Ajahn Brahm’s Talks Blog maintained by Ranjith Daluwatta. Click tabs on top for previous years

reativity and brain wave coherence • leads to better grades at school, and an improved memory • helps to quit smokingand alcohol addiction • emotions become more stable • relationships with just about everyone gets better • petty issues no longer have any sway over you • more self actualization • more acceptance of oneself Angelina: Do you pay your taxes like most people? Georgio: I suppose we share the biases of just about everyone in society. Lower taxes and limited government, or higher taxes and more government, are in question.  Take your pick, because there are valid arguments on both sides of the equation. Angelina: Do you believe in Global warming? Georgio: Based on climatologically records that have been kept over the past few hundred years, and geological research into climate over past millennia, it does seem that average temperatures are increasing. Now whether that is due to manmade pollutants, or other human activity; or natural causes beyond our control, that question is still up for grabs. Some of my scientific friends say that there is undeniable evidence that the current 7-billionpeople of this planet cause significant carbon dioxide emissions. We certainly pollute the waterways with pesticides and a multitude of other chemicals. The coral reefs in the world’s oceans are dying. Species are disappearing from the face of the earth. But my one geologist friend states that the current warming is all part of a natural cycle that the Earth goes through; from ice age – to warming – to the next ice age. The continents will all be rearranged again over the next 250-million years. Due to continental drift they will once again come together to form one big super land mass. But I do believe that we need to limit human created contaminates in the oceans, land and atmosphere, to keep the earth as pristine as possible. Be as friendly to this beautiful planet as you can. Angelina: What type of world government is best? Georgio: Any country that separates Church and State is preferable. Religious theocracies and religious republics are horrible, since they regularly prey onatheists and other minorities. Angelina: I’m curious as to what events and experiences in your life brought you to embrace atheism. Were you raised that way by your parents, or did you choose atheism for yourself? Georgio: As with me, many atheists grew up in families that were religious. My parents are Catholic and go to church every week. They consider themselves to be god fearing, charitable good Christians. When I was young I went to Church with my parents, but somehow what I learned there did not resonate with me. I didn’t know if there really is a God, because I never saw, heard, or touched him. Yes, there a plenty of status of Jesus and Mother Mary and the other Saints in Churches, but I never actually saw God with my own eyes. Some people say that they talk to God every day. But what is that all about? God is certainly not appearing and standing in front of them so that they could have a real face to face conversation. It seemed to me that just as children have invisiblefriends to play with, so to, that adult relationship with God is nothing other than imagination. It’s one sided, and then people look for events in their lives to “justify” or “prove” that God answered them. Faith is good for some things. Speaking for myself, just because I don’t know something first hand, that doesn’t mean it’s not true. In fact, our five senses perceived just a tiny fraction of what is happening in our environment at any one time. And the curtain of death is hidden from us all. The afterlife, if there is such a thing, must be wonderful because everyone who goes there doesn’t see fit to return. And yet for me, faith must build upon actual verification to be trusted. If my science professor tells me that electricity in the flow of electrons from negative to positive charge, and he shows me that in a laboratory experience, I start to have faith in his teaching. If later he tells me that space-time is all relative and depends upon the speed of the observer and the