Over the years I have come to appreciate Vedanta, and particularly Advaita Vedanta as the optimal path for intellectual truth-seekers. When posed with the question of the purpose behind creation, Vedanta teaches you to instead ask, “Why do I perceive a world all around me? How can I perceive myself, my own self, in its true nature, away from the world as an instrument?“
If you share an appreciation for the Pale Blue Dot concept, I highly recommend the following Vedanta authorities, in this order:
- Paramhansa Yogananda of the Self-Realization Fellowship
- Swami Kriyananda of Ananda (don’t get hung up on the false accusations about him on his Wikipedia page–lawyers are the bane of society)
- Swami Tadatmananda of the Arsha Bodha Center (especially this video)
- Swami Sarvapriyananda of the Vedanta Society
I list Swami Sarvapriyananda last because he is perhaps the most profound Vedanta teacher alive in the world today. I make this statement after studying him for two years. To truly appreciate him you will have to learn about Vedanta from more accessible resources. You may also benefit from more mainstream voices like Sadhguru, but I personally like the four authorities I have listed above because they take a far less “mainstream” approach to Sanātana Dharma (Hinduism).
Swami Sarvapriyananda’s teachings are best described in this interview.