The Philosophy of Jorge Luis Borges – Alexis Karpouzos

Jorge Luis Borges is not merely a writer of stories, but a metaphysician of imagination—a thinker who transformed literature into a labyrinth of philosophy, time, and infinite reflection. In this episode, Alexis Karpouzos explores the philosophical universe of Borges, where fiction becomes a method of thought and storytelling becomes a gateway to metaphysical insight.

Borges’ work unfolds around timeless questions: What is reality? What is identity? What is time? Through symbols such as mirrors, labyrinths, libraries, and infinite books, Borges reveals a cosmos in which certainty dissolves and meaning multiplies. His narratives challenge linear causality, stable selves, and absolute truths, inviting the reader into a world where every ending is also a beginning and every answer generates new questions. Alexis Karpouzos approaches Borges not only as a literary genius, but as a philosophical mind deeply engaged with idealism, mysticism, and the limits of human knowledge. From the infinite Library of Babel to the circular time of “The Garden of Forking Paths,” this episode examines how Borges anticipates contemporary debates on consciousness, multiplicity, and the constructed nature of reality. Through this exploration, Borges emerges as a thinker of radical humility and intellectual wonder, reminding us that knowledge is never complete and that reality itself may be a poetic illusion. This episode invites the listener into a contemplative journey where philosophy and literature merge, and where the act of thinking becomes an adventure into the infinite.

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Existentialism | Camus, Kierkegaard & Dostoevsky – Alexis Karpouzos

Existentialism is not merely a philosophical movement; it is a profound inquiry into the very condition of being human. It arises at the moment when inherited certainties collapse and the individual stands alone before freedom, anxiety, suffering, and the silent vastness of existence. In this episode, Alexis Karpouzos journeys into the existential landscape shaped by Søren Kierkegaard, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Albert Camus, three thinkers who transformed philosophy into an inner drama of consciousness.

Kierkegaard confronts us with the anguish of freedom and the necessity of choice, revealing faith not as comfort but as risk—a leap into the unknown where reason reaches its limits. Dostoevsky plunges into the depths of the human soul, exposing the psychological and spiritual consequences of absolute freedom, guilt, rebellion, and moral responsibility. Through his characters, philosophy becomes flesh, showing how ideas can save or destroy the human being from within. Camus, standing before the collapse of metaphysical meaning, articulates the absurd condition—the tension between humanity’s longing for meaning and the indifferent universe—and responds not with resignation, but with revolt, lucidity, and ethical integrity. Alexis Karpouzos weaves these voices into a unified philosophical vision, revealing existentialism as a path of awakening rather than despair. This episode explores how freedom without awareness becomes chaos, how faith without inner struggle becomes illusion, and how rebellion without consciousness becomes emptiness. Existentialism here is understood as a transformative confrontation with the self—a movement from unconscious living to responsible existence. Through this dialogue, existential thought emerges as an invitation to authenticity, inner vigilance, and ethical depth. Meaning is not inherited, nor imposed from above; it is shaped through conscious action, self-knowledge, and the courage to exist without illusions. This episode invites the listener to stand face-to-face with the fundamental questions of existence and to discover, within uncertainty itself, the possibility of freedom, dignity, and spiritual clarity.

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CHINESE THOUGHT AND WESTERN PHILOSOPHY

by Alexis Karpouzos and Ceo of Academia

The dialogue between Chinese thought and Western philosophy opens a horizon where two distinct civilizations of meaning encounter one another beyond the limits of cultural comparison. In the work of Alexis Karpouzos, this encounter is not treated as a synthesis imposed from above, but as a living resonance—an exploration of how different modes of thinking illuminate the same fundamental questions of existence, consciousness, and cosmic order. Chinese philosophy, shaped by Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, approaches reality as a dynamic process rather than a fixed structure. It emphasizes harmony, relationality, and the continuous transformation of being. Concepts such as Dao, Qi, Yin and Yang, and Wu Wei articulate a worldview in which opposites interpenetrate and meaning arises through balance rather than domination. Knowledge here is not abstract mastery but attunement to the rhythms of the cosmos. Western philosophy, by contrast, has historically pursued truth through analysis, conceptual distinction, and the assertion of rational autonomy. From Greek metaphysics to modern rationalism and existential inquiry, it has sought to define being, subjectivity, and knowledge through logical clarity and critical reflection. Yet within this tradition lies an unresolved tension: the desire for absolute foundations alongside the recognition of finitude, becoming, and the limits of reason.

