Last week I gave a presentation at the God and Consciousness in Indian Traditions conference at Oxford on the subject of Consciousness, Agency, and Moral Responsibility in Vedānta. The talk compared three traditions: Śaṅkara’s Advaita Vedānta, Rāmānuja’s Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta, and Baladeva’s Acintya Bhedābheda Vedānta, with some further thoughts on the different ways in which we […]
Balliol College Chapel, University of Oxford 15th May 2022 Readings: Job 19: 21-27a; John 16: 5-15 For a pdf version click here. For the audio click here or on the link below (though there is a bit of an echo) There are a few interesting things going on in the two readings we’ve had today. They are quite […]
Sunday, 20th October 2019 Balliol College Chapel, University of Oxford Readings: Amos 5: 4-24; Matthew 7: 12-29 For pdf version click here. For the audio click here or on the link below (though there is a bit of an echo) Part of my preparation for this talk was a bit unusual – it involved binge-watching Christopher Hitchens debating various religious […]
The ‘No’ campaign against marriage equality in Australia’s upcoming plebiscite is a poisoned chalice for conservative Christians. The ‘No’ campaigners have misunderstood what this poll is about and they have misjudged the mood of the very people on whom their future depends. This is not a plebiscite about our personal views on marriage – it […]
Last year a friend confessed to how a simple question over drinks in the pub sent him off on a tirade about the abysmal state of politics in his country. He described his animated rant as ‘throwing the toys out of the cot’ like an enraged toddler. He was surprised by the depth of his […]
In her speech at the climate negotiations in Paris this week, Australia’s Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, tried in vain to make the case that “coal will remain critical to promoting prosperity, growing economies and alleviating hunger for years.” Australia has been mouthing ambitious-sounding platitudes, while consistently failing to deliver policies that would actually deliver an ambitious agreement. […]
This week I had the privilege of staying at Saccidananda Ashram in Tamil Nadu, India – the home of one of the greatest spiritual teachers of the twentieth century. The ashram, also known as Shantivanam (meaning ‘Forest of Peace’), lies on the banks of the Kaveri River, called the Ganges of the South. Sandy paths wind their way between […]
How can understanding complex systems, becoming conscious of our own cognitive biases, taking a sustainability reality check and embracing spirituality all help to make your business or organisation thrive? Last month I had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours exploring that question with a fantastic class of bright Monash University MBA students at the kind invitation of […]
If you could sum up the purpose of life in a single word, just one, what would it be? Love? Enlightenment? Salvation? Family? Friendships? Growth? What if there was a word that drew all of these ideas together? Epektasis is an ancient Greek word that was used to describe the endless expansion and unlimited possibility of […]
This article was originally published here by the Ethos Centre for Christianity and Society. By now you may have read some of the analysis of the federal Coalition government’s recent budget (e.g. here, here and here), or its Commission of Audit (e.g. here, here, here or here), which was released prior to the budget in an […]
I discovered recently that the crew at One Just World put up an excerpt from the panel I was on in February in which I was trying to explain the scale and urgency of the climate threat – in 3 minutes. Here’s the clip:
This article was originally published at The Conversation. Read the original article. In the coming months our new federal government will be promoting a massive expansion in Australia’s coal exports. In all likelihood they’ll hail it as “good For Australia”. It isn’t. Most of us are familiar with the damage coal mining, export and burning does to the […]
If you are of a certain age you may remember the 1990 federal election, with Andrew Peacock up against Bob Hawke. What you may not remember is that the Liberal Party took to that election, a policy of 20 per cent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2001. That’s right – in 1990, the year […]
This article was originally published at The Conversation. Read the original article. Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey and shadow Minister for Finance, Andrew Robb, have announced A$7.5 billion in planned budget savings from scrapping key elements of the Government’s Clean Energy Future package. By abolishing the price on carbon, a Coalition government would need to plug a hole in […]
Last week I was on a panel for One Just World at Federation Square’s Edge theatre for a discussion on the post-2015 international development agenda called The Recipe for Eradicating Poverty: Is there a Missing Ingredient? It was a great discussion and a fun night, with some terrific questions from the public. If you’re interested, here’s the video: […]
Last week I gave a presentation to the Master Builder’s Association on climate change and its projected impacts. One of the most difficult things to convey in such talks is context – what does 2, 3 or 4°C degrees of warming above pre-industrial temperatures actually mean? Richard Jones Executive Director of the International Energy Agency said in […]
In a café recently I saw a tall, strong, intellectually disabled teenage boy walk up to an elderly gentleman who was quietly sipping his coffee. The boy suddenly shouted at him and knocked his glasses off his face onto the floor. His poor, worn-out mother, who was on crutches, was mortified. She made her son […]
The OECD recently released its Environmental Outlook to 2050 report, subtitled ‘The Consequences of Inaction’. The English summary can be found here and key facts and figures here. As you might guess, it makes for grim reading. Here are some of the key points: World population is expected to increase from 7 billion today to over […]
I’ve been building this ‘new’ site for almost a year now, posting (very) intermittently, and uploading much of the content from my old site, as well as updating it. The focus has mainly been on economics, development, climate change and sustainability, under the banner of ‘integrated development’. But I realise I’d left out a whole area – […]
I’ve spent the past week on Heron Island of the coast of Gladstone in Queensland at the Heron Island Complex Systems Summer School, staying at the University of Queensland’s Research Station. It’s been a terrific week, with presentations on everything from bees, to finance to the Mayan civilization. Oh – and the snorkelling has been spectacular. […]
You may have heard of the role of the Cayman Islands, Jersey, the Isle of Man, the US state of Delaware and others as tax havens. But guess which one tops the dismal list of those facilitating global tax evasion and money laundering? Switzerland! So much for that image of a global public citizen. This week I […]
Last Monday I heard a fascinating talk by Santiago Arias, the technical director of Torresol Energy, which runs the new 19.9MW Gemasolar 24hr solar power plant. From Torresol’s website: Gemasolar is the first commercial-scale plant in the world to apply central tower receiver and molten salt heat storage technology. The relevance of this plant lies in its […]
Tonight I attended a useful seminar on the future of transport in Australia organised by the Melbourne Energy Institute and the Grattan Institute. Chaired by Professor Roy Neel, Chief of Staff to former US Vice President Al Gore and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University, speakers included: Ms Fiona Calvert, Director Strategy and […]
Well clearly I’m not overwhelming this site with posts so far! So to break the silence, here’s a clip of a talk I gave on the 10th of August at an event organised by Lighter Footprints. Thanks guys for organising a terrific night and for uploading the clip. The slides I’m referring to can be found here. […]
Hi all, Thanks for visiting. Well this site is very clearly under construction – including the colour schemes. I’ll gradually migrate much of the content over from my previous site which can be found here. Regards, Brett