Discourses on consciousness and other topics

A recent international conference, held both online and offline, brought in the experts for a discussion on philosophical and spiritual issues.

- JAYITA SENGUPTA

The chief idea of the international conference on "Paradigms of Consciousness and its Cultural & Aesthetic Expressions", organised by Caesurae Collective Society in collaboration with the Centre for Indian Arts & Cultural Studies, Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University, department of English, Cooch Behar College and Sri Vishnu Mohan Foundation, Chennai, has been to bring together academic and creative personalities from home and abroad along with spiritual practitioners to engage in various dimensions of consciousness studies.

The virtual sessions of the conference were held on 29-30 March and the physical part of the conference was held in Cooch Behar College from 9-11 April 2025. The virtual sessions included stalwarts from the USA, Brazil, Tel Aviv and France, along with two Buddhist practitioners from Nepal and Bhutan. Professor Sthaneswar Timalsina, from Stony Brook University, addressed some serious issues related to pedagogy in philosophy and approaches to research and teaching for reshaping the understanding of Indic philosophy in India and Western academia. Daniel Raveh from Tel Aviv University spoke on the contribution of Mukund Lath to Indian music and philosophy. Georgi Mishev, an independent researcher from Bulgaria, spoke on plants and their spiritual connection in the folk belief systems in southeastern Europe. Adriana Drix, a Bharatnatyam and Flamenco dancer from Spain, discussed her project on dance and the body as an audio-visual medium for selftranscendence.