Category: meditation
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On drinks, on driving, on Plato, on life with Robert Rowland Smith
Last night I had cocktails with Robert Rowland Smith, who’s in town promoting his book, Driving with Plato. Back up because I’ve already fudged things a bit: I had cocktails, and he had beer. There we are. Temple Bar. Noho. The darkness, as you walk into Temple Bar, is seductive and complete. The figure greeting…
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On the foolishness of waiting
I hate waiting, hate not so much the experience but the idea of waiting. The experience is tolerable, but the idea is exhausting. The idea of waiting is exhausting. Even then, “The idea of waiting is exhausting” falls flat as an expression. Its inadequacy shows through. Better said: “The life that envelops itself in the…
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A lullaby composed the morning after walking home on a warm night in Brooklyn (April 25, 2011)
Did you feel the fog last night, my friend, did you feel the warmth of the night? In the midst of the mist of the night, my friend, did you feel the warmth of the night? And was it then that you opened up your heart, was it then that you felt whole? Did you…
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Ethics and aesthetics are one (house sitting in Brooklyn)
The curtains are pulled back, and the magnolia stands in full bloom, its petals like painted seashells collecting below. It takes up the bedroom window, only softly. In the yard off to the right, bikes, baskets, handle bars lean against a chainlink-wooden fence. A pumpkin, small and orange, sits half-submerged in the spring marsh. Through…
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Managing chronic pain
In a recent blog, the Buddhist physician Alex Lickerman suggests 3 ways for managing chronic pain: Holding (my reference to D.W. Winnicott): the one staying with the other, committing himself to the face-to-face. Distracting: the self learning spiritual exercises for turning away from pain’s aversiveness? Meditating: the focused attention on thoughts rather than on affects.
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 