Category: philosophical counseling
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Renunciation And Fragility
While reading Chan master Sheng Yen’s Shattering the Great Doubt: The Chan Practice of Huatou, I was reminded of Peter Sloterdijk’s You Must Change Your Life. Sheng Yen’s understanding of renunciation chimes well with Sloterdijk’s notion of secession. A Chan monk begins by renouncing samsara; an agile practitioner of the Sloterdijkian mold does something similar.…
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It’s Only Temporary Relief, I’m Afraid
People easily misunderstand Zen. When a practitioner puts his legs into a pretzeled position and sits there without moving for long stretches at a time, it can seem as if this is a ‘punishing act’ or as if this requires ‘great endurance’ or ‘great perseverance.’ Moreover, it can seem as if this Zen master, urging…
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There Is Always Something For The One For Whom There Is Always Something
A medical doctor, who has been enlisted in the Army, is currently stationed somewhere in the Middle East. We philosophized this morning. He’s been away from his wife, also a medical doctor, and young child. Anxiety has arisen (when will he be home? how can he live this way, given that things are not within…
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Learning How To Not Get Caught Anymore With One’s Pants Down
If we don’t meditate and do so consistently and deeply, then we probably won’t know ourselves. Instead, we’ll catch ourselves well after something has happened or after our “programming” or “conditioning” has already has its way with us. We’ve already booked the flights to Bali and said goodbye to the woman we weren’t sure about…
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Traces Or Kenosis?
In Faith in Mind: A Commentary on Seng Ts’an’s Classic, Chan master Sheng Yen writes: After a bird has flown from one tree to another, what trace did it leave in the air? Again, when you stand in front of a mirror, you see your image reflected in it. But after you have gone, what is…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 