March 3, 2024

Continuing the series of Essays dealing with the choice between worldviews we each must make, it is important to consider how science might impact this choice.

Science is central to the modern world, so it is critical to examine how, or if, it might help us decide if we live in a moral world, and whether we should choose to live by the worldview of Materialism or that of the wisdom traditions.

The fascinating answer is that science does not have a position on either of these questions, and does not even provide much guidance on them. Since the dawn of modern science over 400 years ago, however, most scientists have overwhelmingly chosen for their own lives the belief that we live in a moral world, and that the worldview of the wisdom traditions is more likely to be true than that of Materialism.

The reason is simple: Although science is the cornerstone of everything we know about the material world, many of the most important things in life are outside the realm of the material. Since they cannot be measured or calculated, they cannot be dealt with using any scientific methods.

What Science Can and Cannot Do

We have learned many important things through science. In cooperation with its close ally, technology, wonderful inventions, marvelous tools, and useful objects have been developed — including medicines, airplanes, lasers, computers, agricultural innovations, magnificent buildings, rockets that travel into space, and so much more.

Science has incredible tools for accomplishing plans, goals, and ambitions. If you decide to go to the moon, science is indispensable. But it is not much help in deciding what is important in your personal life. In the public domain, when making decisions, science has little to say about which priorities should be funded among all those that require funds: Should the available money be used for going to the moon, improving highways, providing increased support for the military, or feeding those who are hungry? Continue reading “Science and a Moral World” →

February 3, 2024

Our country, and our world, are in a time of great turmoil — including wars, intense political conflict within many countries, and mounting climate problems all over the globe. These in turn are causing vast migrations of people seeking safety and a better life — but there is nowhere for all these people to go without causing disruption, division, and sometimes outright hostility.

Added to this array of problems is the impact of living in an age of instant communication, which is too often used to spread fear, anger, resentment, and blame. One result is an increasing level of polarization, causing communities to break apart and increasing numbers of individuals to feel alone, adrift on a turbulent sea. Loneliness, frustration, and despair are rising rapidly, and it is hard to envision what the future will bring.

The Perennial Message of the Wise

We humans have both good and bad tendencies within us. Throughout history, those seeking wealth and power have exploited our dark sides for their own gain, feeding our fears, stoking our anger and greed, urging us to blame others and look out for ourselves only.

On the opposite side, brave men and women have arisen in every age who have encouraged us to act from the “better angels of our nature.” They have taught the message of compassion, love, kindness, and concern for others. They have counseled that the only way we will have fulfilling lives ourselves, and the only way our communities will be peaceful and nurturing for all members is if we make an effort to live by shared values. Continue reading “Compassion, Love, Wisdom, Service” →

January 1, 2024

After surviving for 80 years with most of my faculties intact, perhaps I have earned the privilege of offering a few words of wisdom to those passing through this thing called life. Although it has sometimes been called a “vale of tears,” and it can certainly be that, it can also be a marvelous adventure and a wondrous mystery — filled with joy, beauty, and love.

Of course, there are many problems in our world, and we must try to deal with them as best we can. But every age has had its dire predictions and warnings of doom, yet we humans have always muddled through, and sometimes thrived.

The current estimate is that our universe has been around for about 14 billion years, and the human species has been on Earth for over 2 million of them. Further, the brain size of average human beings 300,000 years ago was about the same as ours, and people living 100,000 years ago probably had the same capacity to learn and develop as do we.

During that long expanse of time, before you and I were born, there were great disasters and incredible achievements in the human community, and it is likely this will be the case into the foreseeable future. One estimate is that this Earth will be around for another 5 or 6 billion years. So, although we often take our own individual lives to be the center of everything, a lot went on before our brief sojourns here, and a lot is likely to happen after our current lives end, both good and bad.

