There was a time when the human journey was not a race but a pilgrimage. A sacred movement from the outer to the inner, from illusion to truth, from restlessness to stillness. The sages of the East and philosophers of the West all pointed toward this inner knowing — that beyond the noise of the world lies something luminous, eternal, and free.
But today, we scroll instead of seek. We swipe instead of surrender. We binge on bytes while the soul starves in silence.
In a world engineered for distraction, the most radical act may be stillness.
From Maya to Machine: The Modern Mirage
The ancient rishis of the Sanātan Dharma described life as maya — not false, but illusory. A play (lila) of form and name that veils the unchanging Self beneath. In the Bhagavad Gītā, Krishna whispers to Arjuna:
"nāsty akṛtasya
kṛtena vā"
— The unmanifest is not touched by action nor by inaction. (Gītā 2.47)
But the modern maya is of a different kind. It doesn’t arise from ignorance, but from over-stimulation. We are not lost in nature's illusion, but in human-created ones: social media feeds, curated identities, infinite entertainment, dopamine loops designed not to liberate but to hook.
Tristan Harris, former Google ethicist, now calls it the "race to the bottom of the brainstem." Every app fights for our attention by triggering our most primal responses. Neuroimaging studies show that excessive screen time diminishes activity in the prefrontal cortex — the seat of decision-making and long-term planning. This is no longer philosophy; it is physiology.
The Soul is Not an Algorithm
Western philosophy, too, sensed the danger of forgetting the Self. Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.” But deeper still, the Vedāntin would say:
"neti, neti" — Not this, not this.
You are not your thoughts. You are not your roles. You are not even your mind. You are the witness behind them all — the unchanging observer. The Ashtavakra Gītā declares:
"You are the solitary witness of all that is, forever free. Your only bondage is not seeing this." (Ashtavakra Gītā 1.8)
Where Descartes saw the self in cognition, the sages saw the Self in awareness. Pure being. Beyond content. Unchanging.
Today, as Artificial Intelligence mimics cognition — writing, calculating, even mimicking empathy — we are reminded again: the soul is not an algorithm. No machine can replicate stillness. No code can mirror consciousness.
Distraction as the New Samsara
We used to speak of samsara — the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. But what if samsara now also means reloading your feed every few minutes? Rebirth into the same patterns, same shallow pleasures, same fears?
Philosopher Byung-Chul Han writes in The Burnout Society that modern life isn’t about external oppression but internal acceleration. We willingly enslave ourselves to productivity, performance, and perfection. The result? A crisis not just of time, but of meaning.
A 2022 study from Harvard found that people spend nearly 47% of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they’re doing. And this mental drifting is strongly associated with unhappiness. Mind-wandering, it turns out, is a modern samsara — looping us into unconscious suffering.
Tamas to Sattva: A Spiritual Recalibration
In Ayurveda and Yogic psychology, the mind is shaped by three gunas — qualities of nature:
Modern life is soaked in tamas and rajas: binge-watching late into the night, endless hustle, craving for likes, comparison, anxiety. But true awakening begins when we consciously shift toward sattva.
And sattva is simple. Stillness. Silence. Service. Solitude. Satya (truth). Satsang (noble company).
"Sattvāt sañjāyate jñānam" —
From sattva arises true wisdom. (Bhagavad Gītā 14.17)
The spiritual path is not an escape from the world, but a re-seeing of the world through purer eyes. We don’t need to renounce technology — we need to use it without being used by it.
From Plato to Patanjali: The Call to Turn Inward
Plato told a story of a cave where humans were chained, seeing only shadows on a wall. Real freedom came when one prisoner turned and saw the light behind. This mirrors Patanjali’s Yoga Sūtras:
"Yogah chitta vritti nirodhah" —
Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind. (1.2)
Plato and Patanjali both knew: the greatest chains are mental. The greatest freedom is inner. True liberation begins not in activism, not in reaction — but in attention. Where we place our awareness is where we shape our destiny.
Healing Through Presence: Science Meets Spirit
Even science is catching up. Mindfulness-based practices now show measurable effects on the brain:
The Harvard Study of Adult Development, tracking lives for over 80 years, found the greatest predictor of long-term happiness wasn’t money, fame, or success — but deep, present-centered relationships. In other words: presence heals.
The Inner Revolution is Now
The revolution we need is not political or technological — it is existential.
It is not about escaping the world, but awakening within it.
It is not about deleting your apps, but reuniting with your Atman.
It is about remembering, in the chaos of
the world, that the Self is untouched.
Like the lotus that blooms in muddy water, the soul can awaken even amidst
digital noise.
"uddet sarvabhāvena" —
Rise up with all your being. (Bhagavad Gītā 3.30)
A New Dharma in a Digital Age
So what would dharma look like today?
Maybe it’s not just temple visits, mantras, or rituals. Maybe it’s:
Because the true sadhana today is attention. The modern tapasya is presence. And the highest yajña is choosing stillness in a world that rewards noise.
Conclusion: The Still Point Within
T.S. Eliot once wrote:
"At the still point of the turning world… there the dance is."
The dance of life continues — the world will spin, trends will come and go, empires will rise and fall.
But the still point — the Atman, the Witness, the Truth — remains.
And perhaps, in this very moment, as you finish reading these words, a question gently arises:
What if I remembered who I really am — not once in a while, but always?
That is the real awakening.
Not another download, but an unloading.
Not another update, but a return.
Back to the Self.
Back to stillness.
Back to soul.