The Sage’s Mission in a Harmonious Universe
Alienation, renunciation, and the moral calling in Hindu monism and the secular Enlightenment
This is a dialogue I had with Cristiano Luchini about Eastern and Western kinds of enlightenment. Cristiano takes an interdisciplinary approach to writing, and is an avid studier of Vedanta, the branch of Hindu philosophy that focusses on the Upanishads.
Cristiano Luchini
In Vedanta, there’s this fascinating concept called Maya — the cosmic illusion that makes the One appear as many. Think about it: when you dream at night, everything in that dream appears real, separate, solid. But upon waking, you realize it was all appearing within your consciousness. Maya works similarly on a cosmic scale. “Tat Tvam Asi” — “ You Are That” — points to this profound truth: what we think is “out there” and what we think is “in here” are actually the same One reality.
Taoism beautifully shows us how what appears most solid is actually like wood eaten through by termites — full of spaces, constantly changing. Nothing is truly separate or solid — it’s all in flux, a dance of apparent opposites where yin contains yang, and yang contains yin.
Mahayana Buddhism reveals a profound truth: reality lacks svabhava (intrinsic…
