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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Mental illness wreaks havoc with individuals, their families and friends. Most of us, unfortunately, will know someone who has suffered or is suffering from severe depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or the like. And these are serious disorders. In recent decades, society rightly, (at least on my opinion) has sought to destigmatise mental illness. But this […]
It is a source of some sadness to me, that as I get older I know more and more people who have felt compelled to end their relationships. Don’t get me wrong. There are people who have been trapped in awful incongruence and separation and divorce are gratifying escapes from intolerable situations. But it makes […]
In the tumult of modern society I see more and more people struggling psychologically. They struggle with anxiety, despair and depression. Many are on a treadmill that they are finding difficult to keep up with. The treadmill is driven by expectations of employers to keep improving the bottom line. It is driven by expectations of […]
It is difficult for human beings to just be. We are driven to meet the expectations of others, to pursue the goals of organisations and to meet, what appear to be, essential imperatives. Consequently we are soon lost in our strivings to achieve and our desires to be something we are not, to meet the […]
Many years ago my good friend Dr Phil Harker taught me that the route to good psychological adjustment had three steps, viz. Know Yourself>Accept Youself>Forget Yourself. This has over the years, proved to be good advice. This seems such a simple formula – and it is. But it is also very profound and quite difficult […]
Vedanta is the wisdom of the Vedic sages. It is one of the oldest forms of religion and was the precursor to Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism. It is the spiritual path outlined in the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita. The Ultimate Reality, according to Vedanta, is all-pervading pure consciousness. As one adept wrote, “ […]
‘The Emperor of Tsin Chou province was a proud and haughty man. He was jealous of his power and authority and went to great pains to defend his little empire. He had numerous spies who were always abroad in the neighbouring provinces gathering intelligence because he was anxious that he would be attacked. Anyone who […]