You will notice that I have got into a rather religious mode - which is fairly odd for a man who is not 'religious' in the least. I have no faith, I have no answers. I can fully accept that nature could generate all this complexity unaided (it doesn't need a designer) - we may not understand it all, but Darwinism, Chaos Theory, Quantum Mechanics and other beautiful thoughts between them hint at how complexity emerges from simple elements. And as I don't really believe in Alpha and Omega (beginnings and endings) I am perfectly happy with the idea of an endless universe, whether it is expanding and contracting (breathing in and out) or unfolding, or whatever.

Some of the truly great old religions know full well that the whole thing is cyclic (Taoism, Hinduism) and mysterious. After all, is it really here at all? Once you consider consciousness, you HAVE to try to get back to the roots of any illusions we may be under.
The Universe is beginning to look more and more like a great thought.

And this is where we are a very young civilization, with an adolescent religion. Hence the pushiness and the certainty.

As I get older I become more reconciled to the fact that the world is a beautiful mystery. Nature is wonderful. Magic is alive.

I no longer look for the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything.

"ACCEPT THE MYSTERY"