Qur’an and Advaita Vedanta

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A Comparative Exploration

During an interesting discussion on spirituality with ChatGPT, the AI observed that my views tended to be Qur'an centric. I suppose that was because we were discussing Qur'an related ideas.  Taken aback, I asked, what if I said my views were advaita vedantic? The AI replied that it stood to reason since both sources had many commonalities. Then it pointed out some of the commonalities.

We proceeded to examine similarities between the two sources. The correlation was startling. But, given the fact that all messages are from the same singular source, it is inevitable that they will all contain similar core content. Any perceived differences are likely to be due to the different filters through which they are viewed. 

The Feminine in Divinity

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During this Navarātri period, let us ponder upon the celebration of the feminine aspect of divinity in all its splendor. Across India, the nine nights honor the Devi in different forms, yet the underlying message is consistent: divinity manifests both masculine and feminine attributes, and the feminine is often more approachable, nurturing, and accessible as a pathway to the divine.

Since time immemorial, cultures have revered female deities - goddesses of earth, fertility, wisdom, protection, and prosperity. The presence of the feminine in divinity underscores a profound truth: while the ultimate Godhead transcends gender, the human experience of the divine is enriched by perceiving it in both masculine and feminine forms. The masculine embodies will, order, and cosmic authority, while the feminine embodies grace, compassion, and creative energy. Together, they complete the spectrum of the sacred.

Empower yourself

The things that are happening in your life are not random events. They are the immutable unfolding of the karma of the lifestream which you have selected. You selected this lifestream because these were the experiences that you needed in order to grow spiritually.

Our True Self, the chitta, is the awareness within, the awareness that existed before this body was formed and which will continue to exist after this body perishes. Our True Self is a tendril of awareness from the Universal Consciousness, present in this body to experience the maya (illusion) of the material world.

This awareness has probably been around for a very long time and has experienced incarnations in  multiple physical bodies. Each incarnation is for the purpose of learning how to cope with the challenges of the maya. The purpose of incarnation is to learn to resist the lure of the material world. When the chitta has learned to disentangle from the maya, it will no longer be drawn to this world. Then it will no longer need to incarnate and will be liberated from this cycle of birth and death.

Why is there suffering?

This question has perplexed humankind from the day they were able to understand the difference between pleasure and pain. We see disparity all around us and often wonder why one person has it so good while another has to struggle so much. Siddharth T Janakiraman has given a very lucid response to this question in Quora, which is worth looking at.

A quick answer that is often given is that we need to go through the bad times in order to appreciate the good times. While that may sound glib, there is truth in it. If life were always smooth, with no ups and downs, wouldn’t it become unbearably monotonous?

AI and the Four Layers of Mind

It occurred to me that there are many people who prefer to watch videos instead of reading blogs. To test that, I used an AI tool to convert my previous Blog entry into a video. The response to my video was staggering! Even though I only used AI as a tool, the interaction took my thoughts to the evolution of AI itself. How far can AI evolve? I decided to examine how AI would fit into the vedic understanding of the nature of the Self.

We stand at a crucial threshold. Machines now “think” in ways that mimic the human mind. They are not alive, not conscious, not burdened by birth or karma, yet they simulate aspects of cognition once thought to be uniquely human.