The best ideas are common property
Our world often assumes that happiness is the highest human good. Happiness is measured, marketed, pursued, and celebrated. But what does it mean to live a truly fulfilled human life? From both Christian and Buddhist perspectives, happiness is important to human wellbeing, but genuine and lasting happiness cannot be detached from truth, virtue, compassion, and …
Continue reading "Christian and Buddhist perspectives on happiness"
Few questions have occupied human beings more persistently than the question of the nature and source of happiness. Across the ancient world, philosophers, sages, and spiritual teachers sought to understand what constitutes a good life and how human beings might attain lasting fulfilment. Although these traditions emerged independently in Greece, Rome, China, India, and the …
Continue reading "Ancient philosophical traditions on living well"
Ruins of old abbey building on the Island of Iona near Mull in west Scotland The small Hebridean island of Iona has long occupied a place in the religious imagination of Europe. Barely five kilometres long and home to a small resident population, it attracts thousands of pilgrims, tourists, clergy, artists, and spiritual seekers every …
News that the world has seen the arrival of its first trillionaire captures public attention because it triggers shock and envy, and pushes familiar questions about wealth into unfamiliar territory. Human societies have always contained rich and poor, merchants and labourers, rulers and subjects. Yet a personal fortune measured in trillions of dollars represents wealth …
Earlier this year, I was present at the Sydney protest rally where Grace Tame made her now infamous pro-Palestinian speech and called on supporters to "globalise the Intifada." I have also heard the phrase used at other gatherings and protests. And I am aware of the strong opposition to those who use the term and …
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