The most obvious problem with claiming that mind and brain are the same is the lack of an explanation as to how consciousness can arise from matter. In the past, some scientists adopted the denial strategy, saying that mind and consciousness didn’t actually exist. The American behaviourist B.F. Skinner went as far as to say in 1953 that they were...
Latest Blog Posts
A problem with: “I think therefore I am.”
René Descartes, sometimes referred to as the father of modern philosophy, summed up his famous views on how mind and body are separate in his book Discourse on the Method, published in 1637. In it, he explained the reasoning behind his seminal dictum ‘I think therefore I am’: “From this I knew I was a substance whose whole essence or...
Read the first chapter of ‘Enlightenment to Go’ here!
I wrote ‘Enlightenment to Go’ to help share the wisdom of Shantideva, an amazing Buddhist sage who composed the world’s first self-help book, back in the eighth century. If you really want to understand the essence of Tibetan Buddhism, there is no better source than Shantideva – who the Dalai Lama, and many other Tibetan lamas, frequently refer to. ...
7 things the Dalai Lama’s Cat would tell Grumpy Cat
We all love Grumpy Cat. Not just because she is a feline with an amusing frown and scowl. Nor because her response to everything seems so irredeemably – if humorously – grouchy. I suspect we also love her because we recognise that there is a little bit of Grumpy Cat in us all. She is the outer manifestation of our...
How meditation helps create ideas that resonate
As every creative person knows, coming up with fresh ideas is often not the challenge. The challenge is coming up with fresh ideas that resonate. Whether you wish to be taken seriously by the literary elite, sell truckloads of paintings to hotel decorators, or have your sculpture find a permanent home on a municipal plinth, at some level your creativity...
Mindfulness and the Creative Process – Perth Seminar with David Michie!
Do you often start creative projects but can’t seem to follow them through? Are you frustrated by the results of your creative efforts to date? Do you know you could do more with your creativity but aren’t sure where to start? Would you benefit from a creative kick-start? David Michie is the internationally best-selling author of The Dalai Lama’s...
What does The Power of Meow really mean?
I am sometimes asked by some readers to explain the meaning behind the title of my third Dalai Lama’s Cat book, The Power of Meow. Just as the second title, The Art of Purring is a play on The Art of Happiness – a book closely associated with His Holiness – this third title is a similarly feline allusion to a little-known...
Prague launch of ‘The Magician of Lhasa’
Earlier this month, Robert Gajdos and the team at Synergie Publishing hosted the launch of my novel The Magician of Lhasa in Prague, Czech Republic. Launch activities included a signing at Neoluxor Books – a very large bookshop in Wenceslas Square – and a separate media launch. Two Czech TV and theatre stars, Ivana Jiresova and Nela Boudova, who enjoy...
Read the Prologue and Chapter One of ‘The Power of Meow’
Prologue I am ashamed to have to begin this book with a confession. A revelation so embarrassing I’d much rather not be making it. Living with the Dalai Lama, surrounded by monks at Namgyal Monastery, and constantly encountering the most revered meditation masters in Tibetan Buddhism, one would assume that among my many admirable qualities I am an accomplished meditator....
Suffer from mental fleas when you meditate? Four points to encourage you from The Dalai Lama’s Cat.
In my book, The Power of Meow, the Dalai Lama’s Cat begins with an embarrassing confession: “Living with the Dalai Lama, surrounded by monks at Namgyal Monastery, and constantly encountering the most revered meditation masters in Tibetan Buddhism, one would assume that among my many admirable qualities I am an accomplished meditator. Alas, dear reader, I am not! I may be...
Pets as partners on our spiritual journey – Buddhist wisdom
Buddhism is well-known as a tradition of inner transformation. But great practitioners down the ages have also emphasized that freeing ourselves from suffering depends on others. Progress in our inner development goes hand and hand with our outward behaviour. It is no coincidence that of the six perfections taught by Buddha, we practise the first three – generosity, ethics and...
Clive James and how death is the greatest meditation
I have always been a big fan of Clive James’s work (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_James) and was saddened to hear some time ago that he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. True to form, Clive has not allowed this diagnoses to stop his ongoing and amusing flow of insights, and in yesterday’s Sunday Times (UK) there was a major article about how his...
