Spiritualism as the Culmination of Philosophical Humanism

Nirmalya Narayan Chakraborty

As it is usually done, man, in classical Indian philosophy, is thought of having two aspects viz. the material or the natural aspect and the spiritual aspect. The natural side consists of elements, acts and dispositions that belong to man’s physical body, either originating directly from body through the mind or from the external world. The spiritual side, on the other hand, consists of elements that do not have their origin in the physical body and the external world. These two aspects remain in close relation. Though the exact nature of this relation is a matter of intense dispute, one could start the discourse by proposing that it is the unique I-feeling that characterizes one’s body and mind and whatever alterations happen there. Even if the I-feeling is inalienably related to the physic-mental complex, it is possible for the I, through progressive reflection, to dissociate itself from the entanglement of nature, and after this dissociation what remain in the unreflective stage are the physic-mental changes and the external world with no I-hood or mineness attached to it. Although normally the material and the spiritual side remain fused with each other, this fusion can be dissociated through progressive reflection where the physico-mental complex undergoes subtler and subtler changes and only at the highest stage the split could be discovered in its entirety. 

The present paper is an attempt to explore the idea that although man is always infused with empirical elements, yet in reflection the spiritual in man can be delineated and be talked about. In this sense, one can talk about ‘subject proper’, the spirit in man that is abstracted from its empirical surrounding. This ‘subject proper’ is conceivable as autonomous and the source of all the moral and spiritual values. But all these values are understood in terms of their reference to empirical life. In this sense, the source of the values is the ‘subject proper’, although they always carry a reference to the empirical. Because of this constant reference to the empirical, the ‘subject proper’ often loses its autonomy and identifies itself with nature.

And this ‘subject proper’ can be realized through a mental exercise. Even the common talk about detachment hints at gradual withdrawal, not in the sense of inaction but in the sense of being unmoved by the results of action. With this progressive detachment, one comes to experience more and more what is essential to him. So if the idea of ‘subject proper’ is a metaphysical backup of the classical Indian view of identification, then such a metaphysics can have practical application through a certain course of training. Even in our everyday life, we exhibit this training, for example, when we calmly confront the death of a near and dear one, material losses, insult etc. The more we develop this attitude, the more we come close to pure subjectivity, which is the essence of man. Since this idea of trans-natural has been highlighted as the essence of man, the worth of man lies in recognizing this autonomy of the spiritual

Reality and Reality+ : Advaita Vedanta and the Hard Problem of Consciousness

Swami Sarvapriyananda

Philosophy is concerned with three great questions – what Chalmers calls the Reality Question (What is real?), the Knowledge Question (How do we know?) and the Value Question (What is good?) – and the answers to these constitute Ontology/Metaphysics, Epistemology and Axiology.

Advaita Vedanta has one answer to all three questions – consciousness. It is consciousness that is Sat – Pure Being or the ultimate reality, Chit – knowledge itself, and Ananda – bliss, the source of all value.

From the present state of consciousness studies to the Advaita view of consciousness is a journey of five steps. First, consciousness is not reducible to the brain, second, it is not an object, third, it is not the mind, fourth, there are not many consciousnesses, and finally, consciousness is non-dual. We will see how Chalmers’ famous ‘hard problem of consciousness’ and his techno-philosophical explorations in his new book, Reality+, give us new light on this philosophical journey.

Finally, we will consider the questions of utility – how these insights might help us in individual and community life.

The Invisible Compass: On the Relevance of the Spiritual Impulse for Rational Philosophical Inquiry

Itay Shani

Philosophy has much to gain from revitalizing its atrophied connections to spirituality. Above all, what was lost to philosophy in the gradual course of attenuating its ties to the spiritual dimension of things is a general bearing capable of nourishing a truly integral orientation to life. In short, a center. A resurgence in the relevance of spirituality to the conduct of philosophical inquiry carries the hope of regaining some of this integrative potential. Among the potentially transformative consequences of the “rediscovery of the spiritual”, I shall highlight the following: 

  • An improved sense of the unity and coherence of philosophical inquiry, achieved, in part, through a rejoining of the true, the good, and the beautiful.
  • A renewed chance for reconnecting philosophy’s two traditional vocations: being a discursive rational inquiry of the highest generality, and being a positively-transforming way of life. 
  • A revised way of looking at the manner in which “high” and “low” interact in the making of nature.

How to philosophize about the knowledge-granting spiritual experience? 

