Shows
Closer To TruthGlobal Philosophy: What is the Person?Giving Tuesday is around the corner! Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.
How do diverse religions/traditions treat the “person,” present status and afterlife future? Buddhism’s no self. Hinduism’s soul illuminating the mind. Prior lives in Eastern and African traditions. Body and soul, resurrection and judgment, in Abrahamic traditions.
Featuring interviews with Jay Garfield, Yang Xiao, Oludamini Ogunnaike, Imran Aijaz, Andrew Loke, and Swami Medhananda.
2025-11-2627 minCloser To TruthGlobal Philosophy: Is God Ultimate?This giving season, contribute what you can to help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's deepest questions.
Concepts of God/deities/ultimates in diverse, non-Western religions/traditions: Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, African. Is God/deities a “person?” Islam’s one transcendent God. Hinduism’s many schools: personal, impersonal, both. Buddhism’s no God but many deities.
Featuring interviews with Hamza Yusuf, Mohammed Saleh Zarepour, Oludamini Ogunnaike, Swami Medhananda, Venerable Dr. Yifa, and Yujin Nagasawa.
2025-11-1227 minCloser To TruthIs Consciousness Ultimate?Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.
How do different religions/traditions address consciousness, our inner mental awareness? Is consciousness ultimate, as in Eastern traditions, or created by God, as in Abrahamic traditions? If ultimate, what is the relationship between personal and cosmic consciousness?
Featuring interviews with Jay Garfield, Swami Medhananda, Franklin Perkins, Swami Sarvapriyananda, Hamza Yusuf, and Aaron Segal.
2025-10-2227 min
Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple: Sunday TalksOur Many Selves - Swami MedhanandaSwami Medhananda gave this talk on Sunday, September 21, 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2025-09-221h 43
The Free Radical PodcastPersonal & Impersonal: In Search of a Harmonious Absolute| Free Radical Podcast #51—Swami MedhanandaIn this rich interfaith episode, Swami Padmanabha sits down with Swami Medhananda, monk of the Ramakrishna Order and philosopher of religion, to explore whether the Absolute must be either personal or impersonal—or whether it can lovingly hold both.
They trace Sri Ramakrishna’s Vijñāna Vedanta, Vivekananda’s pluralism, and the nuanced view of bhakti traditions like Gaudiya Vaishnavism. How do we honor diverse spiritual experiences without falling into hierarchy—or relativism? Can rasa and Brahman co-exist? What is lost when we flatten God into one single face?
This is a deep dive into paradox, n...
2025-08-061h 16
New Thinking Allowed Audio PodcastIs the World Real? with Swami Medhananda
Is the World Real? with Swami Medhananda
Swami Medhananda is a monk, philosopher, and Senior Research Fellow at the Vedanta Society of Southern California. He serves as Hindu Chaplain at both UCLA and USC and is Section Editor for the International Journal of Hindu Studies. From 2010 to 2021, he led the Philosophy program at the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute in India. He has authored four books, including Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality and Swami Vivekananda’s Vedāntic Cosmopolitanism, and has edited several academic volumes. Swami Medhananda earned his PhD from UC Berkeley and has bee...
2025-07-271h 11Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple: Sunday TalksHinduism for Dummies - Swami MedhanandaSwami Medhananda gave a spiritual talk in the Santa Barbara temple on July 20, 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2025-07-211h 43Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple: Sunday TalksAre You There, God? It's Me, Chat GPT - Swami MedhanandaSwami Medhananda gave this spiritual talk in the Santa Barbara Temple on June 22, 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2025-06-231h 37Closer To TruthEastern Traditions: What are Ultimate Existence and Essence?Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls: https://shorturl.at/OnyRq
How do Buddhism, Chinese traditions, and Hinduism address the ultimate essence of all things, the ground of being? What are transcendence, oneness, interconnectivity, ineffability? Compare Dao in Daoism to Brahman in Hinduism. Compare Wu in Daoism with Emptiness in Buddhism. Does God fit in?
Featuring interviews with Swami Sarvapriyananda, Swami Medhananda, Jay Garfield, Franklin Perkins, and Tao Jiang.