In this broad framework, there is only one pressing question we each face right now:

How will I live for the rest of my life? Continue reading “80 Years of Lessons” →

November 20, 2023

As I finish 80 years of life — a life filled with exciting adventures and unexpected experiences — gratitude and wonder are at the top of the list of feelings. How did I receive the privilege of this life; how did it happen that I awakened one day into the gift of awareness, of having a conscious experience of living this particular life.

What a blessing it now seems, to have found myself on a planet with so many pleasures and delights, and with the gifts of seeing, hearing, and all the other senses available to experience it. As Thomas Traherne put it in his poem “Salutation”:

How could I expect smiles or tears,
Or lips or hands or eyes?

With Traherne, before they were just there, I too:

Did little think such joys as ear or tongue
To celebrate or see:
Such sounds to hear, such hands to feel, such feet.

Yet he concludes:

The earth, the light, the day, the skies,
The sun and stars are mine — if these I prize.

I too was given this Earth, and the ability to experience it personally, and even the capacities to learn, remember, and reflect. From those gifts, I have been able to put together my own life story, and even (I hope) gain a certain measure of wisdom. Continue reading “Reflections on Turning 80” →

September 24, 2023

The fourth Essay in the Two Worldviews series tackles the questions of why bad things happen, and if the world can really be a good place when there are so many problems.

Does the world seem like a good place to you?

In the United States especially, but other countries as well, polls show that the prevailing attitude about the nature of the world has fallen dramatically in the last few decades. This has led to a sharp rise in loneliness, alienation, drug use, and suicide — even among young people. Albert Einstein defined, in his view, the most important question facing humanity: “Is the universe a friendly place?” And Einstein concluded that he believed that it is, a similar conclusion to that of Martin Luther King, Jr. when he said, “The arc of the moral universe is long,” but it bends toward what is right and good.

Why Do Bad Things Happen?

Skeptico: If the world is a good place, why do bad things happen so often?

Wisdom Seeker: Because most of the time you identify “good” with what you want, with what suits you and your friends. But the world is not set up to fulfill your immediate desires; it is not organized to give you what your ego wants. Thus, before you can really know whether the world is a good place, whether it is friendly to us, you must understand what “good” actually is. Continue reading “If the World Doesn’t Seem Good” →

August 24, 2023

The third Essay in the Two Worldviews series considers the evidence for the worldview of the wisdom traditions.

Either you believe that the wisdom traditions are grounded in a Source to which we can all turn to establish justice, truth, fairness, and other principles we share concerning how we will interact with each other, or you believe that everything came about through random interactions of material things. The latter perspective is the worldview of Materialism, which denies the existence of any underlying values or meanings.

If you choose the latter, then each individual is finally alone, as the existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre maintained. You might join a group for protection, to fight for group power, or for social interaction, but each person in the group will ultimately be in it for themselves. There will be no shared recognition of justice or truth or the common good. Rather, each person will see the group as a place to get what they personally want, will use it to serve their self-interest.

Skeptico: Why does that happen?

Wisdom Seeker: Those who do not believe we are connected with each other in some fundamental way, or who do not accept that there are values that exist beyond the individual, will see no reason to refrain from continually trying to get what they want for themselves, however they can. For those who choose to live within this framework, the final resolution of the endless conflicts it brings can only be through power, so each person will attempt to secure and hold as much power for themselves as possible. Continue reading “Is This a Moral World?” →

July 12, 2023

This is the second Essay in the series entitled Two Worldviews. It focuses on how I made my choice between the two worldviews, and some of the experiences that have confirmed that choice for me over and over.

Skeptico: As I understand what you are saying, the wisdom traditions of the world share the view that values and meanings have a reality grounded in a dimension beyond the individual, that these exist independent of any one person’s wish or whim.

How this came to be is not agreed upon, but the conviction that there is an underlying Source for values and meanings is universal to all. Further, all agree that each of us has the capacity to harmonize our lives with this Unseen Order. Last, each tradition has its own name for this Source, this deep Order, but I like how Plato described it as the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.

