaita and Dvaita?" Also, "What is the difference between human consciousness and artificial intelligence?" (Not so much the technological aspect, but how both the conscious mind and an app's prompt-generated content on a topic appear to be based on an algorithm that reviews stored data.)
I am at this time working in the forest. I see, hear, touch, smell and even taste the wonderful forms of nature. And I know it's all experience within me . Not outside of me. Thank you.
Swamiji, this video is a real beauty though it deserves to have more time. It's short looking to the complexity of subject. Pls make another video on the same subject after sometime
Wow, Swamiji!! This video was amazing, I feel like it answered a lot of questions I had about the scientific theories about consciousness. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom, you truly have the gift of imparting knowledge 🕉️ namaste
Dear Swamiji.....Thank-you for tackling this rather complex subject. You have, as always, succinctly summarised & explained a deeply complex subject. We are fortunate indeed to be taught by you. Thank you again.
Wow! Swamiji truly has a gift for breaking down, explaining and comparing such complex subjects from both spiritual and scientific perspectives. One of the most intellectually engaging pieces of media I've consumed in a long time! 🙏❤️
You’re awesome as alway. Thank you for sharing your own sensed limitations. Your balance of learning and wisdom are refreshing as always. I’m always weary of people who claim to know everything and you don’t do that❤️
Nice summary from NeuroScience to Advaita. Roger Penrose's microtubules quantum theory has the best chance of success to connect to the consciousness. Chalmer doesn't explain how the consciousness produces matter/energy or how they're interconnected, does he?
30:16 - "not a philosophical speculation". Yet, Advaita is translated as "vedantic philosophy" on many occasions, including in the ArshaBodha videos. 😀
Consciousness, a complex metaphysical subjective phenomenon; has been tackled with clarity and excellent analysis with the objective co-relates. Well said Swamiji. Advaita Vedantic self-inquiry of witness within, has and will continue to stand up to the test tested eternal truths in the the way of meta-physical experiences. Meaning, it is only the Consciousness that can experience itself. Let me expand more. Any self-enquiry tool, such as the intellect, which itself is the manifestation of Consciousness, cannot experience Consciousness. Only Consciousness can Self experience itself. And that is where science and its analytical methods, will continue to find difficulty finding answers to "hard problem of Consciousness."
This topic is fascinating when it’s explained properly so thank you for doing that so thoughtfully. Donald Hoffman is one of the few scientists that go against the grain and well worth a listen too. I must admit a lot of what he says goes straight over my head but still fascinating 😅
There was no patience or dedication necessary for hearing you to the end, I was hanging on to every word with intense interest, it was an inspiring and insightful talk and you addressed many issues that I have been ruminating on for years. Science will never identify a substance called "consciousness" as another fundamental force of nature like electromagnetism or the strong and weak nuclear forces since consciousness is not a force of nature but the ground of being in which nature and its forces are manifest. Rene Descartes was in a way right in his philosophy of ghosts and machines, but he got it the wrong way round, the ghost is not in the machine, the machine is in the ghost and I think that science today is slowly coming round to that view.
Your presentation is very much appreciated. It's very thought provoking. Critical thinking is at work here. The validity of Atma and Braman is very challenging. Consciousness is a very wonderful concept. Integrating all these ideas are very mind expanding.. A job or research well done, professor!. I love it all Please do more. No one ever knows it all. But, you're almost very close.
Thank you for this stimulating video. I don't think that Science And Advaita are talking about the same thing when they use the word "Consciousness". It's 2 different "things" for me. For science, consciousness is part of the human experience. The sensation of being a "me" an "I" can be in part the produce of my mind, of my story, of my memories. This is the mundane part of my self. The part who belong to the world and that is produced by/in the world. And there is this other part, the only one that really is and that is not subject of any experience, and that cannot be grasped by any means. By definition, consciousness (Brahman) will always be out of reach of science. So I don't think that science and religion (Advaita specificaly) can meet and establish a dialogue.
Good point, by an example. Extending the analogy, if we can study only the radio (brain) then we should be able to find where the demodulator (to convert, decode the broadcast to local electrical signal to produce sound) in the radio is. That should give a clue about the broadcast (consciousness).
