Time on Our Hands

As I have often written, time is such a difficult subject, but nonetheless a fascinating one. But in this essay I want to direct my reader’s attention to another fascinating issue about time. It is the notion of the benefit of “Spare Time”. The traditional Protestant ethic would suggest that having spare time is surely […]

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Your Book of Life

If you were a book, you would be a book of memories. The idea that your memories make you who you are is a common one. They are probably not the whole story of you but it is difficult to deny that they are a significant part of that story. Mark Rowlands Professor of Philosophy […]

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An Unexamined Life?

Perhaps the most famous quote attributed to Socrates is: An unexamined life is not worth living. It is undoubtedly true that to be a well-functioning, competent human being requires that we have adequate self-knowledge. We need to be realistically aware of our strengths and weaknesses, our skills and vulnerabilities. So there is indeed value in […]

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In Loving Memory

It is an inevitable consequence of growing older that we increasingly know more people who have died! We dutifully attend funerals and endure endless eulogies. To begin with we are often introduced to the deceased by a religious person officiating at the funeral of someone who barely entered a church in their lives. This well-meaning […]

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Where Are We Headed


Predicting the future is an activity fraught with danger. And lacking the confidence of Nostradamus, I won’t even try. But I can at least give you some thoughts about various areas of human endeavour that I believe need to be tracked very closely. But even there I am in a quandary. For many issues extrapolating […]

December 10, 2010

A Dream of Brahman


In the beginning there was Brahman. In the end, which might have been perceived differently but was essentially still the same, there was Brahman too. And all there was, is and ever will be is Brahman or manifestations of Brahman. Brahman thought, “Here I am – everything, all-encompassing, all-pervasive, with no end and nothing unknown. […]

November 28, 2010

How We Perceive the World


“Reality is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe. What we believe is based on our perceptions. What we perceive depends on what we look for. What we look for depends on what we think. What we think depends on what we perceive. What we perceive […]

November 16, 2010

A Little More Time


You have no doubt often heard someone say, “Are you finished yet?” And the rejoinder comes, “No, not just yet. Just give me a little more time.” What could we possibly mean by this? If you asked for a little more water, a little more bread, a little more sympathy or even a little more […]

November 9, 2010

Is Depression a Biological Adaptation?


October, for some reason, has been designated depression and anxiety month. I have done a few interviews trying to promote my new book, “Yu, The Dragon Tamer.” Although the book is about mental illness, it has little to do about depression. But, because, I suppose, interviewers have to attach their interviews to various fashionable “hooks” […]

November 1, 2010

A TRI-PARTITE MODEL OF HUMANITY


What we are about to propose here, is a third model of humanity. This model is distinct from the other two models, the Determinist model and the Rationalist/ Humanist model. (This model was developed by Dr Phil Harker and first articulated as part of his PhD thesis.) In common with all physical life on the […]

October 27, 2010

Coming to Grips with Stress


There seems to be an epidemic of stress. More and more individuals are claiming to be suffering from it. Organisations are going to great lengths to try and insulate themselves from stress claims which are becoming costlier and costlier. Overall, as a result, our society is paying a great price, from the dysfunction in organisations […]

October 20, 2010

The Story of Yu


As I sit writing this week’s blog I am preparing to go to Brisbane for the launch of my new book, “Yu, The Dragon Tamer.” The book deals with a man contending with mental illness. It is written in the same Buddhist genre as my previous book, “Augustus Finds Serenity”. The genesis of this book […]

October 13, 2010

Beware of FADS


A couple of weeks ago, I was tempted to rush into print some commentary on the controversy surrounding the avowed intention of the Christian fanatic, the Reverend Terry Jones to burn a copy of the Koran in protest on the anniversary of the attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. However, in […]

October 6, 2010

Why are Aging and Death Inevitable?


I am sure to many of you this topic will sound problematic at the very least. Surely we are all aware that the process of aging is the natural progression to our inevitable deaths. Yet our bodies have very good repair mechanisms. We recover from most illnesses and our wounds largely heal. The biblical allocation […]

September 29, 2010