One of the early insights I had in my "religious" period was that the entire universe we perceive is completely "in our heads". We cannot directly perceive the real world around us. On the other hand, by nature, we systematically ignore this fact and proceed as if what we experience around us is "out there" in the "real" world. My involvement with "charismatic" Christianity forced me to truly "own" this insight. It really is "all in your head". "Charismatics" believe in (and actually experience) a world filled with miracles and the presence of the supernatural. I often encountered people who had had a " peak experience " and had a few myself. Such experiences seem to tear open the curtain between our inner world and the world "outside", revealing deep insights and invoking ecstatic feelings of awe and wonder. People tend to describe these experiences in terms of the vocabulary they alre...

A friend has asked me to put this essay online. It harks back to 1977 when I was a 30 year old theological student at Queen's University. Although I did not know it at the time, it marked the peak of my involvement in Christianity. I was in training to be a Minister (Pastor) in the United Church of Canada. A few months later I was back to work as a computer geek, having been politely shown to the door by the Church establishment. But that's another story.  See Dr. Robert Sapolsky for a later view of the "psychology" of Second Isaiah The World View of Second Isaiah What is a holy book? Too often, it seems, this question is brushed aside as a matter not proper for a critical study of the book. Just as hopeless is the approach that ignores the holiness of the book and studies it as one might approach, say the Illiad . Being a relatively new Christian, I have not been drilled my whole life long with any particular view of Scripture. I do not hold that a book is holy just...

Revised 2016 01 16 - Errors in understanding how money is created As noted in a previous post , language is perhaps the most powerful agent of assimilation. People negotiate their relationships with each other and identify with groups using language. The first thing we need when forming a new group is a good name, such as "conservative" or "socialist" or "Christian". Other, more human and "animal" forms of negotiation, such as touch, emotion and personal connection are pushed increasingly into the background as the individual interacts with larger and larger groups. This interaction is largely framed in terms of language. Important ideas are cast in linguistic terms. Terms of central importance are mainly  about assimilation and may lack definable reference in the "real world". In fact, I have long claimed that words work best as "group glue" when they lack any meaning at all. People can then claim membership in the group wit...

The Dalai Lama believes, as I do, that the central issue of life is "compassion". It is the essence of religion - a view that seems odd to many in the West, who think of religion as being all about swallowing a bunch of implausible doctrine and accepting authority over evidence. I believe that religion is about being serious about the choices you make about who you want to be and how you want to live your life. Not the "spooky stuff". Compassion is like that. You are free not to be compassionate and that's the choice that most people make most of the time. Choosing compassion as the guiding principal of your life is a huge leap of faith. There is no particular reason to share in the suffering of others. In fact, Buddhism itself teaches that such sharing will lead directly to personal suffering. Compassion is often costly, painful and difficult. Tragic end of 4-Year Old Alan Kurdi's flight from terror  As the Dalia Lama says, the outpouring of sympathy for t...

I have been absorbed in current events lately, especially the upcoming Canadian Federal Election (October 19, 2015). Along the way, I have gotten a few glimpses of issues that I should deal with in depth at some point. In order not to risk losing them in the helter-skelter of life, I'm making a few notes here. Climate change seems to be emerging as the ultimate test of human decision making. The UN has convented the  IPCC  to address the issue which is, at the very least, a serious emerging global problem. At worst, it spells the end of civilization. It's instructive to look at the climate change issue because it is, at bottom, a matter of actual facts. Physics. The world doesn't care about how we spin it or what we hope will happen. The world is not influenced by political mud wrestling or propaganda. It is what it is. So how are we doing? The IPCC has managed to navigate a lot of inherent problems right up to the point where they turn the situation over to the politician...