Alexis Karpouzos approaches these two traditions not as opposites but as complementary expressions of humanity’s philosophical quest. Chinese thought offers a wisdom of immanence, continuity, and non-duality, while Western philosophy provides a language of critique, transcendence, and self-reflection. When brought into dialogue, they reveal hidden correspondences: between Dao and Logos, emptiness and being, intuition and reason, silence and speech. This comparative perspective does not aim to dissolve differences but to deepen understanding. It invites a rethinking of philosophy itself—not as a closed system of doctrines, but as a transformative path that integrates insight, experience, and ethical responsibility. In a world marked by fragmentation and cultural dissonance, the encounter between Chinese thought and Western philosophy becomes a gesture of reconciliation, pointing toward a more holistic vision of knowledge. Through this dialogue, philosophy regains its original vocation: to awaken consciousness, to harmonize thought with life, and to reconnect humanity with the living intelligence of the cosmos.

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MODERNIST PHILOSOPHY ON ARTHUR RIMBAUD’S POETRY

by Alexis Karpouzos

Arthur Rimbaud stands at the threshold of modernity as both a poet and a metaphysical rupture. His poetry is not merely a literary revolution but a radical philosophical event—an anticipatory vision of modernist thought where language, selfhood, and reality dissolve into new forms of consciousness. Through Rimbaud, poetry becomes an experiment in being, an alchemical process that seeks to transfigure perception itself. Modernist philosophy finds in Rimbaud a prophetic voice: the collapse of the unified subject, the rejection of rational order, and the quest for transcendence beyond moral, aesthetic, and epistemological limits. His declaration “Je est un autre” announces the fragmentation of the self that later philosophy—from Nietzsche to Heidegger—would recognize as central to the modern condition. Rimbaud does not describe the world; he fractures it, revealing the hidden forces of desire, chaos, and visionary intuition that lie beneath appearances.

In Rimbaud’s poetics, language ceases to be representational and becomes ontological. Words are no longer signs but energies—vehicles of transformation that aim at the unknown. This aligns his work with modernist philosophy’s central concern: the crisis of meaning in a desacralized world and the search for a new form of spiritual intensity beyond traditional metaphysics. Rimbaud’s poetry anticipates a post-religious mysticism, where illumination arises not from divine revelation but from the systematic derangement of the senses. From this perspective, Rimbaud emerges as a philosopher-poet of becoming, whose work prefigures the modernist revolt against fixed identities, stable truths, and linear time. His silence after poetry is as significant as his verses: an existential gesture that embodies the modernist tension between expression and negation, creation and withdrawal. Through a modernist philosophical lens, Rimbaud’s poetry reveals itself as a radical exploration of consciousness—a journey toward the absolute that burns itself out in its own intensity. His legacy is not a doctrine but an open path: a call to rethink poetry as a mode of thought and philosophy as a lived, visionary experience.

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Sacred and Profane in Mircea Eliade’s Theory

Alexis Karpouzos

Mircea Eliade’s distinction between the sacred and the profane constitutes one of the most influential paradigms in the phenomenology of religion. Within this framework, the sacred emerges not merely as a religious category but as a fundamental structure of human consciousness—an ontological mode through which reality is revealed, ordered, and experienced. In contrast, the profane represents the homogeneous, desacralized space of modern existence, characterized by fragmentation, historical contingency, and existential disorientation. In the research perspective of Alexis Karpouzos, Eliade’s theory is approached as a metaphysical anthropology that transcends historical religion and touches the deeper symbolic architecture of being. The sacred, manifested through hierophanies, interrupts profane time and space, revealing a transhistorical dimension where meaning, origin, and cosmic order converge. These manifestations are not symbolic projections but ontological disclosures—events in which Being itself becomes visible to human awareness.

