By now my frequent readers, as few as they are, will have come to the conclusion that I am an old reactionary troglodyte who finds it impossible to engage with modern society. This is possibly true – yet there are some things I think we did better in the past, than we do now. One […]

The Blessed One thought, “I have taught the Truth, but simple as it is, the people don’t understand it! Therefore I will tell them stories.” Recently I wrote of how we need to meet our spiritual needs in order to attain a sense of wholeness in our lives. I have written that in achieving this […]

In my previous essay which I titled “Such is Life” I explained the basic cosmogony of Hindus and others is that the world and all in it were created by a dream of Brhman. The sceptics will probably laugh that I should pay any respect at all to such a fanciful concept. My critics will […]

I recently published an essay Reconciling with Impermanence. Whilst rummaging through my archives recently I discovered another essay I had written almost twenty years ago that throws some light on this important subject. I have updated it somewhat and now share it with you. Let us begin by asking the question, “What is a man’s […]

In our normal day to day existence there are many things that we hang on to because they give us a sense of permanence. Our consciousness compels us to be aware of our own mortality. Advances in nutrition and health may have enabled us on average to exceed the biblical “three score years and ten”. […]

To die, to sleep –To sleep, perchance to dream, ay there’s the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause there’s the respect That makes calamity of so long life. Hamlet, William Shakespeare The above quote, which will be familiar […]

In a previous blog I mentioned the problem outlined by religious historian, Karen Armstrong, in interpreting religious writings. She maintained that there was always tension between Logos and Mythos. Much of the wisdom of the world has been transmitted by myth, fable, allegory or parable (Mythos). When we get into trouble is when we start […]

In our little book republished as The Myth of Nine to Five, the late Dr Phil Harker and I argued that despite the illusion we have of free will, in fact the only real choice human beings have is whether to choose to live with a worldview of fear or a worldview of love. (If […]

As I sit here in my office I can see the small tree in the front yard. It is a favourite place for the bull-finches to sit before they venture down to the bird bath. This might seem to be just the start of a casual conversation but it has already introduced many philosophical concepts. […]

The figures move about a bit with the continuing years of research, but on the evidence it is fair to say the universe is a little less than fifteen billion years old. The first vestiges of life on earth seemed to appear some one and a half billion years ago. Hominids have been around for […]