Explore all videos on Eas...
2025-05-1427 minSanta Barbara Vedanta Temple: Sunday TalksDo you Really Believe in Reincarnation? - Swami MedhanandaSwami Medhananda gave this talk on Sunday, March 16, 2025, in the Santa Barbara Temple. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2025-03-171h 31
The Discover India Podcast by Professor Pankaj Jain: Bhārat DarśanFrom Religious Pluralism to Religious Cosmopolitanism: Revisiting Sri Ramakrishna & Swami VivekanandaJoin Swami Medhananda, Monk of the Ramakrishna Order, an Academic Philosopher, and Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy at the Vedanta Society of Southern California for a thought-provoking session on "From Religious Pluralism to Religious Cosmopolitanism: Revisiting Sri Ramakrishna & Swami Vivekananda." Explore the profound philosophies of the Bengali mystic Sri Ramakrishna (1836–1886), who taught the timeless dictum, “As many faiths, so many paths.” Ramakrishna upheld that various religions, while different, are equally effective paths to the ultimate goal of experiential knowledge of the Infinite Divine, whether as a personal God, the Buddhist nirvāṇa, or the Advaitic realization of nondual Pure Conscious...
2025-02-031h 06Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple: Sunday TalksVedanta and Positive Psychology - Swami MedhanandaSwami Medhananda gave this talk on Sunday, December 1, 2024, in the Santa Barbara Temple. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2024-12-031h 31Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple: Sunday TalksInsights from Eckhart Tolle - Swami MedhanandaSwami Medhananda gave this talk on Sunday, November 3, 2024, in the Santa Barbara Temple. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2024-11-051h 32Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple: Sunday TalksFake It Till You Make It - Swami MedhanandaSwami Medhananda gave this talk in the Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple on Sunday September 23, 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2024-09-241h 37Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple: Sunday TalksThe Yoga of Suffering - Swami MedhanandaSwami Medhananda gave this talk in the Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple on Sunday August 25, 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2024-08-271h 43Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple: Sunday TalksVedanta in the Age of Social Media - Swami MedhanandaSwami Medhananda gave this talk in the Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple on Sunday June 30, 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2024-07-021h 24Closer To TruthAre Suffering and Ritual Vital?How do Buddhism, Chinese traditions, and Hinduism address the perennial problems of suffering, ethics, ritual and contemplative practices? Why is suffering so important in Buddhism? Why karma in Hinduism? Why systems of nature in Chinese traditions?
Featuring interviews with Helen De Cruz Jay Garfield, Swami Sarvapriyananda, Swami Medhananda, Franklin Perkins, and Yang Xioa.
Explore all CTT videos on Eastern Traditions.
2024-06-2627 minCloser To TruthEastern Traditions: What is the Human Person?How do Buddhism, Chinese traditions and Hinduism address the essence
of human sentience? What is consciousness? What is the self? What is
qi? Do humans have souls or spirits? Are humans dualistic beings? Or
pure souls/spirits?
Featuring interviews with Swami Sarvapriyananda, Swami Medhananda, Jay Garfield, and Franklin Perkins.
Get early access to watch Season 24 by registering for a free membership on our website.
2024-05-2926 min
Spirit MattersA Nuanced Discussion of Spirituality, Religion and More With Swami MedhanandaSwami Medhananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order and a distinguished academic, currently serving as Senior Research Fellow in philosophy at the Vedanta Society of Southern California. He received his Ph.D. in 2009 from the University of California at Berkeley, and also studied at Humboldt University in Berlin and at Oxford University in the UK. His current research focuses on the global philosophy of religion, the epistemology of mystical experience, cosmopsychism, Indian scriptural hermeneutics, and Vedantic philosophical traditions. The Section Editor for the International Journal of Hindu Studies, he has published over thirty articles in leading...
2024-05-091h 07Closer To TruthEastern Traditions: What is World? What is Reality?How do Buddhism, Chinese traditions, Hinduism and Shintoism address
causality, consciousness, energies, God, ultimate reality? What is non-
dualism? How is the world interconnected? How are metaphysics and
morality related?