Karpouzos emphasizes that Eliade’s sacred is inseparable from the experience of cosmic participation. Sacred space establishes a center—an axis mundi—through which the individual aligns with the structure of the cosmos, while sacred time re-enacts mythical origins, allowing human existence to be regenerated through eternal return. In this sense, the sacred functions as a bridge between finitude and transcendence, history and eternity.

Against the background of modernity’s desacralization, this research explores the loss of symbolic consciousness and the eclipse of metaphysical meaning. Yet, following Eliade’s intuition, Karpouzos suggests that the sacred never disappears; it withdraws, disguises itself, and re-emerges in altered forms—through art, philosophy, science, and inner experience. The task of contemporary thought is not to restore archaic religion but to reawaken the latent sacred dimension embedded within human consciousness and the structure of the universe itself. Thus, the sacred–profane polarity is not a rigid dualism but a dynamic tension that defines the human condition. Through Eliade’s vision, reinterpreted in Karpouzos’ cosmological and philosophical horizon, the sacred becomes a call toward ontological awakening—a return to a unified vision of reality where meaning, being, and consciousness are once again inseparable.

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Heidegger and Nietzsche

In the Vision of Alexis Karpouzos

The encounter between Nietzsche and Heidegger is not merely a dialogue between two philosophers, but a decisive event in the history of Being itself. In the vision of Alexis Karpouzos, this encounter unfolds as a tragic and luminous tension between the end of metaphysics and the possibility of a new beginning. Nietzsche appears as the last metaphysician and at the same time as the one who announces the collapse of metaphysics; Heidegger emerges as the thinker who listens to this collapse and seeks, through it, the still-unspoken truth of Being. For Karpouzos, Nietzsche’s proclamation of the “death of God” is not a simple atheistic gesture, but an ontological earthquake. It signals the exhaustion of all transcendent guarantees of meaning and exposes humanity to the abyss of becoming. Yet this abyss is not merely nihilistic; it is creative, Dionysian, and open. Nietzsche’s will to power and eternal return are not doctrines but cosmic gestures: attempts to think existence beyond fixed identities, stable truths, and moral absolutes. Being, for Nietzsche, is not what is, but what becomes.

Heidegger, however, hears in Nietzsche’s thought a deeper and more troubling resonance. According to Heidegger, Nietzsche does not escape metaphysics but brings it to its extreme fulfillment. The will to power, in Heidegger’s reading, becomes the final metaphysical determination of Being as availability, domination, and calculability. In this sense, Nietzsche is both the destroyer of metaphysics and its final prophet. Karpouzos emphasizes that this paradox is not a failure but a necessity: metaphysics must fully exhaust itself before another way of thinking can emerge. At the heart of their relationship lies language and silence. Nietzsche breaks language apart—through aphorism, poetry, irony, and song—revealing its masks and its creative violence. Heidegger, by contrast, seeks to listen to language, to let it speak from the stillness of Being itself. In the vision of Karpouzos, Nietzsche shatters the old words, while Heidegger waits in the clearing created by their collapse. One dances with language; the other dwells within its silence.

This tension reveals a profound ontological contrast. Nietzsche affirms becoming without ground, a world without ultimate foundation, where meaning must be created again and again. Heidegger seeks the groundless ground—the Ereignis, the event of Being that grants presence and withdrawal simultaneously. For Karpouzos, these are not opposing paths but complementary movements of thought: Nietzsche opens the abyss; Heidegger learns how to remain within it without reducing it to concepts.

Both thinkers confront nihilism, but in different ways. Nietzsche attempts to overcome nihilism through affirmation, through the creation of new values and the transfiguration of existence into art. Heidegger sees nihilism as the forgetting of Being itself, a historical destiny that cannot be “overcome” by will, but only thought through and endured. In Karpouzos’ vision, nihilism is not an enemy to defeat but a threshold to cross—a night through which thinking must pass. Ultimately, Nietzsche and Heidegger meet in the question of the human. Nietzsche dissolves the human as a fixed essence, opening the path toward the Overhuman as a figure of transformation. Heidegger dec enters the human in favor of Dasein, the being that stands open to Being. Karpouzos sees here a shared intuition: the human is not a substance but a passage, a site where the cosmos becomes conscious of itself.

