If there’s one thing that has characterised my life more than anything else, it would probably be the focus on philosophy and truth. Even though I enjoyed a creative career as a graphic designer for about 15 years, I guess I was always something of a questioner, an intellectual.
Even so, it was only in my early twenties when I first remember being struck by the question: “What is the meaning of life?” And once I entertained this question, it was soon followed by a host of others… Who are we, really? What is the purpose of life? What is the true nature of the universe? How does life really work? Why are we experiencing what each of us is experiencing? Why is the world the way it is, and how can we change it – if we should?! How can we create and manifest more effectively? What is the key to happiness? How to achieve enlightenment?
These questions steadily became more and more important for me, and I engaged enthusiastically – ok hungrily – in any reading, discussion, contemplation, or groups I thought would bring me closer to solid answers, closer to Truth.
After years of sustained enquiry, I saw that India offered a very deep perspective of the big picture – also since Indian Philosophy spoke about Maya – the theory of illusions. It seemed to me that we had a much better chance of explaining “reality” if we admitted the possibility of illusions.
I then decided to make this my full time focus, and set off for India where I lived at an Ashram for three years. Here I engaged in intellectual inquiry and deep contemplation on the truth about life, in and through a structured investigation of the ancient Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism) philosophy.
(If you’re keen to know some of the conclusions I arrived at, you can read other articles on this blog, or for a quick read, see ‘Life, In a Paragraph‘.)
Upon returning from India, I started to engage in the world of money again, and in the process questioned some of my deeper beliefs about money. I had long thought that it was divergent from the spiritual path, and lived my life accordingly. Yet when I started to question its nature, I saw that money is an integral part of our modern world and our world is an extension and expression of spirit. This exploded into a whole new focus for me! Besides, in my wanting to contribute towards creating a more enlightened world, this insight by Bernard Lietaer spoke volumes to me: “Money is the highest leverage point for change in our society.”
So if I had to list some aspects of my current focus, it would be this:
- Exploring where money meets spirituality and enlightened living.
- Creating individual abundance and collective prosperity.
- Focusing on eradicating poverty from our culture as soon as humanly possible.
- Questioning what true wealth is, and teaching these enlightened ideas.
- Examining what we currently value, and how shifting these values can benefit us.
- Transforming of our monetary system towards one which is a reflection of an enlightened humanity, of oneness, fairness and love.
- Exploring the creation of alternative and community currencies to bring about more balance and abundance.
- Creating freedom and abundance for all.
I’m also passionate about the internet and emerging technologies, and how these can play a role in our individual and planetary transformation.
And I’m inspired to contribute to a more accurate understanding globally of ‘how it all works’, and to share this knowledge to help steer our world back to Peace, Equality, Abundance, Love and Joy. I have a dream…