One of the more dramatic shifts in understanding human psychology can be demonstrated in the contrasting views of Aristotle compared with his mentor, Plato. There is a famous painting by the old master Raphael of Plato and Aristotle. In the painting Plato points to the heavens whereas Aristotle points to the ground. This was a […]
As I have written previously, Aldous Huxley in his wonderful introduction to the Bhagavad-Gita expounded on the notion of the Perennial Philosophy – the underlying principles common to most of the major religions. A natural outcome from these fundamental beliefs is what Christians have come to call “The Golden Rule”. “All things whatsoever ye would […]
Well what a to-do! Bin Laden is dead and our newspapers and news bulletins have been dominated with commentary on this extraordinary event. (It is with some perversity that I only wished it had happened on the same day that Bill got hitched to What’s Her Name!) There is no doubt that Bin Laden was […]
I suppose I should be grateful for some light relief. For months the headlines have been full of natural disasters (tsunamis, floods, cyclones, hurricanes, and mudslides) not to mention the instability in the Middle East, Afghanistan and so forth. But I can’t help thinking the gravity of those things only goes to highlight the trivialness […]
I have been thinking a little about writing, its diversity, its attractions and its mysteries. I am going to attempt a little essay to explore a number of such facets particularly as it relates to poetry. Although I am not Christian in belief, I do admire the work of the Jesuit, Gerard Manley Hopkins. So […]
Well despite hundreds of requests to tell you the story of Mucky the Turtle instead, I am going to be willful and perverse and take you back to the body-mind problem. Last week I explained that there seemed to be two principal responses to this vexing problem which has engaged philosophers over the millennia. I […]
Most of us believe that we think, feel, act have desires, purpose and experiences. We believe that we are conscious, thinking acting persons. In fact I have often stated that what makes us human is our consciousness (learned many years ago from the good Dr Phil) – not only can we make decisions and think […]
In Christianity there is a great debate about whether it is faith (as promoted in Romans) or works (as suggested by James) that confers God’s Grace on believers. (And before Father Robin interjects I must tell you I have known a couple of Graces in my life but I suspect God’s Grace was not one […]
Last week I wrote of how we need to meet our spiritual needs in order to attain a sense of wholeness in our lives. It is our spirituality that enables us to reintegrate with the One. This probably seems like gobbledygook to the more rational of you. I was heartened during the week to come […]
I have in previous blog essays explored the tension between rationality and spirituality, faith and reason, reasoning and intuition. Most seem to believe that with the waning of the influence of the Church in Western society that we are becoming more secular and that spirituality is on the wane. Superficially that seems the case. And […]