Marzenna Jacubczak

The paper aims at discussing the epistemic value of spiritual experiences and their axiological impact on the personal and interpersonal dimensions. My special focus is the knowledge-granting spiritual experience captured in Sāṃkhya and Yoga philosophy.  Among others, I address compatibility of theoretical grasp of the yogic insight with the contemporary phenomenological and enactive approaches to cognition. 

As evolutionary psychology and cognitive studies show, the basic adaptive needs of human animals force us to concentrate on threats and these behaviours that aim at elimination of the threats. An alternative choice that requires much effort is to focus our attention on the non-selfish and non-defensive spiritual needs. And that is why the most serious restrictions for the development of our spirituality come from the need to protect oneself against various threats as well as from ignorance of what rules govern our embodied mind and our own behaviour. Whereas development of self-understanding is closely related to the growth of morality and forming the cognitive standards of evaluation and internalization of the basic values. Therefore, spiritual experience can have such a significant impact both on our individual life and interpersonal relationships.

Signs of Spiritual Life in Nature: A Biosemiotics Interpretation of Puruṣa–Artha in the Sāṅkhya Kārikā

Geoff Ashton

In keeping with the values of traditional Hinduism, the ultimate meaning or purpose (artha) of Sāṅkhya philosophy is puruṣa–artha: to realize that the true self or consciousness (puruṣa) is free from entanglement in the natural world (prakṛti). But given that the self is always already free, then why does the human being pursue that which is already true? Relatedly, since the puruṣa is a passive witness consciousness, and hence cannot pursue anything at all, then for whom does the goal (artha) of liberating self-knowledge have meaning (artha)? This presentation examines how scholars have struggled to respond to these questions due to their misunderstanding how Sāṅkhya envisions nature (prakṛti), consciousness (puruṣa), and the interrelation between the two. It then suggests an alternative frame for approaching these issues: biosemiotics. According to biosemiotics, natural life and sign-activity are co-extensive: where there is life (even in its most basic form), there is the production of signs and the interpretation of those signs. By reading the puzzle of puruṣa–artha through this lens, I argue that nature (prakṛti) in Sāṅkhya denotes the biosemiotic organism. That is to say, prakṛti is an intelligent, goal-oriented, self-referential process, and puruṣa–artha is its sign. The human being, meanwhile, is one variety of this process. From this, the human quest for self-knowledge reveals nature’s bio-semiotic agency to manifest itself to itself.

‘By whose permission did you enter into my heart?’ Yoga, transhumanism and freedom

Raquel Ferrandez Formoso

The ideal of “freedom-as-omnipotence” pointed out by Daya Krishna in his interpretation of the Yogasūtra is undoubtedly present throughout the history of yoga. This ideal of omnipotence is also at the basis of the contemporary transhumanist program through the ideal of human perfection, and there are already transhumanist versions that defend the use of meditative techniques from India as complements to a program of human enhancement. In this presentation I argue that transhumanism and bioliberalism seek to free us from biological conditioning at the cost of making us more and more dependent on science and technology, presenting a sort of “derivative freedom” that many premodern yogas would never accept. Instead, contemporary yogas, which no longer contemplate the ideal of yogic powers, are much more amenable to the idea of human enhancement through external devices, partly because they have adopted diluted versions of the models of freedom advocated in premodern yogas.

Panentheism, Transhumanism, and the Problem of Evil: From Metaphysics to Ethics

Benedikt Paul Göcke

There is a close systematic relationship between panentheism, as a metaphysical theory about the relation between God and the world, and transhumanism, the ethical demand to use the means of the applied sciences to enhance both human nature and the environment. This relationship between panentheism and transhumanism provides a ‘cosmic’ solution to the problem of evil: on panentheistic premises, the history of the world is the one infinite life of God, and we are part of the one infinite divine being. We ourselves are therefore responsible for the future development of the life of the divine being. We should therefore use the means provided by the natural sciences to develop the history of the world in such a way that the existence of evil shall be overcome and shall no longer be part of the divine being in whom we move and live and have our being. The metaphysics of panentheism leads to the ethics of transhumanism.

