Self-Ignorance: Why Are We Afraid to Know Ourselves? | Prof. Arindam Chakrabarti
Vedanta Talks - Swami Sarvapriyananda
Vedanta Society of New York
4.8 • 714 Ratings
🗓️ 9 November 2025
⏱️ 97 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
All of us recall, upon waking up, that during deep sleep we knew nothing at all. But even when awake, while claiming so much scientific and practically useful knowledge about the material world, each of us, if honest, must confess: “I don’t know myself.” In this lecture, a contemporary philosophical analysis will be attempted of the intriguing Advaita Vedanta phenomenology of this common ignorance about the self as a positive ignorance (avidya) not just an absence of knowledge. Is the Self best known as unknown?
Arindam Chakrabarti is an Indian philosopher who is a professor of philosophy at Ashoka University, India. He is the disciple of Sri Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath. He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Calcutta in 1976 and 1978, respectively. He completed DPhil at Oxford University in 1982, under the supervision of Sir Peter Strawson and Michael Dummett.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Well, good evening, everyone and welcome. |
| 0:18.0 | Tonight we welcome as our speaker, Professor Arindam Chakrabadi, |
| 0:24.6 | a comparative philosopher who will speak on self-ignorance. |
| 0:28.6 | Why are we afraid to know ourselves? |
| 0:32.6 | I will step aside to allow someone we all know well, |
| 0:38.7 | Swami Sava Pianandaji to introduce you all to the professor. |
| 0:43.5 | But before I do so, I would also like to welcome a very distinguished member of our audience tonight, |
| 0:52.5 | Professor Gaiatri Chakravordi Spivak of Columbia University and fellow of the British |
| 0:59.4 | Academy. We are privileged to have you here tonight, Professor. Thank you. Namaste and good evening. |
| 1:08.7 | We are delighted and pleased to welcome |
| 1:12.7 | in our midst, a most distinguished guest speaker, |
| 1:17.1 | Professor Arindam Chakravarti. |
| 1:20.3 | I'll introduce him, and unfortunately, |
| 1:23.0 | I'm unable to be present here with all of you, |
| 1:27.4 | although I am virtually present. |
| 1:29.7 | But this recording, of course, was done a couple of days |
| 1:32.5 | before this event, because I have to be in the Vedantah |
| 1:38.5 | Society of Portland for their centenary celebrations. |
| 1:45.0 | Professor Arindam Chakravarti is the distinguished professor of philosophy at Ashoka University right now. |
| 1:53.0 | Before this, he was for more than 26 years at the University of Hawaii teaching philosophy. |
| 2:02.7 | He has taught in numerous most prestigious institutes across the world, |
| 2:08.2 | the Institute of Advanced Studies in Edinburgh, in Trinity College in Cambridge, |
... |
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