The concept of Sakshin in the light of Advaita Vedanta

Swami Narasimhananda (Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama, Kozhikode)

The School of Sanskrit, Philosophy and Indic Studies (SSPIS) at Goa University cordially invites you to the online guest lecture titled "The concept of Sakshin in the light of Advaita Vedanta" by Swami Narasimhananda. Kindly join us on 30 November 2022 (Wednesday) from 3:00 to 5:00 PM IST at meet.google.com/may-cjfd-cxv.

Abstract

In this talk, the speaker would attempt to explain the Advaita Vedanta concept of Sakshin as envisaged by Acharya Shankara, particularly in his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. According to this view, the conscious Sakshin is the only entity or principle that exists and all that is perceived by the senses and the mind are superimpositions on this principle. These superimpositions arise due to ignorance of this principle, the Sakshin. The Sakshin is the true subject with no real object. All objects are unreal and perishable. The entire universe is a result of this objectification that is caused due to ignorance superimposed on Sakshin. The goal of spiritual life is to transcend this ignorance and realize one's identity with Sakshin.

Speaker

Swami Narasimhananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1897 and is presently the Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama, Kozhikode, Kerala and runs a higher secondary school, a kindergarten, and a polyclinic. He is a former editor of ‘Prabuddha Bharata’, an English monthly journal of the humanities and social sciences started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896. He has edited a volume of Swami Vivekananda’s teachings titled ‘Vivekananda Reader’. He specialises in Indian Studies, Indian Philosophy, Sociology of Religion, Philosophy of Religion, and Religious Studies. He is a member of the International, Interdisciplinary and Interreligious Research Group on ‘Consciousness Studies’ under the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights, Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, Rome, Italy. He is an editor and executive council member of H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online. He is also a member of the editorial board of the American Academy of Religion’s online publication ‘Reading Religion’. He recently designed the M.A. Consciousness Studies program at MIT University, Pune. He regularly addresses the youth across India, particularly in educational institutions of national importance like the IITs. He has publications in Hindi, English, Sanskrit, Malayalam, Bengali, and Tamil.