By the second century AD, European travellers had made their way to China by sea. But the sea route was long and perilous and was seldom used. Consequently a land route to China was contemplated. Chinese silk was in high demand in the West. It began arriving in Europe via what became known as the […]

I had a long career in management becoming a power station manager at the ripe old age of twenty-six! Despite having degrees in engineering and economics, I became a manager with no formal qualifications in the areas that interested me most. And what interested me most? Well, it was the nature of the human condition. […]

My previous essay Creating the Culture of Fear drew a lot of favourable comment. But on rereading it I felt there was much more I could have said. I will try to fill in some of the gaps in this current essay. It is useful, to begin with, to look back at our history over […]

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less. Marie Curie   So we now have something else to fear. The coronavirus has caused the death of over a thousand people in China. That of course is not […]

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 […]