Look No Further

or how to become what you are

As any reader of my posts on Instagram and this newsletter will know, I am a massive fan of the nineteenth century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. But lately I’ve broadened my horizons a bit - quite a bit actually. I’ve been delving into Indian philosophy - studying Sanskrit and reading the translated works of Indian philosophers like Ksemaraja and Abhinavagupta - philosopher-theologian-saints from the Kashmir region, who were part of a tradition that ran from about 700 to 1200 BCE.¹

I’ve noticed, somewhat surprisingly, a series of similarities between these two wildly different traditions - the Western canon of continental (atheistic) philosophy and this South Asian philosophical theology.

Here’s one of them - what I’m going to call the “look no further” doctrine. This is the idea that you find in both philosophies that if you really want to understand your life, who you are and how best to live, you don’t have to look very far. It’s not a matter of academic study, spiritual pra…