Continue reading “How I Chose My World” →

June 15, 2023

He who is not contented with what he has would not be contented with what he would like to have.
– Socrates

Greed is good! Greed is right! Greed works! Greed will save the U.S.A.!
– Gordon Gekko in the movie “Wall Street”

A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.
– Proverbs 22:1

The one who dies with the most toys wins.
– Bumper sticker

Embrace simplicity. Reduce selfishness. Have few desires.
– Tao Te Ching

The state of nature is a state of war of all against all.
– Thomas Hobbes

The World in Which You Will Live

The world of the future will be different for each of the 8 billion people who live on this planet today. Each of us will experience, to a significant degree, the world we create: Our personal reality will be based on the beliefs we hold and the way we understand and interpret past, present, and future. And the choices we make in response to those things. Continue reading “Two Worldviews – and You Must Choose” →

April 9, 2023

We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.
– Winston Churchill

To share often and much … to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.
– Albert Schweitzer

In nothing do men more nearly approach the Gods than by doing good to their fellow man.
– Cicero

The perfume of sandalwood,
The scent of rosemary and jasmine,
Travel only so far in the wind.
But the fragrance of goodness travels with us through all the worlds.
Like garlands woven from flowers,
Fashion your life as a garland of beautiful deeds.
– The Buddha

Reasons To Be of Service

There are many ways to find pleasure and satisfaction, but most are fleeting, often dissolving like a mist before the moment is fully past. On the other end of the spectrum, there are only a handful of ways that people have found lasting fulfillment or a sustained sense of meaning. Among those few, service is the path more have taken than any other. Perhaps this is because we sense that we are inextricably connected to others, to nature, and to everything at a fundamental level.
Continue reading “The Call to Service” →

March 28, 2023

Continuing with the theme of the last Essay, “The Web of Life,” all the wisdom traditions throughout history have been based on the recognition of an underlying unity, a connectedness in the universe.

The revolutionary ideas of Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes, Bacon, Kepler, Newton, and others in the 16^th and 17^th centuries ushered in a new era of thought, and the scientific revolution took off on a rapid and dramatic ascent. Importantly, though, all these key figures who set this ascent in motion continued to believe there was an overall unity in the universe and that a Divine Order provided the basis for that unity. Even the least religious figure among them, Francis Bacon, had this to say:

“A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion. For while the mind of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them, and go no further; but when it beholdeth the chain of them, confederate and linked together, it must needs fly to Providence and Deity.”

Among the leading lights of this revolution, some were quite religious, including the most celebrated of all, Isaac Newton. Nor did their scientific ideas interfere with the belief in an orderly, unified universe. In fact, the idea that there was an order and connectedness underpinned all that they did — their shared mission was to understand it.

Continue reading “The Connectedness of All Things” →

February 25, 2023

Are we humans somehow connected to others in a deep way, or is life an individual journey, perhaps even a fight for survival?

Looking back over my life, most significant memories involve other people: romantic relationships, intense conversations, experiencing other cultures, doing something for another person, working with a team or tight-knit group, being recognized by others for an accomplishment, winning a competition planned by some organization, reading a book and feeling a connection with the author, and writing with an awareness of readers who might find something I say worthwhile.

These are the positive memories. But there are many on the other side of the ledger; negative memories of being criticized by a friend or rejected by someone with whom I was infatuated, being embarrassed when my mistakes or errors were discovered by others, feeling disappointed by the actions of friends or family, hearing negative gossip about myself among other people, and when others pointed out the failure of projects I had undertaken.

In addition to memories, most of my longings and fears have been tied to other people: the desire for acknowledgement and to be recognized; the search for emotional closeness and connection; sexual longings; worldly ambitions; wishing to be of service; hoping to make the world a better place. All these involve other people.

Surveying the vast range of feelings and emotions I have experienced — love, success, victory, anger, compassion, envy, fear, shame, guilt, and so many others — all are a part of the web of connections woven into the fabric of my life.
Continue reading “The Web of Life” →

February 4, 2023

I have heard the word joy used in numerous ways, and it always has a strong allure. But it also brings a nagging ache, for what I think of as true joy seems so rare. What does the word joy convey that seems so alluring, yet is so elusive as we go about our daily lives?