Consciousness is the infinite eternal awareness in All That Is. Consciousness can create the illusion of separation from Spirit. Our human experience is actually a dream in Spirit. You are One with everything.
thoughts aren't knower of thoughts, and emotions are just expressions of our attachments to objective objects, we don't get emotional over anything that we are not attached too. But what is it that makes that attachment possible? Answer: The pleasure principle, and that pleasure principle is of the self. It is because we are beings that seek gratification of our senses that makes us attached to those things that give us pleasure and from that attachment comes emotion. But the pleasure principle can't be observed as being of brain matter. So, the knower represents " chit " and the pleasure principle represents " ananda" (bliss ) both of these aspects of the self can't be attributed to neurons.
As per vedanta, it is through interaction with inner and outer environment ĝives birth to intelligence,knowledge and super knowledge.Nothing can come out of nothing,,so it is not virtual reality.
I read somewhere that brain is responsible for consciousness. It was a scientific article. I asked them what if consciousness exists seperately from brain. There is still no response to it. 😊😊😊😊😂😂😂😂. They can't disprove it. Theirs is just a concept based on neurological functions.
This is the only clear definition of consciousness, including differentiation between 'localized'' consciousness and consciousness as a phenomenon in general, that makes sense to me. But as a scientist-minded person, I'd love to hear a clear definition and differentiation from any scientific experts that makes as much sense.
Analytic Idealism provides a comprehensive philosophical understanding of consciousness. Bernardo Kastrup is a philosopher and Scientist has produced much scholarly work arguing for this. There many are many thousand s of people who have studied this and aligned themselves with this philosophical movement. I am one.
Marvellous video, thank you. I have a question- in Hinduism, one accepts the rebirth of the same ‘Atma’ enters in another body by its own wish. And we have seen a lot of examples of rebirth or reincarnations all over the world. Here by this reference I just want to know that when all the organs are part of a body, which at last demises when the consciousness or Atma leaves the body, then where the past life memories resides? Do you think that it travels with consciousness or Atma during the rebirth? Can you please explain this with examples of what neuroscience thinks about it?
Swamiji, while I was meditation I had something going into my brain kind of distubing waves. I got vision of Chhinamasta, and it happened like my head was removed and I was in peace but still centered to my being. This would also mean that even though the head is removed and if you meditating on chest area you will identify yourself to your chest part rather than brain.
Very clear analytical explanation of experience . ..consciousness is Supreme, youtube video by Raghavendra Tippur. Gives further clarification and explanation of what is consciousness.
I came recently to consider that a thought, an idea could be seen in some "ridiculous" way as a kind of object and now I wonder if this is part of Indian philosophy?? It could be Plato too, not sure.
In one ear and out the other. I might have to listen to that again. Anyway, I am consciousness, which is not a thing. If someone were to supposedly find some source of consciousness, consciousness would still have to be before whatever source that is to say that it exists. 🙏
How a limited entity can be a source of an all pervading infinite consciousness? The source of such consciousness can only be things present everywhere. Can it be space and entity so far known as well as unknown!
Thank you Guru. We cannot explain consciousness because we all have a different consciousness. That is what make us unique. Science experiments, researches are conducted by scientists who look and explain the unknown from their own point of view. Only Brahman can exist.
This seems to be true in the way that consciousness arises from the six sense bases in buddhism. These sense signals are dependently arising so it wouldnt be right to to say "consciousness comes from the brain". The brain does seem to facilitate consciousness, but no more than the sense organs do. Consciousness is part of a system and the system is in the body and outside the body.
Thank you for the clear explanation. I really appreciate it. I do have a question: Why is it that the presence of the witness (in addition to thoughts and emotions) depends on an intact and functioning brain? If one puts the brain in a certain state (e.g. by administrating propofol to induce general anaesthesia) there is no witness anymore; The "light goes out" just as in a dreamless sleep. Why is this the case?
Wakefulness, dream, deep sleep, are states of our material experience that come and go day by day but you as the knower of these states exist as a continuum that doesn't goe through states.
@@williamburts3114 Let me clarify my point: In deep sleep there is no witness, so the presence of the witness clearly depends on the state of the brain and I would be interested to know why this is the case according to Advaita Vedanta, because the witness is supposed to be the ground of existence.
