Category: philosophical counseling

• January 19, 2023

  The World Is An Illusion: Can That Really Be True?

  What Does “The World is an Illusion” Mean? It does not mean that there isn’t any appearance here. When you see a mirage, it’s not that you’re seeing nothing; you are seeing an appearance; it’s just that you’re not actually seeing an oasis. The question–“Is the world an illusion?”–really turns on the epistemic status of…
• January 18, 2023

  ‘When I Meditate, I Keep Looking At The Clock’

  Question: Often when I’m meditating, I feel like all I want is for it to be over and I find that I keep looking at the clock. It feels like those are the days I need it the most. Should I extend the time when that happens? Do you see the mental affliction? Is the clock…
• January 4, 2023

  Sri Ramana’s Core Teaching On Self-inquiry
• January 3, 2023

  Being The Witness Purifies The Bodymind

  While re-reading Nisargadatta’s “modern spiritual classic” I Am That, I was pleasantly surprised to find him making two sorts of claims about taking one’s stand as the witness. You can find both claims in one marvelous sentence: “The idea ‘I am the witness only’ will purify the body and the mind and open the eye…
• January 2, 2023

  For Nisargadatta, The Witness As A Bridge

  In I Am That, Nisargadatta offers us not just any bridge but the most direct bridge from misidentification to Ultimacy. In fact, he couldn’t be any clearer about the role that the witness plays in his teaching: The person is never the subject [Nisargadatta tells one seeker]. You can see a person, but you are…