Swami Vivekananda's metaphysical framework of panentheistic cosmopsychism holds that Divine Consciousness is the sole reality, manifesting as everything in the universe. This view combines elements from Sāṃkhya and Advaita Vedānta, along with the teachings of his guru Sri Ramakrishna. The chapter reconstructs Vivekananda's arguments for this position and contends that its distinctive features and potential philosophical advantages over rival theories of consciousness warrant serious consideration by contemporary philosophers of mind and religion.
Sri Ramakrishna's mystical testimony strengthens the case for taking mystical experiences as veridical. The chapter argues that his views support Robert Oakes's position that self-authenticating experiences of God are possible. It also uses Sri Ramakrishna's teachings to defend the argument from experience—the claim that God's existence can reasonably be inferred from the testimony of those who report experiencing Him. The author contends that this approach addresses two major objections to that argument: the lack of adequate cross-checkability and the problem of conflicting claims among different religious traditions.