philosophy
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The will to live
Throughout recorded history, thinkers and natural philosophers have commented on the innate, energetic spark that is imbued within all living things. Eastern and Western civilisations have simultaneously described a will to live, an internal life force, a spirit, or soul,… Continue reading
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What should life be like?
What should life be like? What can we reasonably expect from our existence? I’m not referring to those ultra people, with extreme lifestyles, who live as monastic monks or who have blue blood and live in palaces. I’m also not… Continue reading
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It’s Life Jim!
Some scientists now believe the chances of life emerging on Earth by itself are too remote. In a very honest, refreshing, (but complex), scientific paper, Robert Endres of the Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London in December 2025, explored… Continue reading
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Finding God in an age of reason
What evidence is there that God exists? In my opinion, the likelihood of the universe springing into existence by itself, for no reason, is so remote as to be non-existent. The mathematics of this universe forming event are mind-bogglingly extreme.… Continue reading
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The Blob
A short story. The blob floated mindlessly in the darkness. It had no eyes, or senses, save the ability to touch. To feel. It had no explicit conscious thoughts as such. But, driven by impulse, it knew what it wanted.… Continue reading
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Stephen Hawking: Is there a God?
“One could define God as the embodiment of the laws of nature. However, this is not what most people would think of as God. They mean a human-like being, with whom one can have a personal relationship.” Hawking refers to… Continue reading
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Beyond Words
All of our thinking is through words, all of our actions, all of our science, all of our literature, all of our history, all our technology, all our kingdoms and empires. All of it stems from language and communication. And… Continue reading
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Pure awareness is heaven
What are your thoughts on life after death? Where do you think we go when we die? Perhaps you think you’ll live eternally in a heavenly paradise surrounded by your loved ones. Maybe you don’t believe any of that stuff… Continue reading
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False Perceptions
Perceptions, the Buddha said, are very often false, which leads to suffering. We see people as threats, we weave fake narratives, we create all kinds of imaginary perils. We internalise our fears, which only compounds them, elevating them to be… Continue reading
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Movie Night
‘Where the hell am I?’ she muttered to herself, as the vortex gave way to a dimly lit room, complete with brightly-coloured, patterned furnishings and the kind of Jamaican, cultural furnishings she was familiar with from her childhood. ‘Oh wow,… Continue reading
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Roads to Happiness
Two eastern mystics with profound insights into the nature of existence and how to lead happier lives are Sri Ramana Maharshi and Thich Nhat Hanh. Maharshi was a Hindu sage who lived around eighty years ago in India, while Hanh… Continue reading
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How can an inanimate force become a God?
When we think of a force such as the quantum field, we don’t think of an omnipotent, personified being, we think of an abstract mass of crackling energy; a bubbling froth of excitable forces, where a myriad of particles might… Continue reading
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The Hench
A short story An emaciated young girl, wearing ragged, filthy clothes, scurried quickly between the shadows, darting from place to place, eyes constantly alert. She was hungry. So hungry she was prepared to risk her life to find food. Not… Continue reading
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An odd thing to find
‘Tonight, we bring you a special report on the mysterious phenomena known as sea pyramids – the strange, glowing triangular prisms that have washed up on the beaches of Japan and the Philippines in recent months. ‘Professor Richard Binks, a… Continue reading
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The True Self
The true Self is the spiritual self. The true Self is the single self; it is not scattered, disorganised or divided. The true Self has no ego. The true Self does not crave attention, fame, status, wealth, or ambition. The… Continue reading
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An Origin Story
A young girl was seated alone in a plush café, talking into her friend through her smartphone. The friend was on speakerphone, and the girl, although clearly distressed, made no attempt to hide her conversations. The girl sobbed and wailed… Continue reading
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Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a philosopher who advocated the rich, elite and powerful and was against the mechanisms of the church who he saw as shackling people with guilt and shame. His ideas and beliefs have been manipulated and absorbed… Continue reading