Is joy the feeling that comes when something good happens — winning a competition or gaining a prize? The reward of pleasant experiences or satisfying sensations?

These do not capture the experience of true joy for me. It is deeper, richer, touching a different level of my being.
Continue reading “Is Joy Possible?” →

January 15, 2022

It is better to light one small candle of gratitude than to curse the darkness.
– Confucius

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.
– Cicero

Wise men appreciate and are grateful.
– The Buddha

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.
– Paul

A grateful mind is a great mind which eventually attracts to itself great things.
– Plato

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.
–  Meister Eckhart

The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.
– Nietzsche

Your depression is connected to your insolence
And refusal to praise
Whoever feels himself walking on the path
And refuses to praise
that man or woman steals from others everyday
Is a shoplifter.
– Rumi

I can no other answer make
But thanks,
And thanks,
and ever thanks.
– Shakespeare

A lot of attention has been given in the last few years to the value of gratitude in aiding one’s life — to improve mood, attitude, and even health — and those effects are real and valuable. There has also been increased recognition of the importance of being grateful and thankful toward those you care about — which improves and deepens relationships — and this is extremely valuable.

But I want to focus on another value of gratitude and thankfulness in this essay — how they can help us grow emotionally and spiritually. If you want to become more psychologically and emotionally mature, and especially if you want to grow spiritually, one of the most important traits to develop is gratitude — thankfulness for the good there is, for “what is.”
Continue reading “Gratitude, Thankfulness, Praise” →

Essay 9

September 10, 2022

In the ninth essay of Our Highest Possibilities, we look at one of the simplest – and most powerful – practices one can undertake to move toward meaning and fulfillment.

May 9, 2022

Every project, discussion, investigation, or attempt at understanding begins with what you think and believe at the beginning. Every single thing you do from this point forward in your life begins with the assumptions you now hold. Each of us lives within a vast framework of assumptions, and even the most scientific of endeavors rests upon a scaffolding of assumptions that will have a dramatic effect on the outcome.

If this is true of science, it is even more true of inquiries that involve things that cannot be precisely measured, including all philosophical, psychological, and spiritual investigations. And it is especially true when dealing with questions about how to live one’s own life.

My earlier books and essays discus these key ideas at some depth. If you would like to explore these ideas and assumptions more fully, or discover how I came to them, you can do so there. Continue reading “Everything Begins with What You Think You Know” →

Three Core Issues on the Spiritual Journey

This is a deep dive into three issues I have been trying to understand for a long time in my spiritual journey. In recent years, two teachers have been especially helpful with these questions: Tsong Khapa (1357-1419), the Tibetan Buddhist monk and teacher, and Meister Eckhart (1260–1328), the Christian theologian, philosopher, and mystic. This essay will focus on Tsong Khapa, and a later edition will deal with Meister Eckhart.

Since I do not read Tibetan, and have scant knowledge of their vast literature, the thoughts presented here will rely primarily on ideas shared by Robert Thurman. He was Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University until his retirement in 2019, held the first endowed chair in Buddhist Studies in the West, was the co-founder and president of the Tibet House in New York, and was the recipient of India’s highly prestigious Padma Shri award in 2020 for his work in the field of literature and education. Thurman started his personal Tibetan Buddhist practice in 1962 and was ordained as a monk by the Dalai Lama in 1965, thus probably becoming the first American Buddhist monk in the Tibetan tradition. Through the years, Thurman and the Dalai Lama have remained close friends. Continue reading “Tsong Khapa on Time and Timelessness” →

This book was written in 1989-90 and used in my first workshops for many years. It deals with the Hero’s and Heroine’s journey, focusing especially on the psychological insights of Carl Jung, as well as the ideas of Joseph Campbell and Helen Luke. In the tradition of these three authors, I take the ancient story of Odysseus as a symbol for the journey we all must make if we are to find meaning and fulfillment for ourselves.

