Category: philosophical counseling
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Exploring The Body Identification
The “I am the body identity” is not only the most intriguing but also, at least for some, the stickiest. Thankfully, the direct path teaching offers may very curious ways of dissolving that identification. Since, in direct experience, “the body” is simply a sensation, we look directly at the latter. A few lines of inquiry:
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Between Scylla And Charybdis: The White Radiance Of Eternity
I’ve been reading a bunch of books on the question concerning who–that is, which class–exercises power today, and many political thinkers agree that it’s the meritocratic-managerial elite who’ve been in charge, those often living (in the US) on the East and West Coasts, those wielding “soft power” through government, the media, academia, and the Big…
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Just Be. Then Investigate. Then Just Be
The direct path teaching of Advaita Vedanta is shockingly simple: Just be. Yet when that doesn’t seem possible, investigate. Investigate what? Superimpositions. Consider: Take it that you’re taking your stand as the finite mind, from whose perspective there is “projected” name-and-form (namarupa), which projection makes it seem as if the essential nature of Reality is…
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You Need, Simply, To Stop Looking For Something Else
Dear B, This is the path of investigation (jnana yoga). Whenever you find something unclear, turn toward it and look at it. Your essential being is right here. Always. It is not something to be achieved, gained, or lost. You can seem to overlook it, but overlooking your essential being does not entail its disappearance. Even the…
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What’s The Relationship Between Jnana, Bhakti, And Karma Yoga?
Sometimes the question is asked, “How does the path of knowledge (jnana yoga) relate to the paths of love (bhakti yoga) and action (karma yoga)? One simple way of answering the question–but, surely, not the only way–is to first ask what your spiritual temperament predominantly is. If you’re reading this post, then it’s likely a…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 