Author: Andrew Taggart
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Meditation IS An Impossible Situation
Listen to Gaofeng Yuanmiao, a Chan [Zen] master who lived from 1238-1295 AD, from Chan Whip: Breaking Through the Barrier: This matter [i.e., the Great Matter of Birth and Death, also known as the Great Matter of Life and Death–AT] demands that the practitioners have urgency. Only if you have urgency will the real Doubt…
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‘I’ve Stopped–Now You Stop’
The Story In Middle Discourse 86, “With Aṅgulimāla,” the Buddha says, “I’ve stopped, Aṅgulimāla—now you stop.” What is the Buddha talking about? The story goes that Angulimala was once the favorite student of his teacher, but his jealous peers found a way to set his teacher against him. “In an attempt to get rid of…
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Pascal, Beauty, And Covid-19
Pascal once wrote, “All of man’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” I’ve appreciated this quote for a while, but now I absolutely love it. Or rather what I love is how wonderful it is to sit quietly in a room. Alone. Many times daily. Sometimes throughout the entire day. It’s beautiful. Many have…
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Confronting This Impossible Situation With Blood On Your Hands
Sometimes you’re faced with an impossible situation and you don’t know what to think and there’s really no right thing to do. Wait, let’s back up. Because well before there’s the metacognitive awareness, “I see that this is an impossible situation,” you have to do your best to remember what it was like before. Back…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 