This document is the whole book. To retain all the forrmating, footnotes, spacing – which is hard to duplicate on line, you can download the book in PDF format.  Quest Manuscript PDF

December 19, 2021

For several years our country—and the world—have been going through ever-increasing difficulties: political turmoil, Covid, economic disruptions, mounting climate problems—all increasing the level of polarization, resentment, blame, anger, frustration, loneliness, and despair. It is hard to see what will come of all this.

In the face of these difficulties, these things I know:

1. If there is a way through to a better place in our relations with each other, it will be through an increase in understanding, respect, and consideration for others.

2. If there is any chance to create a better world, the path will be through kindness, compassion, and love.

3. No matter the state of the world around us, each of us has the capacity to increase kindness, compassion, and love within ourselves, and to share those energies with others.

4. Each of us can find a place of peace inside ourselves to organize around, no matter the state of the world. The greatest souls have been forged on the anvil of difficulties, and the great exemplars of humanity have been shaped and molded in the fires of trial and tribulation.

5. As long as we seek only to make our own lives better, we will fail. We are inextricably connected with others and to the greater whole. Without a connection to something larger than our personal ego concerns, life’s trajectory is inevitably downward toward meaninglessness and death.

Continue reading “Compassion and Service” →

November 24, 2021

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I watch the sum come up on this bright, cold, morning, I want to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving and a bountiful day, and week – and rest of your life.

There are so many problems in our world today I seldom take the time to remember all the blessings. So many people through history have lived through times that were much worse: terrible wars, famine, lack of basic necessities, starvation, and on and on. I have read a good bit about the Civil War this year to remind myself how fortunate I am—we all are today.

For anyone who wishes to be more thankful for what they have, however, it won’t happen by chance: You will have to choose it. As Samuel Johnson said:

“Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation.”

At the end of his play, Twelfth Night, Shakespeare has only one final message: Continue reading “Thanksgiving 2021” →

December 24, 2020

Hello Everyone,

Who will you be on the other side? (The thoughts below are for those who did not receive this earlier through the Meaningful Life Center, and also to highlight the links at the end as a gift for the holiday season.)

As we move through this difficult time, it is hard to think of spring, of flowers, of the end of the pandemic. Covid has taken a heavy toll—in lives, as well as in our collective spirit. Now we have come to the depths of winter. The questions for each of us are: How can we use this time of darkness to move toward renewal and rebirth—which the solstice, Christmas, and a New Year all symbolize. How can we keep the flame of possibility for a better time alive? How do we nurture ourselves and others during this winter of our collective discontent?

The answers, of course, constitute the substance of what the great wisdom teachers through history have shared—that we must use the challenges of our lives as a stimulus for healing and growth; that we must cultivate a vision to which we give our energies, and we must use our intention and determination so that renewal and transformation spring forth from the ashes of our tribulations.

Ultimately, the only way to accomplish this is through metanoia. This word is used frequently in the original Greek of the New Testament by both Jesus and Paul, but is often translated into English as repentance. A much better translation, however, would be “to change the way we see things, to change our consciousness.” Metanoia points to the necessity that we must change our way of seeing, we must undergo a transformation in order to give birth to something greater within ourselves. Continue reading “Finding Peace Beyond the Darkness” →

May 26, 2020

As this challenging time continues, the Meaningful Life Center will continue with our on-line offerings through the early part of the summer. Hopefully you will find one or more of them worthwhile.
Meaningful Life Center

Since we are living more of our lives online, here is a short fun video in which a young woman talks to her past self from 3 months ago. It makes vivid the changes in our world in a very short time.
Explaining the Pandemic to my Past Self

If you like music, here is a YouTube music clip made during an earlier crisis, but the message is very relevant to our time as well. Your test this morning: can you name all the singers?
USA for Africa Concert

