NIAS Consciousness Studies Programme

20/09/2026

https://youtu.be/V9BYf9GDyeE
PART 1 - What does it truly mean to think critically? - INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY SERIES
CRITICAL THINKING - PART 1
In this video I explore critical thinking through three interconnected movements:
- Question the Given invites us to pause before accepting familiar ideas as unquestionable truths. It asks us to uncover the assumptions hidden beneath what appears obvious.
- Consider Multiple Possibilities encourages us to move beyond a single explanation. Observation, dialogue, other perspectives, and different sources of knowledge can reveal dimensions that one standpoint alone may overlook.
- Examine the Knower turns inquiry towards the person who is thinking. Our memories, emotions, assumptions, and inherited perspectives influence what we notice and how we interpret it. Critical thinking, therefore, requires not only the examination of ideas but also self-reflection.
- Together, these themes present critical thinking as more than fault-finding or argumentation. It is a disciplined inquiry into what we believe, how we know, and how the knower participates in the formation of knowledge.
This video is part of the Indian Psychology Series.

PART 1 - What does it truly mean to think critically?This video e...

30/07/2026

https://youtu.be/KyZ4wRgO3wc
Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly present in our everyday lives. It answers our questions, helps us write, recommends what we should watch, reminds us of appointments, and responds at any hour of the day. Because it speaks in a calm and often caring manner, it can sometimes feel less like a tool and more like a companion.
*But does this mean that AI is our friend?*
Watch this video!

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly present in our eve...

17/12/2025

https://youtube.com/shorts/FQJNmuiA0Ac

What is critical thinking in Nyaaya philosophy ...

Do watch and let me know your thoughts

Do you know what is critical thinking in Indian philosophy? The Nyaaya philosophers brought critical thinking into this part of the world very early, perhap...

14/12/2025

https://youtu.be/Bjxa6BVJKHM

Can a machine ever feel a moment?
Let me begin with a simple question.
Right now, you are in a moment.
You are hearing these words.
You are aware that you are hearing them.

Let me ask you this.
Are you merely processing information,
or are you experiencing something?

Now think about a machine.
A machine can process enormous amounts of data.

It can recognise patterns.
It can predict your next word better than most humans can.

But here is the question that matters.
Is processing the same as feeling?

Can a machine ever feel a moment?Let me begin with a simple question.Right now, you are in a moment.You are hearing these words.You are aware that you are he...

05/12/2025

Do take a look at the info on the second workshop on the neuroscience of consciousness organised by Murthy of Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science... If interested to attend, pl write to

12/11/2025

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VnB5mRAbgoY?feature=share Are our minds capable of thinking of the unknown? This is the question I wish to discuss with you today! Or even better, let us ask "can we know the unknown"?

Are our minds capable of thinking of the unknown? This is the question I wish to discuss with you today! Or even better, let us ask "can we know the unknow...

26/10/2025

https://youtu.be/ulVsYYoeySw
We now turn to Arjuna, not just as a warrior, but as a symbol of inner conflict that fundamental transforms to eventual clarity. I reserved the discussion on Arjuna towards the end of the Mahabharata series, not only because his narrative brings light to the darker emotional terrains we have already explored, but also because his transformation invites us to pause, reflect, and even, perhaps, smile, because something continues to shift inwardly as his struggle unfolds in front of us. Unlike Dhritaraashtra’s resignation or Duryodhana’s envy, Arjuna’s crisis is deeply ethical and to some extent his inner conflicts with his attempts for self-integration.
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We now turn to Arjuna, not just as a warrior, but as a symbol of inner conflict that fundamental transforms to eventual clarity. I reserved the discussion on...

10/08/2025

What happens to a Self that is all empty inside, but surrounded by riches and pleasures outside? Duryodhana is such a Self - an "Empty Self".
"Consciousness Conversations on the Mahabharata".Do watch https://youtu.be/SSxMXPcrwLw

If we are to understand Duryodhana, we must first understand that his story is not simply one of villainy or ambition.🕓It is a story shaped by deep psycholo...

21/06/2025

NIAS CSP WORKSHOP ON PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF MENTAL HEALTHCARE
If interested, Please register
TO REGISTER CLICK THIS LINK - LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WPdPjn0Sgq3QPw5vLuh8AllYp4rSHwga

12/06/2025

https://youtu.be/SJa-k98QGbU
Let me introduce you to the concept I have.
To give a set of analyses and presentations on the Mahābhārata, which as a text is complex.
The people therein are complex as well, and what they go through in their life too is very complex.
Let me begin with the perspective Iravati Karve takes - one of the greatest interpreters of the Mahābhārata.
According to her, the Mahābhārata is not a nice romantic story, and ends with the line such as: “Okay, thereafter everybody lived well, happily singing their songs.”
No!, According to Karve, the Mahābhārata is pointed to tell us that we all are contributors in what is happening.
In a sense, we are all perpetrators of a certain sense of violence or a certain sense of intrusion of different kinds.
And the goal of the Mahābhārata as a text is to analyze, or to show us what goes through each mind.
And there is no blame, there is no game.

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hashtag

Let me introduce you to the concept I have.To give a set of analyses and presentations on the Mahābhārata, which as a text is complex. The people therein are...