Essays on Climate Change And Cultural Transformation

Satchitananda: Being, Consciousness, Bliss

October 2024

In classical Indian, Upanishadic thought, being - existence - and consciousness are the essence of ultimate reality, the absolute truth of ourselves, which, along with bliss, is what the Sanskrit term, satchitananda, conveys. It is not what we know but what we are that leads us to what is transcendent. For instance the heart, rather than the brain, is key, not the physical organ that pumps blood round the body but the feeling and awareness that drives our whole lives and governs the brain. As Pascal wrote, “the heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.” The heart is the centre of our existence.

Waking Up and Growing Up

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