Month: September 2023
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Just Let Be And Just Be
One: Becoming Becoming is manifestation (maya or lila). See becoming; see storytelling; let go of storytelling. Two: Being Being is What You Are. Be I Am, for I Am is on the doorstep of the Self. Three: The Practice Therefore, the teaching now is: 1. Just let be (i.e., let be manifestations of all sorts). 2.…
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The Self Is Like A Boundless, Bottomless Pit
Most sadhakas need firm footing early on. Therefore, they may believe that they’re like pilgrims who are on a journey to the Self. Practices, they believe, are the means by which they purify and empty out self and thus on account of which they realize the Self. The above, again early on, may be good…
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Samskaric Investigation, Revisited
I. Discovery Phase 1. Start with any hurt (-), with any tickle (+), or with any strong, recurrent desire for something. 2. Use the dukkha–and dukkha, here, is cast in terms of hurts, tickles, and strong desires–in question in order to go back to the samskara on whose behalf the dukkha has arisen. 3. Only…
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Three Kinds Of Thoughts: Practice Notes For Meditators
In his Silent Illumination, Chan teacher Guo Gu briefly touches on three kinds of thought. I unpack them below and add my own practice notes. 1. Scattered thoughts: These could be called “peripheral” or “random” thoughts. Practice: 2. Discursive thoughts: These are narrative-centric thoughts (e.g., “I have so much to do today.” “What was she…
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Three Jnana Approaches To Meditation
1. THE DIRECT PATH USING HIGHER REASON Atmananda uses Higher Reason, I argue, to bring one either to (a) witnessing awareness or to (b) I Amness (Nisargadatta). Here is one very short prakriti: The seer as such can never be the seen, and the seen as such can never be the seer. If this truth…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 