Steve Taylor's July Newsletter

Published: Sat, 07/30/16

Dear ,

I hope all is well with you. By the time you read this I’ll be on holiday. I’m heading to Germany with my family. I lived in Germany for four years in the 1990s, and haven’t back there since 2001. I’m looking forward to seeing some old friends, and to showing my kids the places where I used to live. I lived in Eastern Germany, just a year or two after the end of the Communist era, and it was a strange and exciting time, like slipping into a kind of limbo between two worlds, one that had died and the other just about to begin. I was a different person then - for a while I lost my identity, lost touch with my real self, and fell into depression and confusion (and some heavy drinking). But I think it was a stage I think I had to go through, and I was a lot stronger and deeper in the end.

So it will be great to go back - and I’m looking forward to speaking German again. I was quite fluent by the time I left, but have hardly ever spoken it since.

The day after I return from Germany, I’m travelling to the states. I’ll be spending a couple of days in New York. I have no plans there, just to wander around and take in the city. However, I will be meeting up with my friend Edward Hoffman, the renowned transpersonal/positive psychologist who is the author of one of my favourite collections of spiritual experiences, Visions of Innocence. A few years ago, Ed and I worked on a proposal for a book on the spiritual aspects of parenting, from a father’s perspective - but we didn’t get any interest from publishers (we might go back to it someday).

After that then I head up to New York State. Which reminds me:

Last Chance to Enrol on my Workshop at the Omega Institute!

As you may know already, I’m leading a weekend workshop at this beautiful setting, on the weekend of 12-14 August.

https://www.eomega.org/workshops/the-calm-center#-workshop-description-block

There are still places left if you’re interested.

New Essays on my Website

I recently collected some of my recent essays and articles, so that they could be uploaded on to my website. There are five of my recent academic articles, including my essay ‘Beyond the Pre/Trans Fallacy’, which is all about childhood spiritual experience, and suggests that children live in a natural spiritual state. I argue against Ken Wilber’s view that children are in a ‘pre-egoic’ state and so can’t experience genuinely spiritual states or stages.

There is also my essay on Colin Wilson’s book The Outsider, published in a book to celebrate his 80th birthday a few years ago. The Outsider was a very important life-changing book for me, and Colin Wilson’s work in general was a massive influence on me. Later I had the pleasure of getting to know him, and he was extremely kind to me, writing a foreword for my first book and giving me a fantastic endorsement for The Fall. So I felt that this essay was an opportunity to return some of his generosity and to acknowledge his influence.

The new essays are here: https://www.stevenmtaylor.com/essays/

Returning to The Calm Center' Online Course

Last year I ran a five week interactive online course based on my book The Calm Center. It was a great success, and many people have asked me when I’m going to run another. So I’ve decided to hold a new one, beginning on 28th August. It will cost £40 (approx $55) - which is just enough to cover my costs and also make a small profit.

The ‘Returning to The Calm Center’ course includes elements from my earlier book Back to Sanity. It is designed to show you the essential aspects of spiritual awakening, and to guide you through the process of transformation. It will help to cultivate the fleeting moments of harmony that we all experience from time to time, so that they can become our permanent state. The course will include many of my spiritual reflections and meditations, with exercises and discussions based on them.

Each week you’ll participate in an interactive live audio and visual presentation. During each live session, you will be able to ask me questions at any point. This means that you never need miss a point which needs clarifying. There will also be a complete recording of the session which you can have access to at any time. These are great for review, since you can skim them quickly to find the point you want. It also means it’s not such a problem if you can’t attend each live session. You will be given exercises each week to help you to gain access to, and cultivate, a permanent state of inner harmony. Materials and worksheets are also provided to aid you in these exercises.

For further information, or to sign up, please go to:

https://www.stevenmtaylor.com/online-courses/

That’s pretty much all for this month. But let me leave you with this thought from one of my poems - a helpful reminder, in case you become disturbed by memories from the past, or anticipations of the future:

All best wishes and blessings, Steve