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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Coming Out Better and Not Bitter


This week’s essay contains some sentiments that are closely related to what I wrote last week. It is stimulated by something the good Dr Phil has taught me. He tells me that when we experience trauma we should make sure we “come out better and not bitter.” Whilst this is wise advice it is somewhat […]

September 4, 2011

Do We Have To Be Victims?


Many of those I speak to decry the fact that in modern society everyone seems to be a victim. No matter how dysfunctional our behaviour we are seemingly excused by our circumstances. Sure there are people living in difficult circumstances and this has an impact on their behaviour, but we now seem to believe that […]

August 27, 2011

Learning to be Happy


Some years ago I was invited to be the guest speaker and to make presentations at a graduation ceremony at the Central Queensland University. When I commenced my address I stated that I had come to address a deficiency in the university’s curriculum. The Vice-Chancellor seemed a little startled at this suggestion and there were […]

August 21, 2011

Maintaining Our Social Capital


Well, what a week it’s been – riots in London, the USA losing its AAA rating, financial crisis in the Eurozone and our own share market taking another plunge and then recovering. What has gone wrong with our modern democratic capitalist societies? To begin with, I suppose, one of the downsides of democracies is that […]

August 14, 2011

Towards More Informed Public Debate


Our society seems increasingly permeated by polarising issues. Issues such as climate change (and subsequently the carbon tax), the issue of refugees arriving by boats, the government intervention into remote indigenous communities, the threat of terrorism (particularly by Muslim Jihadists) and so on seem to rapidly polarize our society making meaningful debate quite problematic. It […]

August 6, 2011

Terror of another Kind


I felt compelled to write about the tragedy in Norway this week, but I scarcely know where to begin. In the face of such a repugnant act I am left bewildered and struggle to make sense of it. Norway is a socially progressive country with one of the highest standards of living in the world. […]

July 31, 2011

When Will They Ever Learn?


I remember in the sixties hearing Pete Seeger singing his composition “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”  All five verses of the song finished with the plaintive question; “When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?” It is a very good question. In this essay I want to explore learning in an organizational […]

July 24, 2011

Flies in the Ointment – A Parable for Our Times


“All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly.” Thomas Aquinas In far off Moladavia there was a village called Climatesan. Now Moladavia was a poor country and most of its citizens struggled in a subsistence economy. But Climatesan was more fortunate than most. Whereas most of the land […]

July 17, 2011

Spiritual Evolution and The Perennial Philosophy


Eventually all of us have to contend with the question, “Does God exist?” and if we answer in the affirmative we then have to ask ourselves, “What is the Nature of God.” Let me confess at the very beginning of this essay that I believe that God exists, or at least my interpretation of a […]

July 9, 2011

Watching The Play


In “As You Like It” William Shakespeare wrote the famous lines: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts…” We all have multiple roles. We can at any time be for example, a father, […]

July 3, 2011