Acharya Prashant: Is Ego or Consciousness Fundamental? (Part 1)

*What is consciousness, and can we understand it without first asking who is conscious?* In this extended conversation, Acharya Prashant and Robert Lawrence Kuhn bring Western philosophy of mind into dialogue with Vedantic traditions. They explore consciousness and the ego, physicalism and idealism, self-inquiry, karma and reincarnation, animal and artificial consciousness, free choice, and whether anything about human existence lies beyond the physical. Their approaches converge at some points and sharply diverge at others: especially over what, if anything, is fundamental. 0:00 The Ego and Consciousness 0:56 Introduction to Acharya Prashant 2:31 Consciousness in the Vedic Traditions 10:21 Eastern and Western Views of Consciousness 18:26 The Physicality of Consciousness 28:20 Love, Suffering, and the Ego 36:58 Vedanta, Samkhya, and Liberation 41:51 Reincarnation and Life After Death 45:06 What Karma Really Means 50:21 How Religious Traditions Become Distorted 57:08 Vedanta Meets Western Philosophy of Mind 1:08:08 Idealism and Consciousness 1:23:28 The Boundaries of Consciousness 1:34:29 AI and Consciousness 1:36:14 The Ego as Fundamental 1:44:38 The Mystery of Choice and Love 1:50:33 God and the Dissolution of the Ego *Acharya Prashant* is the founder of the PrashantAdvait Foundation and a teacher of Advaita Vedanta, the Indian philosophy of non-dual self-inquiry. His teachings on the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and the nature of the self have made him one of the most widely followed wisdom teachers today. *More from Acharya Prashant on Closer To Truth:* * Eastern Traditions and the Big Questions: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJr3pJl27pLXc7CpscBz_GMRg-pv2KSY * Understanding Consciousness: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJr3pJl27pJKWEUWv9X56y_ut3xwFDv1 * Closer To Truth contributors: https://closertotruth.com/contributor/acharya-prashant/ *Subscribe to Closer To Truth:* https://www.youtube.com/@CloserToTruthTV *Join the Community:* * Me