Category: philosophical counseling
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‘Dead Sitting’
Not inquiring, and only recognizing what’s arising–is this all? “No,” say Chan masters. (“That’s ‘dead sitting.’”) Why? Because from here there is a turning toward the Source. Nisargadatta: Be at the borderline between Beingness (I Amness) and ‘Non-Being’ (the Absolute). Chan: “Lift the cue [huatou] to full awareness” and glue yourself to the to it. Meaning? Be relaxed, heart open,…
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Meditation: Intensity Without Tension
In his book Shattering the Great Doubt, late Chan master Sheng Yen suggests that huatou practice is an “intense approach” while silent illumination is a gentler one. Let’s get clearer about the intensity of huatou practice. You lift the huatou–like Wu or “Who?” or “What is this?”–to full awareness. It might seem as if there’s…
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Your Dharma Is To Wake Up
Two things are to be remarked upon when one is considering the ripeness of a spiritual practitioner or the maturity of a spiritual teacher. The first is that one ceases to think of dharma in any worldly terms. One no longer has the sense that one is “here to do something on behalf of the…
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The Shortcut Approach To Chan Practice
The huatou is a “living phrase” used in Chan meditation to push one beyond dualistic thinking. To get a better sense of how this is a “shortcut,” I’ll begin by citing Robert E. Buswell, Jr’s fine essay, “The ‘Short-cut’ Approach of K’an-hua Meditation.” In what follows, the first quote is from Buswell, Jr., the second…
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Is There A Perfect Place?
There is not. Consider an argument I borrow from Vivekananda, one I reconstruct thus: A twist: When it’s discovered that you are Peace Itself, then and only then is every place perfect.
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 