Yesterday is gone forever and tomorrow is impossible to predict. Both the past and the future seem vanishingly faint and ghostly when compared to the earthy solidity of this minute. Yet virtually all of us, with the exception of newborn infants, operate with some...

My passion for solitude started very early. I was always walking away from home. At the age of four, I loved to explore the creek with the pussy willow trees behind the house. At six, I would roam all alone through the steep forested hills behind the zoo, enchanted by...

To be alive seems very different from being dead, but when we look into our bodies, the situation is not so clear cut at all. Millions of cells within us die every day, and millions are born. Even more intriguing is that most of these cells are not 'us'. These tiny...

When I look into myself, I see a endless succession of thoughts, sensations and emotions all within the framework of an ever-changing body. I find myself quite hard to grasp. I am too complicated, too disconcertingly variable. Yet, despite this, I still know exactly...

All moralities have a surprisingly selfish idea at their core: that what is good for me personally is right, and what is bad for me personally is wrong. The reason we don't habitually lie, steal and rape is not that God will be angry with us. It's that it doesn't...

The Olympic Games tell us that perfection is possible: that one man or woman can be faster or stronger, or more skilful in some peculiar way, than any other on Earth. Some champions on the winner's podium still look like dorks, but others shine with a radiance that...

Do you sometimes feel embarrassed, ashamed or guilty? I certainly hope so. These emotions are crucial if we want to survive and be happy as social animals. Only by having a sophisticated capacity for shame can we learn how to fit in, be good citizens, avoid disgrace...

I was recently talking with a psychologist friend about spiritual values such as detachment and becoming a dispassionate observer, and how these are currently reappearing under the guise of 'mindfulness'. He then made a forthright comment. "It is stupid to regard...

Most spiritual traditions regard humans as vastly superior to animals. While religion has now largely lost its authority, this patronising attitude towards animals stubbornly lingers on. Even non-believers tend to assume that all humans have some kind of soul, while...

The most famous healing sanctuaries in history are those of ancient Greece. They were found all over the archipelago and ranged in scope from health spas to mystical cults. Most were tiny but some were the size of small towns and were internationally famous. The great...