Over forty years ago now, I acquired a little paperback by one Joseph Gaer which was titled How the Great Religions Began. The original copyright for the book was dated 1929 but had been renewed again in 1956. I found it quite engrossing. The author had tried, without bias, to lay out the history of […]
In the early centuries of the development of Christian belief, there arose two fairly well-defined Christian positions. The first was deliberately and aggressively anti-intellectual. The supporters of this position argued that since God had apparently spoken to us (through the words of the reasonably arbitrarily compiled scriptures) it was no longer necessary for believers to […]
When I read the paper each morning and listen to the news each evening, it is hard not to feel depressed at the direction our democracy seems to be going. Although the current federal government is the worst in my memory, which is a great disappointment after the elation of having the first Australian female […]
In the ancient Buddhist literature there are many references to the demon, Mara. In some respects Mara resembles the Satan of Christian tradition. For example just as Satan tempted Christ, Mara tempted Siddhartha Gautama. It was only after resisting Mara’s temptation that Siddhartha Gautama was able to attain enlightenment and become the Buddha. Just as […]
It is a great privilege to be parents and a wondrous gift to be grandparents. We invest so much in our offspring and for many of us this becomes a huge part of our identity. Children are also useful for the education of adults. As the American humourist Franklin P Jones wrote, “You can learn […]
Some time ago in a blog essay I wrote the following: M Scott Peck began his great little book The Road Less Travelled in this way: “Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once […]
In recent essays I have referred somewhat to the birth of Christianity and its emergence from previous Pagan religions. The countries of the Middle East were reasonably tolerant of a range of such religions. Christianity itself seems to have been a derivative of the various mystical religions that had developed in the preceding centuries. Initially […]
“Remember that there are two kinds of lunatics: those who don’t know they must die, and those that have forgotten they are alive.” Patrick Declerk (As quoted by Matthieu Ricard in Happiness) In a commentary to one of the chapters of Augustus Finds Serenity, I wrote the following: Once, Augustus asked Takygulpa to explain how […]
Christmas is a rather pleasant time even for a disgruntled, old reactionary like me. Despite not being a Christian, the Christmas story can still bring a lump to the throat and the songs and carols from my childhood fill me with pleasant nostalgia. The only downside is having to listen to blokes in skirts with […]
One of my sons is a primary school teacher. It pleases me when I meet people who say, “Our child really prospered when he/she was in your son’s class” or quite frequently, “I hope our child gets into your son’s class”. Guiding young minds in such formative years is no doubt an important and often […]