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Last Night in Middlesbrough
The old man winced in pain as he leant forward to pull the flimsy blanket over his calloused, gnarled feet. Even thick, thermal socks weren’t enough to keep out the icy cold depths of winter. It wouldn’t be long now,… Continue reading
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The Fundamental Spirit
Reality has a fundamental layer that pervades and connects all things. The Hindus call it Brahman; the invisible essence that permeates the whole universe. The Chinese call it the Tao. Buddhists call it the Dharma. Scientists might call it the… Continue reading
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An Almighty state of being
God for me, isn’t a being in the sky, but a creative life force all around me, present in all things. As my regular readers will know, I’ve been on a journey of self-discovery over the last year and an… Continue reading
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Finding Patterns
Pattern Is religion just the brain seeing patterns in things? Human beings have a tendency to attach supernatural meanings to everyday phenomena. Seeing faces in clouds (pareidolia), believing there is a pattern in random events (like in gambling), or confirmation… Continue reading
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Believing in Nothing
No one believes in a God who does nothing,” G. K. Chesterton Something rather than nothing It seems obvious to me that something, rather than nothing, created the universe. Proving it, however, is extremely difficult, if not impossible. It is… Continue reading
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How to find truth in the chaos of modern life
A belief is an energy-saving shortcut the brain uses to predict its environment. A fact is a thing that can be externally verified as being proven or true. Three chords and the truth When songwriter Harlan Howard coined the phrase:… Continue reading
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Where are your missing years?
I was dismayed when listening to a podcast: The Guardian Science Weekly: where do our early childhood memories go? with Nick Turk-Browne, a professor of psychology at Yale University, to learn that in his professional opinion, we are not able… Continue reading
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Part of something greater
If the Earth were a hydrogen atom, and I looked out from my window at the electron whizzing past in the air above, I might be tempted to think that this was all there was. After all, I wouldn’t know… Continue reading
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What is the purpose of our existence?
Reading time 10 minutes For the majority of the world’s population, God is the purpose of their existence. According to the 13th-century Italian scholar Thomas Aquinas, the ultimate goal of human existence is to attain a supernatural union with God,… Continue reading
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Believing in Something is better than Believing in Nothing
Learned people tell us that there is nothing to this world, save that which can be observed, measured and recorded. They state quite firmly that we must savour things in this life, because there’s nothing after we die. All talk… Continue reading
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A Spiritual Journey
What are your future travel plans? Life is taking me on a journey at present and it’s one I didn’t seek. Of course, all life is a journey, but this is something completely different. These last few years, I’ve felt… Continue reading
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Near Death Experiences
I’ve been reading an old book about Near Death Experiences called Life After Life by Dr Raymond Moody. It very much relates to a topic I wrote about a while ago Where Do We Go When We Die? in which… Continue reading
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The effects of infinity on finite systems
“Imagine you had a perfectly sealed box. Nothing can come in, and nothing can escape. Into this box you placed an apple and sealed it shut. If you waited long enough, the apple would go through various states of decomposition.… Continue reading
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Why Isn’t Life Easy?
Why isn’t life easy? If a God created life, why make it so difficult? I mean, if you were omnipotent, and you were designing life, surely you’d make it so that things ticked over nicely, you’d want them to purr… Continue reading
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Splashing in Puddles
So many of us are finding the world overwhelming these days. The constant hostility on social media, the lack of empathy and tolerance for other people’s’ views, not to mention the depressing news stories, climate change and soaring crime, it’s… Continue reading
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Was the world made for us?
Imagine there was a safari park, complete with big cats, monkeys, zebras, giraffes etc. Now, imagine that the human keepers became extinct and the park was left to its own devices, with all the cage doors left open. There would… Continue reading
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Hand of God?
