Category: philosophical counseling
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The Interminability Of Gain And Loss
Consider that our phenomenal experience is always changing and therefore that anicca–meaning impermanence–may be true. Then we can come to some ordinary ways in which impermanence shows up for us. In Buddhism, these are called the Eight Vicissitudes, and they are: Pleasure and pain Gain and loss Praise and blame Fame and disrepute We might…
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Avoiding The Traps Of Spiritual Tourism And Spiritual Materialism
Spirituality is exploding today. Organized religions are, in many cases, failing to touch the hearts of younger people. Consequently, attendance at houses of worship is, among those in their 20s-40s, declining. Meanwhile, spiritual exploration seems to me on the rise. The opportunity? That perennial questions, through experiments in psychotechnologies of transformation, will be imbued with…
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Humanism Is The Bubble Of Bubbles
“Man is immersed in dreams… He lives in sleep… He is a machine.” –G.I. Gurdjieff Imagine that each of us has been living in a bubble. There is one bubble for each of us. Imagine that when I go to look at a sunset, I see it filtered through my transparent bubble. That when I…
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Metta And The late Fred Rogers
Fred Rogers died in 2003. When I was growing up, I didn’t think much of, nor (if I recall rightly) did I often watch, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. It seemed to me saccharine, sentimental, lugubrious. I was wrong. About a year ago, I saw the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? and was moved to tears. Suppose that…
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Mudita, One Of The Four Divine Abodes
In Buddhist practice, the Four Divine Abodes are: Love or Loving-kindness (metta) Compassion (karuna) Sympathetic Joy (mudita) Equanimity (upekkha) I’d like to say something about mudita. According to Access to Insight, “Sympathetic joy means a sublime nobility of heart and intellect which knows, understands and is ready to help.” Also, “Sympathetic joy that is strength and gives strength: this is the highest joy.” This sounds beautiful,…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 