@@user-fl1rz3uw6d Your experience of deep sleep is vague, but it is still an experience because when you wake up you know that you dreamt nothing, so that experience still relates to you. In wakefulness and dream states objects appear on the screen of consciousness and we are engaged in them but in deep sleep since there is no objects to engage with the knower lies dormant. But we shouldn't think the self isn't present in such a state because if someone were to touch you or yell in your ear you would wake up.
@@williamburts3114 We indeed remember that we were in a dreamless sleep, but I don't see how this implies that "the knower lies dormant". Likewise, when someone touches you, you wake up because the brain is activated, but I don't see how this implies that "the self is present" during sleep. This seems like a huge leap of faith and not based on direct experience. As far as we know, during dreamless sleep, coma, general anaesthesia, or death, the light goes out and a lot is known about the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. I know that some people (e.g. Nisargadatta Maharaj) say that they are aware during dreamless sleep and I believe that it is indeed possible to attain such a state,, but I am convinced that this still relies on an intact brain.
Brain is concentration of cells with tiny consciousness of cells and cells are just collection of atoms which have consciousness, there is no reason to think robot isn’t conscious, anything which has many interactions would be conscious and we have no way to prove it.
Which Advaita does he resonate with? There are legions of Advaitas. Neo/pseudo, traditional, most of what is called Advaita today is a mix of Buddhism, materialism, new age and Advaita, etc. We must exercise the same caution with what is called "Advaita" today and its exponents, as we exercise with materialism.
Swamiji, Pranam. My question is this: If the consciousness is not materially connected to the brain, then what happens to consciousness when a person goes into comatose condition where all body functions are intact and the autonomous system keeps that person alive but totally unconscious about the environment and is unable to function within the normal functioning? Does consciousness gets impaired with the damage to the portion of brain?
The answer to your question lies in how you define consciousness. Consciousness as defined in neuro science as a response to stimulus is different from vedantic consciousness which is that unchanging reality that reveals your thoughts, emotions and perceptions. BTW, this is my understanding from Swamiji's teachings on his website and on You Tube. I may be wrong.
Rainbow picture Over-Consciousness, Colors picture Under-Consciousness = Day-Consciousness and Night-Consciousness. Instinct, Gravity, Feeling, Intelligence, Intuition, Memory, our physical body, is a Gravity-Body, at Night, We do Move our Day-Consciousness, to the Night-Bodies, (Deep-Sleep) one by one, via the Coupling-Body, (REM) Dreams, NDE, OBE, Coma, messages, Visits, Warnings, is experienced by Day-Consciousness, via the Coupling-Body. So, Day-consciousness Never sleep, it just goes in Circuits, Day/Night, and Larger. Our Body is a Organ-circuit, correspond with respective Bodies during Day/Night-circuit. a man denied that he had been away, after 17 years, within one year, the grey brain got pink. a woman thought she was still teenager, after 20 years Consciousness is 100% Electric.
Try subbing in consciousness for awareness and read it again. "If the **awareness** is not materially connected to the brain, then what happens to **awareness** when a person goes into comatose condition where all body functions are intact and the autonomous system keeps that person alive but totally **unaware** about the environment and is unable to function within the normal functioning? Does **awareness** gets impaired with the damage to the portion of brain?" Once you do that, can you see how it makes sense now?
Anaestetics don't turn off consciousness, neither does deep sleep. When you turn off the radio station, it stops transmitting. You no longer hear the broadcast but the station is still broadcasting.
Rainbow/Colors picture our Over-Consciousness and Under-Consciousness = Day-Consciousness, and Night-Consciousness, Instinct, Gravity, Feeling, Intelligence, Intuition, Memory. We are Gravity-Beings, about to become Feeling-Beings, Deep-Sleep is our Night-Bodies, REM is our Coupling-Body Day/Night-Circuit, correspond with the Organ-Circuit in our physical body. It is the Same Eternal Abilities that make 'This Device' work so well. in technical composition, Automatic, Power, Sensors, Logic/Order, (*), Harddisc So this is the Eternal basic-picture of our Consciousness-Circuit, and Day-Consciousness Never sleep. Life-Desire is Motor of Life, Hunger- and Satisfaction-Principles is Compass.
Preperation, knowledge, knowing, process, and experience of consciousness - all explained in hundreds of thousands of Hindu texts, transmitted since more than 30,000 + years ago
