This book began as jottings in a notebook I carried with me on walks through the rainforest in which our home is situated.

As I have grown older, it has become clear to me that many of the inherited assumptions on which we base our lives are not only erroneous, but topsey turvey. They represent the opposite of what the real situation is. Reality is not what we have taken it to be.

When I first began garnering the insights that were tumbling in on me, I tentatively named the project, "Upside Down". I selected this name for the file in my computer, into which these seed thoughts were dropped, because I was aware that many of the values that inform our lives do not hold up under scrutiny. This book seeks to tease out some of these contradictions.

In bodying out the insights that came to me on my walks, I had my children and grandchildren in mind. Not that they necessarily needed, or would welcome, my gratuitous advice; but I did wonder what I most wished to share with them of the wisdom I had garnered over the years.

This book is the result of my musings. It is not a prima, written by an authority, but a collection of random insights, loosely knit together, which I hope will be helpful to those who read the book.

I have grouped the chapters together into four general categories. There is nothing sacrosanct about these categories, but they do give some order to the book. The first section, "Perspective", explores, rather loosely, the [3] perspectives from which we view life. The second section, "Essence", focuses on essential elements of our experience. The third section, "Reality", investigates our quest for the real. The final section, "Reflections", deals with a number of specific issues.

The last thing I would claim for this book is that it offers a definitive answer to the questions it raises. It was written to gently nudge you into thinking more deeply about some of the unquestioned assumptions on which your life is based. I do not expect you to agree with my conclusions, but I do want to stimulate your interest in them. It is important that we pursue these issues for ourselves. Unfortunately, there are few who appear to be able to do this, or who want to do it. Most are unaware of the degree to which they are captive to the thoughts and ideas of others. This book is written to encourage you to search out and live your own truth. If it does this, it will have achieved its purpose.

Graeme Chapman

[ROI 3-4]