Featuring interviews with Venerable Dr. Yifa, Jay Garfield, Yujin Nagasawa, Swami Sarvapriyananda, Swami Medhananda, Franklin Perkins, and Helen De Cruz.
Get subscriber-only benefits like early access to episodes by registering for a free membership at closertotruth.com.
2024-04-1727 min
Open Minded Podcast#33 Swami Medhananda - the spiritual path of no ego or desireSwami Medhananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order, an academic philosopher, the author of 3 books including ‘infinite paths to infinite realities’, and a PhD graduate from the University of California
Expect to learn
- the translation of the bhagavad gita gospels and scriptures
- the 4 spiritual ways of dealing with lust
- swami medhananda’s story in becoming a monk
- Why you can’t choose both the spirituality and worldliness path
Find us on:
TikTok - @openminded.pod
Instagram - @openminded.podcast
Facebook - @open minded podcast
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2024-02-091h 22
Buddha at the Gas Pump698. Swami MedhanandaSwami Medhananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order and an academic philosopher, currently serving as Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy at the Vedanta Society of Southern California in Hollywood. He is also the Hindu Chaplain at both UCLA and the University of Southern California. He is Section Editor for the International Journal of Hindu Studies (Springer), overseeing submissions in Hindu and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion. From 2010 to 2021, he was Associate Professor and Head of the Program in Philosophy at the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute in Belur Math, West Bengal. He received his PhD in 2009 from the...
2024-01-271h 48
Everyone is EverythingEpisode 39: Swami MedhanandaSwami Medhananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order and an academic philosopher, currently serving as Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy at the Vedanta Society of Southern California in Hollywood. He is also the Hindu Chaplain at both UCLA and the University of Southern California.
He is the author of three books: Swami Vivekananda's Vedāntic Cosmopolitanism (Oxford University Press, 2022), Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2018), and The Dialectics of Aesthetic Agency: Revaluating German Aesthetics from Kant to Adorno (Bloomsbury, 2013).
F...
2023-11-151h 23Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple: Sunday TalksGot Sattwa? - Swami MedhanandaSwami Medhananda gave this talk on Sunday, September 24, 2023, in the Santa Barbara Temple. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2023-09-251h 27
Spiritual LunacyIn conversation with Swami MedhanandaSwami Medhananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order and Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy at the Vedanta Society of Southern California in Hollywood.
He is the author of three books: Swami Vivekananda's Vedāntic Cosmopolitanism (Oxford University Press, 2022; South Asian edition now available at Amazon.in), Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2018), and The Dialectics of Aesthetic Agency: Revaluating German Aesthetics from Kant to Adorno (Bloomsbury, 2013). He is the editor of The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedānta (2020) and co-editor, with Benedikt Paul Göcke, of Panentheism in...
2023-01-3052 min
The Wellness Lab with Nick Palladino-KingEP #20 "Spiritualize Your Life" w/ Swami Medhananda"Have you ever wondered how to make your life a spiritual experience? If so, our latest episode with Swami Medhananda is for you!
In this delightful episode, Swami teaches us how to integrate spirituality into our modern lives with a fun and light-hearted way of looking at aspects of our minds and lives that can sometimes be overwhelming.
His real world teachings and ways of relating with modern life make him an excellent resource for spiritual growth and understanding that can be applied into our modern lives.
This show was so fun and s...
2022-12-081h 01
For the Love of Yoga with Nish the FishKashmir Shaivism and the Vijnana Vedanta of Sri Ramakrishna | Swami Medhananda PuriTo what extent do the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna embody or even exceed the vast and oceanic philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism, that is, to be precise, the Tantrik exegetical writings of various Shaiva masters in the Kashmir Valley between 900-1050 AD who for the most part seem to have embodied similar mystic experiences and articulated similar philosophies to the ones we find in the Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, or the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna? Many scholars have argued that Sri Ramakrishna's position (for instance, regarding the inseparable nature of Brahman and It's Shakti, that is...