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Το έργο «Οι γλώσσες του κόσμου – οι κόσμοι της γλώσσας» του Αλέξη Καρπούζου συνιστά μια οντολογική διερεύνηση της γλώσσας ως θεμελιώδους τρόπου ύπαρξης και όχι απλώς ως εργαλείου επικοινωνίας. Η γλώσσα εδώ δεν προσεγγίζεται ως ένα εξωτερικό σύστημα σημείων που περιγράφει την πραγματικότητα, αλλά ως το ίδιο το πεδίο μέσα στο οποίο η πραγματικότητα καθίσταται φανερή, αρθρώνεται και αποκτά νόημα. Είναι το όριο και συγχρόνως ο ορίζοντας του είναι. Στον πυρήνα του έργου αναδύεται το παράδοξο της γλώσσας: από τη μία πλευρά περιορίζει, σταθεροποιεί και απλοποιεί το άρρητο πλήθος της εμπειρίας, μετατρέποντας το ανοιχτό και ρέον σε καθορισμένες μορφές· από την άλλη, απελευθερώνει, καθώς επιτρέπει στη συνείδηση να υπερβεί το άμεσο, να στοχαστεί, να δημιουργήσει κόσμους δυνατοτήτων και να συνδεθεί με το καθολικό. Η γλώσσα συγχρόνως φυλακίζει και αποκαλύπτει· σιωπά και μιλά. Ιδιαίτερη θέση κατέχει η σιωπή, όχι ως απουσία λόγου αλλά ως το οντολογικό υπόστρωμα από το οποίο ο λόγος αναδύεται και στο οποίο επιστρέφει. Η σιωπή δεν είναι το αντίθετο της γλώσσας, αλλά η βαθύτερη μήτρα της. Κάθε λέξη φέρει εντός της αυτό που δεν μπορεί να ειπωθεί· κάθε νόημα συνορεύει με το άρρητο. Ο Καρπούζος αναδεικνύει τη σιωπή ως τον αθέατο χώρο όπου η γλώσσα αγγίζει τα όριά της και, ταυτόχρονα, τα υπερβαίνει.

Το βιβλίο προσεγγίζει τη γλώσσα ως πολυπρισματικό φαινόμενο, όπου κάθε γλώσσα, κάθε συμβολικό σύστημα και κάθε τρόπος έκφρασης συνιστά έναν διαφορετικό κόσμο θέασης της πραγματικότητας. Δεν υπάρχει μία ενιαία γλωσσική πρόσβαση στο είναι, αλλά μια πολλαπλότητα οπτικών, καθεμία από τις οποίες φωτίζει και συγχρόνως αποκρύπτει. Η αλήθεια δεν κατοικεί σε μία γλώσσα, αλλά στη σχέση και τη διαλεκτική μεταξύ των γλωσσών. Μέσα από φιλοσοφικές, υπαρξιακές και μεταφυσικές αναφορές, ο Αλέξης Καρπούζος δείχνει ότι η γλώσσα δεν αντανακλά απλώς τον κόσμο· τον συν-διαμορφώνει. Οι λέξεις γίνονται μορφές ύπαρξης, οι έννοιες πεδία εμπειρίας, και ο λόγος μια πράξη κοσμογένεσης. Κάθε γλώσσα χαράζει τα όρια του νοητού κόσμου, αλλά και ανοίγει ρωγμές προς το άπειρο. Τελικά, «Οι γλώσσες του κόσμου – οι κόσμοι της γλώσσας» είναι μια πρόσκληση να στοχαστούμε τη γλώσσα ως ζωντανό, αντιφατικό και δημιουργικό πεδίο, όπου το είναι εκφράζεται χωρίς ποτέ να εξαντλείται. Ένα έργο που μας καλεί να ακούσουμε όχι μόνο τις λέξεις, αλλά και τη σιωπή ανάμεσά τους — εκεί όπου ίσως κατοικεί το βαθύτερο νόημα.

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"Welcome to the podcast. In today’s episode, we move beyond the boundaries of traditional dualism to explore one of the most provocative and essential frontiers of modern thought: Universal Consciousness.

