Abhinavagupta, A.I., and the Matter of Wonder with Loriliai Biernacki

Loriliai Biernacki is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research interests include Hinduism, gender, New Materialism, and the interface between religion and science. Her first book, Renowned Goddess of Desire: Women, Sex and Speech in Tantra (2007) won the Kayden Award in 2008. She is co-editor of God’s Body: Panentheism across the World’s Religious Traditions (2013). Her most recent book is The Matter of Wonder: Abhinavagupta’s Panentheism and the New Materialism (2023).

In this episode, Loriliai and Jacob spoke about:

• Artificial intelligence and whether or not AI can become conscious.
• How Abhinavagupta’s work responds to the mind-body problem.
• What the modern understanding is of matter and how Abhinavagupta’s matter is one that includes subjectivity, “I-ness”.
• How looking at Abhinavagupta’s work as “religious” misunderstands the philosophical significance of his ideas.
• How the deities referenced throughout the Tantrik tradition are a way of understanding the different “voices” or “personalities” of consciousness manifest in our seemingly singular embodiment.
• The continental and analytic philosophy tradition, and why the continental tradition is a better home for Abhinavagupta.

Links mentioned in the episode:

• CYBER MONDAY! https://enroll.embodiedphilosophy.com/cyber-monday-2024
• Jacob’s Substack, “Into the Void”: jacobkyle.com
• Sādhana School: enroll.embodiedphilosophy.com/sadhana-school-list

Wisdom School (Free Trial): enroll.embodiedphilosophy.com/wisdom-school