Many of us have loved and lost an animal companion. It is truly one of life’s most harrowing ordeals. When we have especially close relationships with our pets, they are members of our family, often as loved as human members. Their passing creates a void we know can never be filled. Immediately after the passing...
Most of us can remember a few words that were spoken to us at a pivotal moment in our life which had a powerful impact. The person saying the words may – or may not – have been important to us. But whatever they communicated struck us with such compelling clarity that it made us...
Having moved from the Renaissance idea of mind as soul, through the materialist notion of mind as brain, Western scientists are now deepening their understanding of mind as a flow of energy, capable of consciousness and cognition. This explanation shares certain elements of the previous paradigms, while dealing with their more evident flaws. Like Descartes’s...
When we visit Africa, we feel like we’ve come home. The feeling may strike us in a myriad different ways. And not everyone experiences it as strongly. But over the years I’ve watched even the most sophisticated urbanites melt after a few days absorbing the unique energy of Africa. Africa is a whole continent,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
