Category: philosophical counseling
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The Weirdest Thing
The weirdest thing that seems to happen has never actually happened. I seem to have woken up from the dream state and, as a result, I really do believe and feel that I am the waker, an individual with a life to lead. Chalk this mistake up as the weirdest weirdness there possibly is. After…
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There’s No Questioner Who Asks, ‘Who Am I?’
There is no entity by [the] name of ‘mind.’ Because of the emergence of thought, we surmise some thing from which they start: that we term mind. When we probe to see what it is, there is nothing like it. After it has ‘vanished,’ Peace will be found to remain eternal. –Ramana Maharshi as cited…
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What Is Your Version Of Hell?
Some years ago, Jordan Peterson asked, “What is your version of hell, and what is your version of heaven?” If memory serves, he then tells us to “run away” from hell and to “run toward” heaven. The question is excellent, but the remedy–which amounts to more attachment and aversion and thus is just more samsara–is…
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Darshan Is Or Is Not Moksha?
Question: I have been waking up with a blaring thought: “This is not moksha, this is darshan.” Wouldn’t it be both? The “it” is key. Let’s start with the standard interpretation: Darshan (though the word is plurisignant and is used differently in different Indian traditions) commonly refers to the grace of, or initiation by, the guru. This…
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Is There A Self
When one asks the question, “What am I?,” it turns out that the second best answer is: “I am a self.” Then the question is: “What sort of thing can a self be?” Since a self must be a thing, a form, it’s natural to ask about the sort of thing it may, or could,…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 