Sir John Templeton passed away about two weeks ago, a man truly for All Seasons, someone who went quietly, but who left a legacy, unmatched by many who have received more adulation than he. This is a little of what you can read in the book Sir John Templeton, By Robert L. Herrmann
Born in Tennessee, an outstanding student, who loved Henry Wadsworth Longellow's poems, particulary "A Psalm of Life" One of the stanza's, which he loved;
"Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time."
Sir John left his footprints on the sands of time, he became a world class investor, founding the Templeton Fund, which is world renown. When he achieved monetary success, he planned to give back in a most challenging way, and that was to unite science and religion, by establishing the John Templeton Foundation,in 1987.
In those days scientists, would turn away, when you established something by intuition, and not by the scientific method, forgetting that much of the Western World knowledge came from Intuitives, like Plato, and Socrates, for example.
Today, I like to think that the advances we are making into consciousness, are partially spurred by the dream of this outstanding human being, who wanted to find God in all religions, and in so doing bestow the prestigious Templeton Prize on outstanding people, for their efforts, toward these advances.
For example, the 1995 winner was mathematical physicist Prof Paul Davies who has written more than a dozen books , revealing how physics, mathematics and cosmology point to purpose and meaning in the Universe.
The prize has now been renamed, The Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities.
For those of us who are very spiritual, those of us who are "knowing" about the underlying reality of life, the words of Davies when he accepted that award are important,
"The emergence of life and consciousness, I maintain are written into the laws of the universe in a very basic way." (page 151) Sir John Templeton
Many other outstanding people have won the prizes which span over 25 years now, leading us to the conclusion that the universe is particularly suited for fostering the attitude of self sacrificing love, and requires it for its harmonious functioning at every level.
In my opinion, after absorbing the wonder of this man, who reached for the stars to help humankind, I think,these thoughts:
In these days of Terrorists fighting in the name of God, one can only wonder, how the great Religions of the World have lost their way? Why aren't radicals ousted from their religions, instead of being able to claim it as theirs? The true leaders of the true lessons of the Masters/God, have to go back to the tenents of the reality of the great religions, LOVE.
That is the challenge of this Century, it is obvious that the world is waiting for the second coming, which is not one man, but a group of men, who are known as leaders of the world's religions, who can stand up and say, enough! Religion is LOVE, in all its many ways, anyone claiming to be in our religion/s must follow the Master's teaching, or be ousted, forbidden to claim fellowship with the rest of us., forever shunned, until repentence and forgiveness is asked, and given.
