Dear 

I hope all is well with you. Earlier this month I went on a family holiday to Corfu in Greece. It was extremely hot, but I fell in love with the island. It was such a healing experience, spending hours in the warm calm seas, swimming and snorkelling, surrounded by the beautiful bays and mountainous landscapes. The landscape seems so timeless but pervaded with the lives of previous generations going back to ancient times. We met so many laid back, friendly people. Even the simple words of Greek I learned - efkaristo, kalimera - sound beautiful! I feel so home in the sea that I must have been a fish of some form in my previous life, or perhaps an aquatic mammal. (See the poem at the end of this newsletter.) 

To prepare for the trip I re-read a book about Greece, The Colossus of Maroussi, by Henry Miller, which I first read when I was about 20. It’s such a wonderful, spiritual, life-affirming book which powerfully conveys the beauty of the country. Miller had a powerful awakening experience while he was there, in which he felt completely liberated. As he wrote, "Our diseases are our attachments, be they habits, ideologies, ideals, principles, possessions, phobias, gods, cults, religions, what you please...Whatever we cling to, even if it be hope or faith, can be the disease which carries us off. Surrender is absolute: if you cling to even the tiniest crumb you nourish the germ which will devour you." Thinking back, I think that paragraph has influenced me a lot! It could have been the epigram to my last book Extraordinary Awakenings. 

Online Master’s Degree on Consciousness and Spirituality 

London Event – Talk at the 

How the Light Gets in Festival 
 

I'm looking forward to contributing to the How the Light Gets in Festival in 

London on Sat 17th September. I'm giving a talk on The Psychology of Spiritual Enlightenment and taking part in a debate on 'The Seduction of Thought.' Some more info here

Online Talk/Workshop on 

'Transformation through Turmoil'  

New Poems
 

Here is a poem inspired by my hours of swimming in the bays of Corfu last week:

I Could Learn to Live in the Sea
 
I could learn to live in the sea.
Off the coasts of Ionian islands
where the sea is warm and calm and clear
I could spend my days afloat
feeling the weight of the water against my limbs
lifting and holding and massaging me.

I would learn to hold my breath for minutes at a time
then rise to the surface to fill my lungs again 
like any other aquatic mammal. 
I might step ashore three or four times a day
to eat and drink and sleep
then return to the turquoise sea, like a worker back to his job.

Only my job would be to do nothing
other than to swim and float and glide
and lift my head above water at opportune moments
to see the glory of the morning sun breaking across the waves
or survey the distant mountains, or the still blue sky.

I don’t always feel at ease on land.
Space feels too empty. The atmosphere feels too light. 
Land-based life seems too frenetic
too competitive and complex.

In the sea, there’s no need to achieve anything
except to stay afloat.
Being – not doing - is the default mode.
Presence is as natural as swimming.
Awareness is as easy as seeing.
It’s impossible to be anywhere but now.

Nothing I achieve in my life on land 
could equal the easy, calm fulfilment 
I feel as I glide through water.
With each slow smooth movement of my limbs
the rich milky water nourishes my body
the undersea stillness calms my mind.

And I feel my oneness with the source of life 
with the vast unbroken ocean that enfolds the Earth
and with the whole Earth itself.

And here is another poem which came to me while I was swimming:

The Messenger

It’s not for you to decide
the direction of your life.

It’s not for you to determine
whether your life has meaning.

It’s not for you to deliberate
over whether you’re following the right path.

It’s not for you to doubt
whether your efforts are worthwhile
then grow despondent and give up.

It’s when you deliberate and doubt
that you overrule your intuition
and confuse your inner compass
and lose touch with your purpose.

You have to step aside
and trust the wisdom that is guiding you
even if you can’t comprehend it.

You have to step aside
and let your purpose flow through you
even if you can’t see where it’s heading.

You have to step aside
and leave your channel empty and open
so that your message is clear and unbroken.

Then you have to remain open
through indifference and admiration
through failure and success
until the whole of your message is delivered.

Then your message will make sense
and your meaning will be manifest.