The Watcher, the Knower, the Spirit Self (2024)
Swami Sarvapriyananda is the Minister and Spiritual Leader of the Vedanta Society of New York since January 2017 and a Nagral Fellow for 2019-20 at Harvard Divinity School. Prior to this, he served as assistant minister of the Vedanta Society of Southern California for 13 months, beginning December 2015.
He joined the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in 1994 and received Sannyas in 2004. Before being posted to the VSSC’s Hollywood Temple, he served as an acharya (teacher) of the monastic probationers’ training center at Belur Math. He has served the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in various capacities including being the Vice Principal of the Deoghar Vidyapith Higher Secondary School, Principal of the Shikshana Mandira Teacher Education College at Belur Math, and the first Registrar of the Vivekananda University at Belur Math.
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Date
Duration
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Date
August 18, 2019
Format
Lecture
Word Count
2,450
Duration
17:40
Quotes
1
Views
2,872
Many Eastern views of reality posit that it is consciousness that lies at the foundation of existence, not the material world.
Date
February 24, 2024
Format
Discussion
Word Count
6,911
Duration
45:15
Quotes
3
Views
232
Swami Sarvapriyananda discusses the Advaita Vedanta understanding of consciousness, which sees it as the fundamental, non-dual reality behind all experience. He contrasts this with scientific theories that try to explain consciousness in terms of brain activity, arguing that such approaches cannot account for the subjective, first-person nature of consciousness. He also touches on the Vedantic views on consciousness after death, rebirth, and the relationship between spirituality and emerging technologies like AI.