Erotic Spirituality: The Gītagovinda as Philosophy of Religion

Mikel Burley

The present chapter explores the themes of spirituality and desire, specifically erotic desire, through the medium of the Gītagovinda. Attributed to Jayadeva, who probably flourished in late twelfth-century Bengal, the Gītagovinda—“Song of (or about) Govinda”—is a dramatic Sanskrit poem that is a classic of the Bengali Vaiṣṇava tradition. Although not a work of formal theological or philosophical argumentation, the poem undoubtedly contains theologically and philosophically provocative material. It might even be regarded as a work of narrative theology or narrative philosophy of religion. Since it depicts the ardent and volatile relationship between the divine lovers Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa (aka Govinda, lit. “cow-finder”), the themes of desire and erotic love are at the heart of the narrative.

Following an introductory section, the chapter elaborates the theme of the turn to desire in recent philosophy of religion. Most notable in this connection is work by Fiona Ellis and also the late Roger Scruton, whose explorations of sexual desire and erotic love in relation to dramatic art are unsurpassed in contemporary philosophy. The subsequent section provides an overview of the Gītagovinda, laying the foundation for a more sustained analysis of the themes of desire and erotic spirituality as they occur in this text. In the further sections, I argue that the Gītagovinda not only presents us with an erotic theology or conception of the divine, but also aspires to induce an erotic soteriological mood in its audience. By this, I mean that engaging with the text can be viewed as stimulating a feeling of heightened eroticism that is, simultaneously, spiritually liberating. Indeed, the text implicitly dissolves any distinction between the spiritual and the erotic, thereby embodying and celebrating a “sensual spirituality” or “spiritual sensuality.” The chapter ends with some concluding remarks in the final section.

Religious Pluralism beyond John Hick: Bringing Sri Ramakrishna into Dialogue with S. Mark Heim

Swami Medhananda

Recent philosophical discussions of religious pluralism have tended to focus on the pioneering work of the British philosopher John Hick (1922–2012). However, numerous other philosophers have defended alternative theories of religious pluralism, which they claim are more philosophically cogent and more robustly pluralistic than Hick’s pluralism. One such thinker is the contemporary American theologian S. Mark Heim, who offers searching criticisms of Hick’s religious pluralism and defends the paradoxical doctrine of “pluralistic inclusivism,” according to which adherents of various religions are equally justified in taking their own respective salvific goals to be the ultimate and looking upon the goals of other religions as merely penultimate. While I agree with some of Heim’s criticisms of Hick’s religious pluralism, I argue that Heim’s own pluralistic inclusivism borders on incoherence and turns out to be even less pluralistic than Hick’s theory. Sri Ramakrishna’s mystically-grounded doctrine of religious pluralism, I suggest, shares the primary advantage of Heim’s pluralistic inclusivism—namely, the acceptance of multiple salvific goals as equally ultimate—while avoiding the philosophical problems plaguing Heim’s theory. 

Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya: Absence, Attention, and Subjectivity

Jonardon Ganeri

Chapter 4 of Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya’s justly celebrated classic 1930 book, The Subject as Freedom, is entitled “Knowledge of Absence as a Present Fact”. Bhattacharyya argues for the following set of claims: 1. There are two kinds of absence experience. 2. Both kinds of absence experience are genuinely perceptual, and Bhattacharyya describes the nature of the perceptual experience involved as “imaginative perception” or “aesthetic perception”. 3. Absence experiences of either kind can undergo a transformation into cognitive, non-perceptual states, which Bhattacharyya calls states of “conscious non-perception”. I will review and defend Bhattacharyya’s theory in the light of new work on absence experience.

Śrīharṣa on Faith and the Limits of Rational Inquiry

Nilanjan Das

In the first chapter of A Confection of Refutation (Khaṇḍanakhaṇḍakhādya), the 12th century Sanskrit philosopher and poet Śrīharṣa recommends that we adopt an attitude of faith or trust (śraddhā) towards the contents of Upaniṣadic statements that support non-dualism (advaita), i.e, the view that consciousness alone ultimately exists. In this talk, I will do three things. First, I will argue that, for Śrīharṣa, it is reasonable for us to adopt this attitude because (on his view) these Upaniṣadic statements cannot be defeated by other sources of knowledge such as perception and inference. Second, I will explain why Śrīharṣa thinks that Upaniṣadic testimony for non-dualism is indefeasible. Third, I will show how Śrīharṣa’s prescription of faith is connected to Śrīharṣa’s anti-rationalism: his view that rational inquiry cannot help us discover how the world ultimately is. 

