Author: Andrew Taggart

• March 7, 2013

  The meaning of demeanor

  ‘To see a world in a grain of sand.’ (my italics) –William Blake One’s demeanor may dampen our spirits or raise our powers, exhaust us or enliven us, diminish or dilate us. Most of us have had salutary experiences with individuals whose demeanors are gentle as well as exhausting experiences with those who, despite having failed to…
• March 6, 2013

  Moon is sun: Storm meditation

  An opening revealing moon in morning. Sun is moon and fog is distance. Wind churning, churning world, sun returning as moon. Moonwinds churn, turning earth, returning in thickness, white luminescence. Sitting, breathing, enveloped, revealed. Revealed? Revealing moon; revealing light, lavender, lavendered light: lightening lavender, paling hill.
• February 28, 2013

  Awakening to Philosophical Life: Now Available

  Philosophical Awakening This e-book, which is now available to order, is entitled Awakening to Philosophical Life: Essays Personal and Impersonal. It was completed at the end of February of 2013 and is meant to be a philosophical review of my attempt to be a moral exemplar: a good friend, a good neighbor, and a humble guide to…
• February 22, 2013

  Philosophical Improv no. 11: Virtues for Unsettled Time

  Since Episode 9 on self-surrender, we’ve been making the slow turn to Part III: the path of radiant living. In this episode, I discuss the four virtues (courage, patience, openness, and compassion) as well as the four vices (cowardice, hurriedness, closedness, and contempt) for unsettled time. This subject is explored at greater length in both…
• February 21, 2013

  Eros before abandon

  Awake and ask, ‘Am I open to eros?’ Openness is an outward sweep of the hand, a moment held in infinity, then an inward-welcoming retrieval. The ears as kind as the eyes, the mouth as gentle as the warbler. Do you hear keenly with the eyes, see sharply with the ears, with the heart? Listen.…