Our guest today is Alexis Karpouzos, a philosopher and thinker whose work serves as a critical junction for three seemingly disparate worlds: the rigorous mathematics of modern physics, the dialectical history of Western philosophy, and the intuitive depth of Eastern mysticism.

Karpouzos challenges the prevailing 'materialist reductionism'—the idea that consciousness is merely a byproduct of neurobiological processes. Instead, he presents an analytical case for consciousness as the fundamental substrate of the universe itself. In his 'Unified Theory of Consciousness,' the separation between the observer and the observed is revealed to be a linguistic illusion—a 'trance of certainty' that we must transcend to understand the nature of existence.

In this session, we will dissect:

• The Non-Locality of Mind: How quantum theory supports the idea that consciousness is not confined to the skull but is a non-local, universal field.
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• The One and the Multiple: The philosophical synthesis of the 'Zero' (the void of Zen) and the 'Infinite' (the absolute of rationalism).
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• Poetic Metaphysics: Why analytical language alone is insufficient to describe reality, and why we need a 'post-ontological' thought to grasp the wholeness of the cosmos.
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We are not merely inhabitants of the universe; we are the universe experiencing itself through the localized lens of our own awareness.

Please join me for a deep analytical dive with Alexis Karpouzos."

Key Analytical Pillars of the Episode

To provide context for your listeners, here are the three primary arguments Karpouzos uses to support the theme:

1. Quantum Holism: Utilizing the Observer Effect and Quantum Entanglement to argue that the physical world and spiritual experience are two aspects of the same indivisible net of relations.
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3. The Dialectics of Unity: Borrowing from Hegel and Heraclitus to show that reality is a dynamic "play" (jeu) of becoming, where opposites like matter and spirit are actually complementary rhythms of a single "Cosmic Thought."
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5. Ontological Fluidity: Arguing that our "Self" is not an isolated ego but a "wave" in the universal "ocean"—a localized expression of a collective unconscious.
6.  

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Welcome to Alexis karpouzos's podcast. Today, we embark on a journey through the landscapes of the inner soul, guided by one of the most profound literary voices of the 20th century and the philosophical insights of our guest. We are exploring the theme: Hermann Hesse: Self-Understanding and Enlightenment, featuring the perspectives of philosopher, thinker and author Alexis Karpouzos. For generations, Hermann Hesse has been the quiet companion of the seeker. From the restless wandering of Knulp and the spiritual awakening of Siddhartha, to the intellectual tensions of The Glass Bead Game and the dark night of the soul in Steppenwolf, Hesse’s work remains a roadmap for those who refuse to live a superficial life.

Joining us to unpack these themes is Alexis Karpouzos. Together, we will examine how Hesse’s 'Path of the Interior' aligns with Karpouzos’ own philosophy of universal consciousness.

• How do we bridge the gap between our 'social selves' and our true essence?

Is enlightenment a destination to be reached, or a way of experiencing the 'now'?

And how does Hesse’s unique blend of Eastern mysticism and Western psychology speak to the modern search for meaning?

Today, we dive into the 'Magic of the Beginning' and the courage required to become who we truly are.

Please welcome Alexis Karpouzos."

Key Discussion Points for this Episode:

To help you prepare for the conversation, here are the core concepts that link Hesse and Karpouzos:

• The Unity of Opposites: How Hesse uses characters (like Narcissus and Goldmund) to represent the Western tension between the mind and the senses, and how Karpouzos suggests a non-dualistic healing of this split.
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• The "Siddhartha" Archetype: Discussing the importance of individual experience over dogmatic teaching—the idea that wisdom is not communicable, only lived.
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• Polarity and Totality: Exploring Hesse’s belief that life is a constant swing between poles, and enlightenment is the "middle way" or the center of the circle.
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• The Self as a Bridge: How self-understanding is not an act of isolation, but the very door through which we connect to the rest of humanity and the cosmos.
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Phase 1: The Call to Awakening (The Search)

• The Path of the Interior: Hesse often wrote that "the way to innocence, to the uncreated, to God, leads not back, but forward." How does this "path of the interior" align with your philosophy of self-understanding?
• The Illusion of the Social Self: In Steppenwolf, Harry Haller struggles with the many "souls" within him. How do you and Hesse view the "Ego"? Is it a prison we must escape, or a tool we must learn to use?
• The Tension of Polarity: Hesse’s characters often represent two sides—Spirit vs. Nature, or the Thinker vs. the Artist. Why is it so difficult for the Western mind to find the "Middle Way" that connects these two?