2022-12-061h 49
In Conversation: An OUP PodcastSwami Medhananda, "Swami Vivekananda's Vedantic Cosmopolitanism" (Oxford UP, 2022)Vivekananda, Swami Vivekananda's Vedantic Cosmopolitanism (Oxford UP, 2022) argues, is best understood as a cosmopolitan Vedantin who developed novel philosophical positions through creative dialectical engagement with both Indian and Western thinkers. Inspired by his guru Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda reconceived Advaita Vedanta as a nonsectarian, life-affirming philosophy that provides an ontological basis for religious cosmopolitanism and a spiritual ethics of social service. He defended the scientific credentials of religion while criticizing the climate of scientism beginning to develop in the late nineteenth century. He was also one of the first philosophers to defend the evidential value of supersensuous perception on the basis of...
2022-03-311h 04
New Books in BiographySwami Medhananda, "Swami Vivekananda's Vedantic Cosmopolitanism" (Oxford UP, 2022)Vivekananda, Swami Vivekananda's Vedantic Cosmopolitanism (Oxford UP, 2022) argues, is best understood as a cosmopolitan Vedantin who developed novel philosophical positions through creative dialectical engagement with both Indian and Western thinkers. Inspired by his guru Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda reconceived Advaita Vedanta as a nonsectarian, life-affirming philosophy that provides an ontological basis for religious cosmopolitanism and a spiritual ethics of social service. He defended the scientific credentials of religion while criticizing the climate of scientism beginning to develop in the late nineteenth century. He was also one of the first philosophers to defend the evidential value of supersensuous perception on the ba...
2022-03-311h 04
New Books in South Asian StudiesSwami Medhananda, "Swami Vivekananda's Vedantic Cosmopolitanism" (Oxford UP, 2022)Vivekananda, Swami Vivekananda's Vedantic Cosmopolitanism (Oxford UP, 2022) argues, is best understood as a cosmopolitan Vedantin who developed novel philosophical positions through creative dialectical engagement with both Indian and Western thinkers. Inspired by his guru Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda reconceived Advaita Vedanta as a nonsectarian, life-affirming philosophy that provides an ontological basis for religious cosmopolitanism and a spiritual ethics of social service. He defended the scientific credentials of religion while criticizing the climate of scientism beginning to develop in the late nineteenth century. He was also one of the first philosophers to defend the evidential value of supersensuous perception on the ba...
2022-03-311h 04
New Books in Indian ReligionsSwami Medhananda, "Swami Vivekananda's Vedantic Cosmopolitanism" (Oxford UP, 2022)Vivekananda, Swami Vivekananda's Vedantic Cosmopolitanism (Oxford UP, 2022) argues, is best understood as a cosmopolitan Vedantin who developed novel philosophical positions through creative dialectical engagement with both Indian and Western thinkers. Inspired by his guru Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda reconceived Advaita Vedanta as a nonsectarian, life-affirming philosophy that provides an ontological basis for religious cosmopolitanism and a spiritual ethics of social service. He defended the scientific credentials of religion while criticizing the climate of scientism beginning to develop in the late nineteenth century. He was also one of the first philosophers to defend the evidential value of supersensuous perception on the ba...
2022-03-311h 02
African(a) and South Asian PhilosophiesEpisode 4: Academic, Moral, and Spiritual Philosophy from the Ramakrishna OrderDylan Watts (UG physics and philosophy) and Aamir Kaderbhai (MSt study of religion) interview Swami Medhananda, ordained monk of the Ramakrishna Order and Senior Research Fellow at the Ramakrishna Institute of Moral and Spiritual Education, Mysore, India Rather than zooming in on a particular piece of content within Indian philosophy, our discussion explores the experience of studying it and investigates the relationship between academic and ‘spiritual’ approaches to Indian philosophy. Our conversation covers a lot of ground, from Sri Aurobindo scriptural hermeneutics, to the epistemic value of religious experience, to differences between traditional Sanskrit education and contemporary academic institutions. Swami Medh...
2021-11-041h 53
Vedanta and YogaVivekananda TodayLecture by Swami Medhananda on the 18th of November at the Vedanta Society in Boston.
2007-11-191h 05