One thing I have been doing during this time is to read about past crises in many different periods in the U.S. and around the world. Doing this has been bracing, sometimes sad, and quite often inspiring. We humans have faced so many difficult times, and each time we have overcome the difficulties, sometimes with courage and grace. There are so many inspiring stories – famous people like Florence Nightingale, Winston Churchill, Dorothy Day, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela. But there are millions of those less well known who have acted with courage and determination in the face of great challenges. Continue reading “Making the Best of it in Times of Crises” →

April 18, 2020

As this time of crisis continues, one important action each of us can take is to cultivate a sense of peace and calm within ourselves, and then share those energies with anyone with whom we have contact, whether in person or via the various electronic devices we use.

The other thing we can do is find ways to help others through this crisis. Some are in a position to take actions that will affect many other lives, but the rest of us can find small things to do for those we know and for those most in need. In a previous email, I listed some local organizations that were helping others during this pandemic.
https://ameaningfullife.org/uncategorized/finding-peace-in-perilous-times/

Here are two national stories of those who are finding a way to help and serve:

https://www.politico.eu/article/coronavirus-heroes/

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/21/us/coronavirus-good-deeds-helpers-trnd/index.html

And here are two articles that suggest various ways we can help:

How You Can Help During The Coronavirus Outbreak – The Washington Post

  9 Ways To Help Others During The Coronavirus Pandemic – The Idealist 

As for cultivating inner peace, a few thoughts: Continue reading “Resources for this difficult time” →

April 13, 2020

We are living through a very dramatic time, and each of us is being challenged in many ways. This crisis has affected almost every person and organization in the country. All of us at the Meaningful Life Center have certainly been affected. Until this event, I could never have imagined anything that would have caused us to cancel all our in-person programs.

But that is a very small thing in the large scheme of events – it is almost beyond my imagination to think of all the restaurants, not only in Knoxville, but in the entire country, closed. And shopping malls, airports almost deserted, and on and on. But here we are.

FINDING PEACE

As I think about these times, it is hard to know what each of us can do to solve this great societal crisis. But each of us can make a monumental effort, deep within ourselves, to find inner peace and calm, and then share those qualities with everyone we touch (however that happens, in these extraordinary times). Some of the greatest figures in human history found inner peace in the worst of times. If you can do this, it will make a tremendous difference in your life and the lives of everyone you know. And who can say – perhaps the spreading ripples of your inner peace will affect many more people than you could ever dream.

As you think about this possibility, bring to mind the people you have known, and perhaps some historical figures, who seem to have found inner peace. Reflect on their lives, who they were and how they lived. Then ask yourself: How were they able to find inner peace? Continue reading “Finding Peace in Perilous Times” →

Jan. 18, 2020
Through the years I often heard that the brain inevitably ages and deteriorates as we get older. Lots of new evidence says this is simplistic and misguided. A recent New York Times article (link at bottom of this essay) reminded me of several articles I have collected through the years about ways to maintain a healthy brain and mind. I thought I would share some summaries and excepts. There are of course many different opinions about these things, but here are some possibiities to think about, research, and consider for yourself.

Memory Loss Reversed
One study of 10 elderly people suggested that memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia could be reversed. The program at the UCLA/Buck Institute was personalized for each patient, based on extensive testing to determine what was affecting the person’s plasticity signaling network. Various strategies used in the program showed a reversal of memory loss in nine out of 10 of the patients: Continue reading “To Your Good Health” →

Today is the beginning of another series of emails. The topic is transformation. All the wisdom traditions say that to arrive at fulfillment, transformation is essential, and all present stories of transformation as part of their central teachings.

To read the essays, simply click the link to the right under Emails on The Journey

For you, right now, this is the beginning of the rest of your life. What will you do with it? All the wisdom traditions say that transformation is possible during whatever time remains in your life, no matter how old you are or what you have done, good or bad, up to this point. What if the full meaning of your life is yet to be determined? If you assume this to be so, how will you spend the remaining time and energy of your life?