Author: Andrew Taggart
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Regarding Dukkha As Error Messages
Dear So-and-so, Dukkha Is Almost Universal Begin by reading my post on the near-ubiquity of dukkha. It’s especially important that you “click with” the First Noble Truth. Like: “Oh, this isn’t just fear. And that over there isn’t just anger. They’re all instantiations of dukkha! Whoa, the Buddha was right!” Once this really clicks into place, then there…
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The Boundless Sky: Problems, Rinzai, Soto, And Sahaja
Problems Problems are like thick clouds that appear to occlude our vision of the boundless sky. And yet, the thick clouds aren’t real. When problems arise in sadhana, find out on whose behalf they arise. Is there a problem after all? For whom does there seem to be one? Just carry on until it’s clear…
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Atmananda On The Nonexistence Of Though
I begin by citing Atmananda’s Atma Nivritti: 1 Thoughts and Myself I How can thoughts which rise and set in Me, be other than Myself? Il When there is thought, I am seeing Myself; when there is no thought, I am remaining in My own glory. Note that “I,” “Me,” “My own,” and “Myself” all refer…
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Do Samskaras Exist?
1. Every thought is, on its own, just a thought. That’s, precisely, what the experience is. 2. It can be said, however, that every thought can be traced back to an I-thought. The latter is a samskara or vasana. 3. Buddhi (intellect) is what undertakes the tracing back, the inquiry. 4. What buddhi discovers is, actually, just…
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Speculative Remarks On Nisargadatta’s Mature Teaching
Why, after 1973 and before his death in 1981, did Nisargadatta change his style of teaching, and why did he do so so dramatically? I talked to Maurice Frydman [who edited and translated I Am That] some four years back and he edited my words, emphasizing certain points and adding his own ideas, in the book…