Some Things To Know About This Site And Me …

The purpose of themiddleway.org is to help establish unconditional compassion among humanity. The consequences of a world where compassion reigned would be maximum well-being for all humans and saving our environment, our natural home. I have rarely been accused of thinking small, or even medium.

On a personal note, I am passionate about making a loving difference in the world, whether professionally or otherwise. It gives me tremendous pleasure, and I admit to being entirely self-serving in this regard. Perhaps, because I admit to being entirely selfish, Ayn Rand would be proud of me. If you, on the other hand, are angry and self-righteous, a holier than thou type of do-gooder, you are welcome here, but perhaps you could tone it down and rethink your bitterness. Compassion, to be unconditional, is for the good guys and the bad. Life is, after all, the totality of its pieces-the good, the bad, and the neutral. Invalidating any part is, in essence, negating the whole---life!

There is a middle path to being called "Madyamika" in Tibetan Buddhism. This is my model for living and I borrowed the name for this site. I am not a Buddhist, however, merely taking my wisdom where I can. The Buddhist middle path or middle way, as it is also known, dovetails perfectly with current academic science and philosophy. The middle path states that life is neither real nor unreal. (I will go into the philosophical foundations of Madyamika in detail in this site). In an exquisite manner, it allows you to take life real easy while, at virtually the same time, living with passion; like your hair is on fire, as some Buddhists have put it. To paraphrase the contemporary French thinker Baudrillard, you do not need to believe in life to live, and, I would add, to live very well!

I do not want to make this site about me, but, understandably, you may want to know a little of my life. I am a drug and alcohol counselor in a non-profit society. My talented and dedicated colleagues and I do psychotherapy for what drives most folks to become addicted-the emotional consequences of child abuse and neglect. As I always say, we do not deal with people who are sick, bad or stupid; we deal with the consequences of shattered childhood hearts! I have been married for thirty-seven years to my high school sweetheart. We have two great, grown up sons. We live in glorious Vancouver, British Columbia. Life ain't too bad.

Themiddlepath.org will publish pieces that align with its purpose. There will also be a place for discussion, and products that are appropriate will be made available commercially from time to time.

It is my opinion that humanity is entering a new age of profound possibility brought about by our current scientific knowledge and technology. What is now possible and, I believe, already evolving, is a new human consciousness based upon material sufficiency. The current old way is based upon scarcity. A sufficiency consciousness leads, naturally, to a lighter way of being; one characterized more by creative cooperation than deadly competition.

All discussions on themiddlepath.org will be measured by pragmatism, reason, and evidence based, scientific knowledge. Conflict and disagreement are welcome; invalidating someone personally for their opinions is not.

Lastly, because of my profession, the existential as well as behavioral nature of addictions, and the awful toll they take on us, I will also add addiction information on this site and welcome additional discussions in this area.

David Gregson - Dec. 29, 2004 Vancouver, Canada