#143 Hinduism, Consciousness and Advaita Vedanta - Swami Sarvapriyananda

Within Reason

Alex J O'Connor

Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.9 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2026

⏱️ 96 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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Swami Sarvapriyananda is a Hindu monk belonging to the Ramakrishna Order. He is the current resident Swami and Minister in Charge, of the Vedanta Society of New York.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 – Tour

00:32 – An Intro to Hinduism and Advaita Vedanta

14:31 – What Are the Upanishads

22:08 – Where Do the Vedas (Scripture) Come From?

29:02 – What Does “Upanishad” Mean?

34:36 – What Do the Upanishads Teach Us?

47:07 – What Is Brahman, or Ultimate Existence?

1:02:52 – What Is the True Nature of Consciousness?

1:08:15 – Non-Dualism in Advaita Vedanta

1:18:34 – Why Isn’t There Just One Big Consciousness?

1:29:06 – What Is the Self?

1:36:30 – Are Brahman and Atman the Same Thing?

1:45:25 – What Does ‘God’ Mean in Hinduism?

1:49:07 – Does Hinduism Believe Other Religions Are Incorrect?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, I'm going on a tour of the United Kingdom. If you've ever been interested in that big question of God's existence, or try to make sense of religion in the 21st century, or consciousness, or anything philosophical, then join me on stage as I try to work out some of these topics with you.
0:17.0	I'll be in conversation with a good friend, but also bring questions because there will be an extensive Q&A, and maybe even an opportunity to hear and rate some of your
0:26.2	philosophical hot takes. The tour dates are on screen. The link to buy tickets is in the description,
0:31.2	and I hope to see you there. Swami Sava Priyanaanda, welcome to the show. Yes, thank you.
0:37.3	I've just had to try about 10 different times to get your name right. I hope that's not just me.
0:44.5	No, that's always a problem. From podcasters to the Uber drivers. Yeah. Technically, though, the Sanskrit would be Sarva Priya Ananda. And if you say it fast, it will become Sarva Priya Ananda.
1:01.4	I see. And this is a title. This is a title. Swami is not your first name. It's a title which is something equivalent to something like maybe...
1:10.2	Master, Lord, master, like that. So it's a title which is something equivalent to something like maybe... Master, Lord, Master, like that.
1:13.0	So it's a title for a spiritual teacher, a monk, basically.
1:16.3	Swami would, in India or Hinduism, would always, almost all...
1:19.1	In fact, always would be a monk.
1:21.4	Yeah.
1:21.8	Well, thank you ever so much for joining me today.
1:24.1	My audience will know that I've been obsessed with talking about consciousness and philosophy
1:28.8	of mind, and I'm also deeply interested in the philosophy of religion. And there's basically
1:33.6	a massive blind spot in my thinking and on my channel when it comes to the exclusion of
1:38.6	Indian philosophy, which, as I've been exploring it, I have found has just preempted and answered all of the questions
1:46.9	which I've been thinking about and which Western philosophy has been battling over in the past
1:51.7	few hundred years. So a term that I've been throwing around a lot is the term Advaita Vedanta,
1:58.0	and it's a sort of philosophical tradition. Some people might consider it a religion or a
2:03.2	philosophical school and it's connected with Hinduism, which itself is something of an umbrella term.
2:10.0	So I was hoping as an Advaita Vedantist, if you might be able to to begin here by telling us what is
	...

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