Dr. Jack Purcell, a philosophy professor at Middle Tennessee State University, invited me to speak to his eastern philosophy class. I’m introduced by his son, Rishi.
I offer a little history and a broad overview of the Vedic perspective, mention a few prominent teachers (*sage Vasishtha is before Vyasa), and the importance of applied philosophy so we can live it.
About 20 minutes in, I spoke a bit about my process, then answered questions.
Davidya
Last Updated on October 4, 2023 by Davidya
Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:17:19 — 72.1MB)
Very nice talk, David. Thank you.
You’re welcome, Lorey
Great talk!
A really useful overview, and straight forward explanation of various aspects of waking up, from yet another fresh angle. Seems like there are things that can’t be repeated too much, or rather listened to too much. Every time it’s like there’s some new understanding that unfolds, though the topic is familiar.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Eira. There are many nuances and different things that arise, bringing out another take. Always interesting what flows out. 🙂
I loved that. thank you very much. extremely helpful and encouraging to me. there is hope.
More than hope, Carl. Although it’s certainly curious the way to the light is through the drama. 🙂
Very good discussion on the Vedas…Would like to hear you expound on them a bit more…. Liked the perspective on the Brahma Sutras … Have always found , when listening to Vedic recitations that something shifts in awareness …some opening and expansiveness… Would like to hear you discuss some other Vedic literature such as the epics Ramayana and the Mahabharata …both of which were supposedly created to help people gain enlightenment and reach large numbers of people and help people to achieve understanding and upliftment of in a much simpler way …. If you would like to add the Upanishads …that would be interesting as well…. Your experiences with this literature and their importance would be appreciated…. Perhaps one of your video discussions could deal.with this topic Thank you…
This and the Yoga talk were invitations to speak to University classes on the specific topic. There are people who have done their PhD research just on the qualities of listening to specific Vedic texts.
I wouldn’t say the Ramayana and Mahabharata were created to help gain enlightenment per se. Rather, they are stories of unfolding enlightenment that can help support the path. Study is part of a spiritual process and many find it easier to relate to story examples than theory. This is true in all traditions.
The Upanishads are basically the Readers Digest version of the principle Vedas. Some consider them part of Vedanta, although they cover a broader territory than just nonduality.
We’ll see what is called. I have written a translation and commentary on the Yoga Sutra that is currently being refined. For some of these topics, it’s nice to have a translation I can recommend. I have parts on the Recommended page but all of it isn’t there yet.
Transcript added:
https://davidya.ca/media/transcript-the-vedic-perspective/