A Dream of Brahman

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 […]

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Such is Life

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 […]

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Reconciling with Impermanence

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”. […]

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On Dreaming

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 […]

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Being Homo Spiritualis


I have often thought that the Latin title for human beings, Homo Sapiens, is perhaps not the most appropriate name for our species. It was bestowed on humans because of their ability to reason. Quite often our reasoning processes leave something to be desired and despite our large brain and reasoning capacity it does not […]

July 8, 2017

Courage and Fear


You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do. What is to give light must endure the burning. Eleanor Roosevelt   This week marked the funeral of South Australian nurse, Kirsty Boden, who was […]

July 1, 2017

A Little More on Identity and Religion.


The German born, American psychologist, Erick Erickson probably was the first to popularise the concept of personal identity and its role in the psychological development of human beings. He posited that the acquisition of a sense of personal identity was generally a feature of the adolescent years (those aged roughly between 13 and 19 years) […]

June 24, 2017

One Mind


A long time ago, There was only one mind Which became bored by being alone so long. So it decided to split into two, But since the two knew they were originally one, Playing together was not much fun – As if playing both sides of a chess game, So the two minds agreed to […]

June 11, 2017

Countering the Jihadists


Last week we saw another Jihadist manufacture slaughter and mayhem, this time principally of young women and girls, in Manchester. Manchester has been a particularly troubled area. It has experienced riots, is replete with street gangs and has been home for a number of other Jihadists who have perpetrated atrocities. I have recently written about […]

June 3, 2017

The Future of Work


The study of the world of work has always held its fascinations for me. My management career revolved about changing workplaces, and I was always keen to have an understanding of the evolving nature of work to inform my management practices. To better understand where the world of work was going, I visited as many […]

May 27, 2017

Fifth Wave Jihadis


Over the decades we have seen a vast change in the nature of jihadism. In a recent piece, writer and commentator, Kenan Malik, identified the following five iterations of jihadism. The first wave of jihadis were the mujahedeen who were marshalled to fight the Soviet forces in Afghanistan. The second wave were elite Muslims from […]

May 20, 2017

Time and Again


My friend and I were having one of our chats over a glass of wine as we have done for some years. We were discussing some material written by the good Dr Phil. It was a testing hypothesis involving spirituality and quantum physics. It is amazing what a rich recursive tapestry such considerations weave. In […]

May 13, 2017

Gender Politics and Responsible Parenting


There has been some discussion in recent weeks about the censoring of the screening of The Red Pill which reportedly is a documentary produced by Cassie Jay. Jay, who has been an active feminist, decided to document the workings of the Men’s Rights Movement. She has conceded that as her investigations progressed she began to […]

April 29, 2017

In Search of Our Valuables


Some of you would be aware that I have written extensively on Buddhism and have authored books and a series of parables revolving around one of my fictitious characters, the young master, Augustus.  Let me share one of those parables with you. Augustus was the guest of the Lord Tchun-si. Tchun-si was a wealthy Governor […]

April 22, 2017