Category: philosophical counseling
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There Is An Absolute End To Suffering
Why Am I Suffering? This is not a question of theodicy. In this case, it’s a question of knowledge. One suffers whenever awareness is “mixed up with” the content of objective experience. This mixing makes it seem as if awareness’s being is localized and limited by the objective experience to which it seems to be bound. How To…
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What Is Direct Experience, And Why Does It Matter?
Dear C, The Teaching, Revisited 1. Awareness is always and already realized. It’s always and already the case. (This is what direct experience ultimately and directly reveals.) 2. Therefore, it is impossible to become Self-realized. Utterly impossible. 3. Don’t stop with Neo-Advaita, though–that is, with “lip syncing the lyrics” in 1 above. Instead, out of freshness, interest, glee, and wonderment, investigate and contemplate whatever seems to be evidence…
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The Self Is Not Two, Not One, And Not Zero
Dear A, Excellent quote from Sri Ramana Maharshi–and much to unpack here. Sri Ramana replies: Yes. All bad qualities centre round the ego. When the ego is goneRealisation results by itself. There are neither good nor bad qualitiesin the Self. The Self is free from all qualities. Qualities pertain tothe mind only. It is beyond…
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The New Power Elite, According To Patrick Deneen
Patrick Deneen points to an upside-down view evident, as he describes it in his book Regime Change, in the current meritocratic elite: the very ones who hold power insist that they have none. How are we to make sense of this statement? First, Deneen suggests that Western history can be understood in terms of commoners…
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“We’re Full”: On Working Class Animus Toward The New Power Elites
If you’ve ever read Reddit threads apropos “moving to town X or Y in the United States,” then you’ll likely have come across some comments like: “We’re full.” To this, another person might reply, stating that that is “MAGA country,” with the implication that the writer making this claim is a progressive. Though this distinction–MAGA…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 