Steve Taylor's April Newsletter
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Dear
I hope all is well with you. I’m writing this on a plane, returning from a short trip to Mallorca, where I’ve spent a few days with my wife and two youngest sons. I couldn’t wait to get in the sea, and went swimming every day, even though it was a bit cold. Swimming in the sea is one of my favourite activities – once I’m in, I find it difficult to get out, no matter how cold it is. I feel
like I’m home, exactly where I’m meant to be. I love to watch the endless waves in the distance, the sunlight reflecting off the water, and the sky and clouds above me. I feel like I become one with the water, and with the Earth itself. I also love to watch the sun rise over the ocean in the morning, when the sunlight breaks across the waves, into millions of flickers and flashes.
We also had a great time walking and cycling and playing sports. My kids are very sporty. It’s great fun to play football and tennis with them and helps me to keep fit. Next week I will be 55, so I need to make an effort to keep in shape!
In Mallorca, I also met up with my good friend Serge Beddington-Behrens. It was wonderful to see him in person again, after the Covid pandemic. Serge is such a wise and lovely guy, with a wonderful sense of humour. Over the past year (as you may already know) we’ve been holding on-line dialogues on spirituality, and will be holding another one at the end of May. Here’s a photo of us in
the square of Pollenca, where Serge lives.
The Clear Light Audiobook
Since my book The Clear Light was published around 18 months ago, many people have asked me if there is an audio version of the book. Finally, one is available - with me reading the poems (and also providing the music on my guitar). My son has helped me to produce it, and we've decided to sell it independently, which means we can offer a lower than normal price. You can buy it at the link
below. You provide your email address and after payment you'll be emailed a link to the audio files and a contents page, which you can download on your computer or phone. You can find the audio book here: https://stevesbookshop.com/
Spanish Translation of The Calm Center
It's great to see the Spanish translation of my book The Calm Center. I like to read foreign translations of my books - especially my poems - to improve my foreign language skills. It works, as long as I can remember the original English text. So maybe soon I'll be writing poems directly into Spanish! You can see the book here
DisConnected Cover
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been preparing my next book, DisConnected, for publication. Here's the projected cover...I think it's quite striking and captures the intent of the book pretty well. Let me know what you think.
Two Poems
Let me end this newsletter with a couple of new poems. About a month ago, I was feeling sad. I spoke at the service of a friend who died, I had a letter from a friend who is suffering in prison, and I spoke to another friend who is ill. I was sad about the war in Ukraine too. I felt a "great sadness," which expressed itself in this poem:
The Great Sadness
When the great sadness falls, let it seep into you.
No matter how dark and dense it feels
as it starts to engulf you, like a giant wave,
don’t resist or run away.
Stretch your being deep and wide
so you can contain the great sadness, and absorb its force.
Root yourself at the centre of your soul
so you can keep your balance, as sadness washes over you.
Then open yourself to the sorrow
of your friends who are ill or imprisoned.
Open yourself to the sorrow
of strangers tormented by senseless wars
or oppressed by brutal governments.
Open yourself to your own sorrow
for your loved ones who are struggling through this world
and the loved ones who have left this world
and whose absence brings a painful emptiness.
Put your life on hold, while the great sadness passes through you.
Give yourself time to retreat and rest, while you slowly process it.
Weep out your sadness - let it express itself.
It might hurt, but won’t damage you
as long as you don’t hold on to it or try to block it.
And after the great sadness has passed
you’ll feel cleansed and refreshed
like a plain that’s more fertile, after a flood has ebbed away.
And inside the great space of your being
you’ll feel deeper with humility
richer with sensitivity
more radiant with compassion
and more passionate with selfless desire
to alleviate the suffering that you sense
to meet pain with comfort, hope and love
and help the healing of the world.
The Deep Self
There is another self inside you -
not the restless self that always ruminates
about the future and the past
not the fragile self that craves for attention
and is wounded so easily by disrespect
not the anxious self that can’t live inside itself
and is always reaching outside for distractions.
There is another self inside you
that doesn’t consist of concepts
that isn’t sustained by thought
that isn’t enclosed inside your body
and doesn’t feel separate to the world.
There is a deeper self that rests
quietly, almost imperceptibly
behind the tumult of your thoughts
like the still blue sky behind dense, swift-moving clouds.
And your deep self is always ready to emerge
whenever you release your attention from thoughts
and let your awareness spread gently around you
opening your senses to the world.
Then your surface self grows softer, more porous.
Spaces appear between thoughts
and the deep self slowly seeps through
like sunlight through dissipating clouds.
As you become your deep self
you sense a shift of perspective
as if dust is falling from your eyes
and a landscape is becoming more distinct -
brighter, more spacious, less dangerous.
You feel relieved, as if you’ve woken from an anxious dream.
The problems of your surface self
and the dramas of your surface life
seem trivial, almost comical.
Now you feel connected to the world –
not an observer, but a participant
as if your being is fluid and permeable
flowing back and forth between you and the world
sharing the essence of everything you see.
You’re no longer restless and anxious
now that natural harmony flows through you.
You’re no longer fragile and incomplete
now that the wholeness of the world includes you.
And you feel the joy of self-recognition
of becoming who you always were
since your deep self is not another self -
it is simply you.
All best wishes and blessings, Steve
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