WELCOME to  Leslie Ivan's page 

Tame your mind and search for truth    

Last update: November 24  2009 

The troubling issues of our times are many and the future of humankind is in jeopardy. People have made hills, canals, bridges, roads, buildings, cities for thousands of years and manufactured their own virtual world of beliefs. And now, humanity has reached a turning point in history, when survival will depend on the right philosophy, the wise choice of leaders, education of the mind, finding a new spirituality and the correct actions. You will find questions and reflections some time later on this site and would appreciate your views, critical remarks and opinions about controversial issues of today.

I am a retired neurosurgeon, not a philosopher, not a social scientist, but I studied science and art and have lived long enough to be called, - undeservedly - by one of my Indian students a "guru." Guru or not, I believe that "taming the mind,"- an expression I learned from Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama - is one of the most important methods through which people can improve themselves, whether they are the result of evolution or created by God.

Stop for a moment and consider some of my favourite quotations:

"Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises."
       - Samuel Butler 

"Self-discipline is crucial to a simpler, more contented life."
       – Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai Lama

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
       - Martin Luther King Jr.