Modern Man

About five to six million years ago, the succession of species that gave rise to us separated from the succession that led to the apes. As Robert Greene, author of “The 48 Laws of Power,” noted, “We want to believe we’re descended from angels when we’re descended from primates.” From a common ancestor, the apes [...]

The Struggle

Earth is a hostile place. Life is a high-risk and ultimately fatal activity. Those of us who ask for peace and justice ask for something no other life-form enjoys. Every form of life struggles to survive and reproduce from one day to the next. Every meal represents life for one life-form and death for another. [...]

BEGINNINGS

Our universe began with a violent Big Bang 13.75 billion years ago. Since then, violence has continued uninterrupted. Our planet, formed 4.56 billion years ago, is warmed by the nuclear explosions of hydrogen and helium gases that comprise our sun.  Everyday all life forms struggle, often violently, to survive and reproduce. Day in and out, [...]

We Are Challenged

              We are challenged to graduate from our genetically inherited and very problematical short-term survival instincts and related thinking that permeate everything we do (politics, religion, business, social interaction). We are challenged to move beyond antiquated and divisive religious thought and to find our transcendence in this world, not in an imaginary one. We are [...]

Opportunity And Responsibility

In summary, we must understand that these three foundational relationships are sacred. They must be honored. To do so is not easy. In the economy and culture in which we live, great attention and diligence are required to remain healthy, be kind, and not harm our environment. There are many among us who do not [...]

Relationships With Others

In a word, our relationship with others is about kindness. Too often, we act only in our perceived self-interest. We feel that if we do not look out for ourselves, who will? In an interrelated world, we are obliged also to look beyond ourselves. In the Talmud, Rabbi Hillel wrote, “If I am not for [...]

Relationship With Self

In a word, our relationship with ourselves is about health in all its mental, physical, and emotional dimensions. The health and well-being of each of us as individuals and collectively as organizations determines the vitality of our civilization and of our planet. We are each a cell of the body we call the human species. [...]

OUR COMPETING SETS OF SURVIVAL INSTINCTS

Be healthy. Be kind. Respect the environment.

Three Simple Rules

Many of us are familiar with the Ten Commandments that appear in Exodus, the second book of the Bible, written some thirty-three hundred years ago. What do these commandments say? The first four have to do with a god and the Sabbath. The remaining six are about behavior. We are told to honor our parents [...]

A World of Fiction and Fantasy

We advance technologically with relative ease but not so socially, politically, or intellectually. There continues to be enormous inequities and extraordinary amounts of violence in our world. We war with each other in every way conceivable. We destroy our environment and deplete our resources. Why is that?