Artificial Intelligence(AI), Four Quartets, and the Buddhist Ālaya-vijñāna
Journal of the T S Eliot Society of Korea January 30, 2026 The T. S. Eliot Society Of Korea, Seongchil Park
The AI era demands renewed inquiry into dimensions of human consciousness that transcend computational intelligence. Through a comparative analysis of T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets and Buddhist Yogācāra philosophy, the paper examines the distinction between ego-centered awareness and a deeper, non-dual consciousness. Eliot’s concept of the “still point of the turning world” articulates an experience of ultimate reality beyond temporal flux and desire, paralleling Yogācāra’s distinction between discriminative consciousness and ālaya-vijñāna, the deep consciousness underlying all experience. The paper proposes an alternative model of human identity for the age of AI grounded not in technological mastery but in awakening to the deeper mind as the source of authentic fulfillment and existential integration.