Bridging the Gap: Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Philosophy and the Return of Spirituality in Modern Discourse

Neeti Singh

As contemporary philosophy experiences a revival of spiritual themes, this paper explores the profound and ecumenical philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and its role in bridging the gap between spirituality and modern philosophical discourse. Sri Aurobindo, a visionary philosopher, poet, and spiritual leader of the 20th century, developed a unique framework known as Integral Philosophy that synthesizes Eastern and Western thought.

This paper delves into the concept of spirituality in Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy emphasizing its response to the challenges of modern discourse. It examines the core principles of his Integral Philosophy, including Integral Yoga, spiritual evolution, and the Supramental Consciousness, elucidating how these concepts redefine the boundaries of human potential and spiritual growth. Moreover, the paper discusses the resurgence of spiritual themes in contemporary philosophy and how Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy resonates with this resurgence. It provides examples of his influence on modern thinkers and highlights the practical implications of his ideas for individuals and society today.

What Happens in Dīkṣā?: On the Epistemological Status of Initiatory Experiences in Late Second Millennium Śrīvidyā

Tarinee Awasthi

I examine the way initiatory experiences are understood in the work of three scholar-practitioners of Śrīvidyā in the late second millennium: Bhāskararāya (fl. 18th C), Pañcānana Tarkaratna Bhaṭṭācārya (1867-1940), and Swami Veda Bharati (1933-2015). Each of them espouses a slightly different variety of nondualism, and that informs their discussion of the initiatory experience.

Locating them in the broader context of Sanskrit intellectual culture, I suggest that initiatory experience, as understood in the writing of these and similar authors sits uneasily not only within our contemporary epistemological framework, but also in the intellectual “mainstream” of Sanskrit philosophy, and requires an alternative approach which takes into account the metaphysical and soteriological frameworks accepted within each tradition.

Materialism and the Normative Significance of Consciousness

Geoffrey Lee

A widely held picture of consciousness is that (1) there is a deep divide in nature between conscious being and the rest – for some the inner light shines, for others there is only darkness within; (2) there is a legitimate philosophical/scientific project of figuring out the nature of this deep divide; and (3) this project is also of great normative significance, because consciousness is greatly significant both morally/practically and epistemically. For example, it might matter greatly for how we treat certain non-human creatures or artificial systems. In this talk I’ll present part of my case for a different, more pluralistic, way of understanding things. On this alternative vision, there is no deep natural divide between conscious beings and the rest. And although there is a legitimate empirical project of figuring out what consciousness is, this won’t reveal what is normatively significant. On my way of thinking, there are many kinds of inner light, not united by any deep common thread. What we call “consciousness” is only one of them. Some may matter more than others, but none is uniquely significant.

Awareness-atoms, alone in the dark: The problems with a possible Buddhist panpsychism

Amit Chaturvedi

Some scholars have claimed that Buddhist philosophers in the Sautrāntika and Yogācāra traditions developed a plausible version of the panpsychist view that mental qualities are fundamental and ubiquitous. Monima Chadha in particular has suggested that Sautrāntika-Yogācāra Buddhists offer useful responses to the various “combination problems” that challenge panpsychists to explain how a unified, introspectable phenomenal experience can emerge from the aggregation of many microphenomenal entities. In this paper, I consider certain arguments by classical Yogācāra and non-Buddhist idealists against the possibility of microphenomenal combination, which follow from the assumption that awareness-states are reflexively aware. Whereas Chadha takes the posit of reflexive awareness (svasaṃvedana) to explain how individual mental states could belong to a unified conscious experience, these idealists argue that the essential reflexivity of awareness is precisely what would prevent microscopic “awareness-atoms” (jñānaparamāṇu) from being accessible to other mental states, and combining their respective phenomenal characters into a macroscopic experience.

From Self-Analysis to Cosmic love: Reconciling the Dry (tarka) and Juicy (rasa) Faces of Spiritual Inwardness

Arindam Chakrabarti

My paper will explore the connection between philosophical analysis of consciousness and spirituality, in four parts.

  1. Meaning of the adjective “spiritual” and “ãdhyãtmika”: self-knowledge leading to unselfishness.
  2. K.C.Bhattachaya’s  step-by-step phenomenological analysis of bodily, psychological and spiritual subjectivity leading to the Subject as Freedom
  3. Jonardon Ganeri’s philosophical analysis of the metaphysics of literary-poetic or meditative Inwardness.
  4. Madhusüdana Sarasvatî’s alchemy of non-dualistic love (Bhaktirasãyan.a) that helps us understand what the aesthetic relishing of non-dualistic love has to do with such moral-contemplative spirituality