Many years ago I had a marine fish tank which took a lot of hard work to keep. I had to make sure it was always at the right temperature. I had to check the pH levels and ensure the… Continue reading
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Beyond Words
All of our thinking is through words, all of our actions, all of our science, all of our literature, all of our history, all our technology, all our kingdoms and empires. All of it stems from language and communication. And… Continue reading
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Laughing in the face of it all
Describe one of your favorite moments. How do you select a single moment from a lifetime of moments? There are a lot to choose from. Stuff happens. First words, first steps, first birthday, first girlfriend, first beer, first love, first… Continue reading
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Valuing our Values
Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny. Mahatma Gandhi We all have values that mould and shape our… Continue reading
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I Believe…
Beliefs are the foundations upon which we build our sense of self. They are pivotal to our well being and happiness. But our beliefs are also personal, insecure and subjective. That’s partly because of the nature of knowledge itself, but… Continue reading
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Get away from it all
It’s hard to be happy if you’re constantly looking inward. When we focus on ourselves too much, when we live inside our own heads, or even when our ailments occupy more of our time than they should, we suffer. It’s… Continue reading
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Going where the Evidence Leads
My reason for believing that a Deist, non-interventionist God created our universe, is that, while no evidence for God has been found within the universe, there are enough reasons to assume one created it. This is because: The universe is… Continue reading
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What is the shape of the universe?
Cosmologists aren’t sure what shape the universe is. And, while this may sound like a pointless thing to think about, it is actually a profound question that has significant implications. There are three leading models for the shape of the… Continue reading
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An Elegant and Persuasive Power
Why should we believe in something that only adds an immaterial layer to the scientific view, and which takes away the profound, revelatory nature of religion? I’ve set out in earlier blog posts what my evidence is for believing there… Continue reading
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I am that I am
Remember, every atom in my body was forged in a star, This body is mostly just empty space after all, and solid matter? It’s just energy vibrating very slowly. There is no me. There never was. The electrons of my… Continue reading
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Oaths to Myself
Things to lead a more fulfilling life. Continue reading
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More is Different
The constant void enables one to observe the true essence. The constant being enables one to see the outward manifestations. These two come paired from the same origin. But when the essence is manifested, It has a different name. Tao… Continue reading
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The fuse of time
It occurred to me that our perception of time and reality is like a burning fuse. We experience the point of ignition in unison, all of us moving along in the heat of a singular moment, burning our available energies,… Continue reading
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What Matters?
Is matter all there is? The prevailing scientific viewpoint leaves some big unanswered questions. Materialism is a philosophical and scientific viewpoint that states that matter is the fundamental substance in nature, and that all things, including consciousness, are the result… Continue reading
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Truth seekers and way seekers
There’s a fundamental difference between the approach western philosophy takes to living and that practised in the east. Truth Seekers – Western philosophy and science seeks to find the ’truth’ of nature and reality. It tries to describe the basic… Continue reading
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Is God an invention?
Are religious people deluded? Do we simply invent Gods that don’t exist in reality? Evidence shows that religious belief is actually a natural state of human consciousness. This may actually prove God’s existence, rather than disproving it. I argue that… Continue reading
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Evidence the Universe was created
A scientific summary, from an agnostic viewpoint, as to why I believe the universe was created. Continue reading
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Does evil exist, and if so, who or what creates it?
An agnostic’s analysis of the big question: is God evil? Continue reading
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What is a flower?
If you want to know what a flower is, be mindful of who you ask, because this will determine the answer you get. All of them are properly answering your question. All of them are providing you with knowledge about… Continue reading
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The hard problem of Paul
What is it about us that makes us, us? Continue reading
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What in the World…
Science tells us that everything is made from particles and forces, but this does not tell us why these things exist or where they come from. Everything is particles and forces According to science, the four forces of nature and… Continue reading
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Art and philosophy
Kenshō philosophy believes in seeing nature as it is, by aesthetic, rather than rational means. I love this quote by Japanese philosopher Kitaro Nishida: ‘It is the artist not the scholar, who arrives at the true nature of reality.’ We… Continue reading
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Am I going bananas?
Alethea thought she was going mad. When she awoke that morning, she went downstairs for breakfast and her banana started talking to her! It said it wasn’t really real. It told her it was just a shadow on a cave… Continue reading
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