Form is the wave and emptiness is the water. So, “form is emptiness, emptiness is form” is like “wave is water, water is wave” . . . A wave on the ocean has a beginning and an end, a birth and a death. But Avalokitesvara tells us that the wave is empty. The wave is […]

In the past I have risked the ire of many by publishing essays on religion, politics and other controversial issues. Well here I go again! I have been reluctant to do so, but now I feel compelled to delve into gender politics. Most ordinary Australians are more interested in their economic well-being, the educational opportunities […]

As you would now know from my essays, I tend to read a lot. I don’t read much fiction however. It’s not that I don’t like fiction – I do. Fictional tales can be exciting, moving and very entertaining in many and various ways. Some, using allegorical devices, can also be quite meaningful and didactic. […]

A long time ago in Emerald, so the Fishers Almanac says, Mary’s boychild, Bruce, was born on a torrid Christmas day. Now, initially there seemed nothing particularly special about Bruce. But being an only child, he was doted on by his mother of course, and greatly loved by his father, Alf. Alf was a keen […]

I vividly remember in my late teens thinking to myself, “Before I die I need to learn about religion.” It seemed to me that there was something important here that I could not avoid confronting. My mother was a non-practising Catholic and my father was an atheist. And I would have to say in our […]

There is no doubt we live in strange times. Those of us who live in Western, liberal democracies are probably enjoying the most congenial circumstances that citizens of this earth have ever experienced. We enjoy representative democracies and elevated standards of living beyond the dreams of our ancestors. Yet, despite these indisputable facts, many are […]

I would like to again take up the theme that I initiated in my previous essay. That essay was an autobiographical journey of my experience as a drinker. Whilst only a few of you responded directly with comments on my blog, quite a number contacted me privately expressing their enjoyment. In retrospect, however, there are […]

An abstainer is a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure. Ambrose Bierce My wonderful daughter often buys me books for my birthdays and other occasions. Although my tastes in reading matter are far from the ordinary, she generally manages to find me something suitably provocative and engaging. I would […]

Discovery, Conquest and Capitulation Mankind and its immediate predecessors have occupied the world for hundreds of thousands of years. Initially that occupation was dominated by tribes of hunter/gatherers of no more than a hundred or so individuals. The initial population of the earth was sourced by the movement out of Africa by hominids and humans […]

It is hard not to despair about indigenous disadvantage. Every week we hear anecdotal evidence of indigenous children being neglected, resulting in high rates of criminal activity, substance abuse and incarceration. Despite a huge expenditure on efforts to improve indigenous welfare we see little concrete evidence of improvement in the more dysfunctional communities. Mind you, […]