Now enrollingWinter 2026–27 Residency · first session 5–7 December 2026

Writing · Sandip Maiti

Writing.

Since 2020 I have found my ‘Walden’ — a remote village in Bengal, where I now live; creating and contemplating, in solitude.

Essays published under AllMaiti. Where the Conscious Living Framework sets out a structure, these work the other way round — starting from something small and particular, a cat in the courtyard, an idea arriving too fast, a conversation with an AI, and following it until it touches one of the sutras.

Start here · The sutras

The Conscious Living Framework.

Nineteen sutras for those seeking the path of spirituality while tethered to the material world, with a companion piece on how to prepare. Every essay below is tagged with the sutra it works through.

Hand-drawn diagram of the Conscious Living Framework, from the material world to Turiya

The essays, by sutra

  1. 01My Ma: The Unfinished AttachmentThe old village house, a fiercely territorial cat, and attachment that does not resolve.Read the essay →Sutra 13 · A sheath of detachmentSutra 17 · Keep the memories
  2. 02The Ant, The Balloon, and The Beautifully Futile SearchThe ancient hum beneath the noise of our lives, and the innate curiosity that will not settle.Read the essay →Sutra 19 · Lit up in parts
  3. 03The Joy We Can’t Escape: A Myth of True Detachment?On the advice to do the work and stay detached from the outcome, and whether anyone actually manages it.Read the essay →Sutra 13 · A sheath of detachmentSutra 15 · Buddhi
  4. 04A feeling I want to rememberOn the well-worn trope of the perpetually unhappy creator, and the melancholy of chasing a perfection that never arrives.Read the essay →Sutra 12 · Thought and ego
  5. 05Am I turning into a machine?The quiet hum that replaced the cacophony of a life lived amidst society.Read the essay →Sutra 02 · ExcursionsSutra 12 · Thought and ego
  6. 06The Memory Keeper’s ParadoxHold on or let go — the nature of memory, circled again.Read the essay →Sutra 17 · Keep the memories
  7. 07Our Agentic World: Is AI Already Setting Our Agendas and At What Cost to Our Minds?Where the sophistication of AI stops being practical and starts being directive.Read the essay →Sutra 12 · Thought and egoSutra 15 · Buddhi
  8. 08The Unbidden Rush: On the Exhilarating Tyranny of a New IdeaThe spontaneous flow when, at an advanced age, a smart idea takes hold.Read the essay →Sutra 16 · Box up the ego
  9. 09In Our Hyper-Connected World, Are We Losing Our Ability to Contemplate?On reflection, and the triad of listening, reflection and contemplative meditation.Read the essay →Sadhana Chatustaya
  10. 10Connecting with my Ancestors — a personal journeyThe path of connecting with those who came before.Read the essay →Sutra 02 · ExcursionsSutra 17 · Keep the memories

Each essay is tagged with the sutra it relates to; on the Philosophy page every sutra lists the essays that work it through.