CINEMA AS CONSCIOUSNESS: ADVAITA VEDANTA, FILM PEDAGOGY, AND THE REIMAGINATION OF 21ST -CENTURY LEARNING ECOSYSTEMS

Abstract

This paper argues that blockbuster films—The Matrix (1999), Inception (2010), Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), Doctor Strange (2016), The Truman Show (1998), and Her (2013)—serve as critical pedagogical tools for integrating Advaita Vedanta into modern education. By mapping non-dualist principles onto pressing issues like digital literacy, standardized testing, AI ethics, and decolonial curricula, these films bridge the gap between Eastern philosophy and Western pedagogical practice. Through interdisciplinary analysis, we demonstrate how cinematic metaphors can transform classrooms into sites of ontological inquiry, empowering educators to foster epistemic agility, ethical EdTech integration, and self-determined learning (heutagogy). This paradigm shift aligns with global education policies (UNESCO, OECD) advocating for holistic, future-ready ecosystems.