Author & Independent Scholar

GR

Gevin
Rishi

Analytical philosophy, consciousness studies, and the contemplative tradition.

The First Living Self

Anima Philosophica · Book One

Where does selfhood begin? The First Living Self opens the Anima Philosophica series with an enquiry into the origins of the self — tracing the thread that runs from the first stirrings of life to the fact of our own inner experience.

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Publishing July 2026

Published by Rational Enquiry Press

The Project

Gevin Rishi is an independent scholar, author, and engineer whose work sits at the intersection of analytical philosophy, consciousness studies, and contemplative tradition. His writing is addressed to scientifically and philosophically minded readers who are sceptical of religious or self-help framing, and aims to demonstrate that deep contemplative insights can withstand — and are in fact strengthened by — rigorous analytical scrutiny.

Central to his framework is the concept of the Drive to Exist — a proposed explanatory framework exploring whether self-preserving dynamics may underlie biological organization, aspects of consciousness, and the structure of human motivation, developed in dialogue with evolutionary theory, philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of science.

"The aim is not to reconcile science and spirit by softening either. It is to follow the argument wherever it leads — and to find that the two traditions, pursued with full rigour, arrive at the same place."

Four Series

Rishi publishes across four series under his imprint, Rational Enquiry Press. Anima Philosophica develops the analytical framework from first principles. Wisdom & Spirit applies those conclusions as a rigorous bridge into Buddhist philosophy and meditative practice. The series are architecturally distinct: Anima Philosophica conclusions flow into Wisdom & Spirit, but each series is designed to be read independently. The Rational Frontier extends the enquiry into metaphysics, and The Human Threshold examines what it means to be human at a moment when the boundaries of the human are being redrawn.

Anima Philosophica

Rigorous inquiry into existence, truth, and consciousness

Wisdom & Spirit

An Inquiry into Spiritual Reality

  • The Root of Happiness Forthcoming
  • True Metta Meditation Forthcoming
  • Jhana Meditation Forthcoming

The Rational Frontier

Metaphysics, time, space, matter, and mind

  • Ultimate Truth Forthcoming
  • Mind Moments and Information Processing Forthcoming

The Human Threshold

Being human as the boundaries of the human are redrawn

  • Titles to be announced

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