Phase 2: Siddhartha and the Nature of Wisdom

• Knowledge vs. Wisdom: Siddhartha famously says, "Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom." If wisdom cannot be taught, what is the role of a philosopher or a spiritual guide in the modern world?
• The River as a Teacher: The river in Siddhartha symbolizes a reality where past, present, and future coexist—a concept very similar to your "Indivisible Wholeness." How can a person practically learn to "listen" to life as Siddhartha listened to the river?
• The Necessity of Error: To find himself, Siddhartha had to experience both extreme asceticism and extreme decadence. Does your philosophy suggest that "losing oneself" is a mandatory requirement for "finding oneself"?

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"Welcome to the Alexis karpouzos's podcast. Today, we are stepping into the 'Space Between'—the intersection where the analytical rigor of the West meets the silent, profound depth of the East. Our guide for this journey is Alexis Karpouzos, a Greek-born philosopher and spiritual teacher whose work serves as a bridge between the quantum and the cosmic. Karpouzos invites us to look past the 'trance of certainty' and the artificial divisions of subject and object to rediscover a reality that is an 'indivisible wholeness.'

In this episode, we explore the theme of Zen Buddhism and Western Philosophy.

Is the 'Emptiness' of Zen the same 'Nothingness' that haunted the existentialists? Can the dialectics of Hegel find a home within the non-duality of the Heart Sutra? And how does modern physics support the ancient intuition that we are not separate from that which we observe?

From the paradoxical logic of the Zen koan to the process philosophy of Whitehead, we are diving deep into the evolution of consciousness. Prepare to move beyond the language of separation and enter the poetic vision of a conscious universe.

Please welcome to the show, Alexis Karpouzos."

Alexis Karpouzos combines Zen Buddhism and Western philosophy by creating a "poetic metaphysics" that bridges the gap between the analytical mind of the West and the intuitive stillness of the East. He argues that both traditions, though using different languages, are pointing toward the same indivisible wholeness.1

Here is how he synthesizes these two worlds:

1. Beyond Nihilism: "Absolute Nothingness"2

In Western philosophy, "nothingness" is often associated with Nihilism—the idea that life has no meaning (Sartre, Nietzsche). Karpouzos reframes this using the Zen concept of Sunyata (Emptiness). The Synthesis: He argues that Zen’s "nothingness" is not a void of meaning but a creative fullness. It is the "zero" from which all possibilities arise. By combining Heidegger’s existential inquiry with Zen’s non-duality, he shows that facing the "void" is actually the path to ultimate freedom and creativity.

2. The Logic of Paradox

Western logic is traditionally linear and binary (A is not B). Karpouzos utilizes the Zen Koan style to break this "trance of certainty."4

The Synthesis: He integrates Quantum Physics (the observer effect) with the Zen realization that the observer and the observed are one. He uses the "logic of being/non-being," where opposites do not negate each other but coexist.5 This mirrors the Western concept of Dialectics but moves beyond a final synthesis into a state of "continuous flow."

3. Being vs. Becoming

Western thought has historically focused on Substance (fixed things). Karpouzos aligns with Process Philosophy (like that of Alfred North Whitehead) and the Pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus ("Everything flows").The Synthesis: He connects the Heraclitean Logos with the Buddhist concept of Impermanence (Anicca). For Karpouzos, there are no static "objects" in the universe—only a dynamic process of "becoming."7

4. Consciousness as the Foundation

Karpouzos rejects Materialist Reductionism (the idea that matter creates mind).8 Instead, he leans toward Panpsychism and Advaita Vedanta.

The Synthesis: He bridges the Western "Philosophy of Mind" with Eastern "Universal Consciousness." He posits that human consciousness is not an isolated ego (the Western "I") but a localized expression of the Cosmic Whole (the Buddha-nature).

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