Hi there,

Idealism and Non-Duality claim that awareness is fundamental - but some Buddhists claim even awareness is empty of inherent existence. They claim that advanced meditation and rigorous logic can show this to be inevitably true. 

As you may know, this topic has been a huge interest to me for a long time. It's not merely philosophical: It has profound implications to how we understand reality and engage with spiritual practice.

 In December 2023, Bernardo debated Buddhist scholar Jay Garfield on this topic, which you can now watch on youtube here. It was quite a fiery debate, with little agreement even on the basic assumptions of how to ask the big questions. But I still learnt a lot about where the divide is and why: 

If you want to watch these recordings without ads, and also support the channel, you can purchase access here.

Coming up

On the same topic, we have two big events coming up with some world renowned scholars, practitioners and all of you!

On the 22nd of April we're joined by Swami Sarvapriyananda, head minister of the Vedanta Society of New York and a renowned interpreter of Advaita Vedanta. He has many online talks available that translate the ancient non-dual approach of ancient India in language that is easy to understand and can lead to profound shifts in experience. 

Then on the 29th of April, we have a panel discussion with several recommended experts: 
Michael R. Sheehy: a PhD in Buddhist Studies who specializes in the Kālacakra and Dzogchen meditation traditions is research associate professor and director of research at the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia.
Dr. Karl Brunnhölzl: an international teacher and translator of Buddhism, focusing on Yogācāra, buddha nature, Vajrayāna, Mahāmudrā, 
Andrew Holecek: a frequent subject in scientific studies on meditation and lucid dreaming, after completing a 3 year retreat. He is Resident Contemplative Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies, and a research consultant for the Cognitive Neuroscience Program at Northwestern University
Bernardo Kastrup has been leading the modern renaissance of ‘metaphysical idealism’ that reality is essentially mental, and has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another Ph.D. in computer engineering. 

You can find other events coming up below. 

I hope to see you soon!

Amir