I hope you are well. Thanks ever so much to those of you who responded to the poems on presence I sent out recently - there were so many beautiful comments, and I’m glad that the pieces touched you. 

Let me start this newsletter by describing a nice synchronicity that occurred a couple of days ago. In January I have a talk in Bristol and its been on my mind to book some overnight accommodation. I was with my father and he told me that he'd like to write a letter to his cousin, who we used to see a lot of but haven't been in contact with for a few years. (I think there was some typical family falling out over something trivial - because my parents didn't go to their daughter's wedding.) My father can't write though, as he has Parkinson's disease, so I said he could dictate the letter to me...Then an idea occurred to me, and I said, 'Well why we don't we just phone John now?' I found the phone number in the address book and within a few seconds I was chatting to this relative who we hadn't heard from in years. Amongst other things, he told me that they had moved to Bristol a couple of years ago. ‘That's funny - I'm doing a talk in Bristol in January,’ I said. 'Well why don't you stay with us?' he suggested. 'It'll be great to see you again.' It turns out that they live about a mile away from where my talk is...And it was great to put my dad back in contact with his cousin after all that time. 

This synchronicity set me thinking about another one that happened many years ago at exactly this time of year. When I was in my late teens and early twenties I was very depressed and confused. When I was 22, there was one night when my depression reached a real trough, when I was rejected by a girl who I had convinced myself I was going to get together with. It seemed like the final straw, after years of frustration and disappointment, and I remember thinking, 'That's it - I've had enough. I've just giving up now.' I went back to my flat, lay down on my bed, feeling devastated. A few minutes later there was a knock at my door. It was Paul, a friend of mine.

“I was just walking past and I saw your light was on,” he said. “I've got this tape that you might like - a concert I recorded from the radio.”

He stayed for a few minutes, then left me with the tape. It was labelled 'Van Morrison, Live at Glastonbury, 1987.' I'd recently listened to 'Astral Weeks' by Van Morrison, but didn't know any of his other stuff. I put the tape on as soon as Paul left and the music immediately hit me. The first song was called 'Foreign Window' and had a chorus which repeated the line 'In the palace of the lord.' I felt its spiritual power straight away, even though I knew very little spirituality then. Then there was a song called 'Dweller on the threshold' which seemed to be about being on the verge of something transcendent, breaking through to a new dimension. There was a song called ‘Summertime in England’ which talked about feeling rapture and wonder while roaming through the countryside. 

The tape became my constant companion, and I gained so much sustenance from it. It took me into a realm of harmony, and showed me a world of new possibility. Of course, after that I bought lots of records by Van Morrison, focusing on all the incredible spiritual and mystic albums he released in the 1980s. 

Another great thing about it was that towards the end of the ‘Summertime in England’ song, Van went into a monologue where he said, “I was thinking about a poem by D.H. Lawrence called The Song of a Man who has Come through.” Then he repeated it, saying, ‘I was thinking about a poem - look it up - called The Song of a Man who Has Come through.’ A week or so later I was in my local library and saw The Selected Poems of D.H. Lawrence.’ I remembered what Van had sung, saw that poem listed in the book’s contents, and borrowed it from the library. And over the next day or so, I was in ecstasy, reading the poems. I had read one of my D.H. Lawrence’s novels, but didn’t realise his poetry was so powerful and spiritual and beautiful. And almost 30 years later, he’s still my favourite poet. 

So I'll always be thankful to Van Morrison and my friend Paul. And when I think back, it was almost like an angelic intervention, which came at exactly the right time. It was my entry point into the world of spirituality. It’s almost as if someone said, “Steve’s not doing too good - we’d better help him along a little.”

Spiritual Science

It’s been three months now since my book Spiritual Science was published. Sales haven’t been great so far - I think because a lot of spiritually-minded people aren’t interested in science, and vice-versa - but it’s had a great reception, so I’m optimistic that it will spread by word of mouth. The first review - by David Lorimer in Paradigm Explorer - describes the book as "A brilliant and eloquent book that is essential reading for our times." So that's a good start!

Spiritual Science was inspired by one of my favourite books, Irreducible Mind. If you don't know it, Irreducible Mind is a weighty academic tome - a compendium of anomalous phenomena which can't be explained in materialist terms. It's not an easy read, but in my view probably the most important book published in recent years. So I'm really delighted that the authors of Irreducible Mind have provided a ringing endorsement of my book:

"In his acknowledgments Steve Taylor generously describes himself as being inspired to write a popular version of our book Irreducible Mind. In fact, he has accomplished much more than this. In a highly readable account of some of the issues and "rogue phenomena" we discuss in our book, he also takes on difficult new topics such as altruism and evolution, making crystal clear why our struggling postmodern civilization so urgently needs an expanded scientific worldview compatible with human spirituality." Edward F. and Emily W. Kelly, lead authors of Irreducible Mind

Meanwhile, there is still an ongoing debate about the book on the Integral World website (normally devoted to the work of Ken Wilber), with four articles from me, and several responses from other authors. You can read my article and the responses on the Integral World reading room, under ‘recent additions’ at this link: http://integralworld.net/readingroom.html

Reviews on Amazon

If you have read and enjoyed the book I would really appreciate it if you could write a short review on amazon, or the site where you bought it. I think one of the reasons why sales haven’t been great so far is because of the lack of online reviews.

High Existence Article

You might be interested in a new article I’ve written on HighExistence.com (a great site I’ve just started writing for) called ‘Alternative Human Nature.’ It’s an attempt to show that the standard view of human nature (as selfish and competitive) is wrong, and that in fact human beings are innately altruistic and cooperative. You can read the article here

BBC Documentary

As I mentioned last month, at the beginning of December I was featured in BBC1 documentary about religion and spirituality. I’m featured as an ‘expert’ explaining to the TV celebrity Cherry Healey that spiritual experiences shouldn’t just be associated with religion, as they normally occur outside a religious context. I appear for a few minutes after about half an hour. It’s a very interesting documentary about spiritual seeking and includes a great interview at the end with my friend William Bloom (well I’ve only met him briefly twice but really liked him!).

You can watch the documentary here - (Note - I’m not 100% sure that you’ll be able to watch it if you’re outside the UK.)

Events

Bristol, Jan 22nd 2019 - A Funzing talk on the ‘Science of Spirituality.’ Details here: https://uk.funzing.com/my/events/136947

London, Feb 5th – A Funzing Talk on ‘The Psychology of Spiritual Awakening.’ Details here. https://uk.funzing.com/funz/the-psychology-of-spiritual-awakening-20686

Winter Poem

Let me finish with a poem which I feel is appropriate at this time of year - a time of retreat and hibernation and realigning with ourselves.

 

The Centre of your Soul

 

When you’ve lost connection to your core

and feel vulnerable and rootless;

when you feel your separateness too sharply

and have forgotten your purpose, and started to drift

like a planet that has lost its orbit -

then it’s time to return

to the center of your soul.

 

There are three angels of inner peace: darkness, silence and solitude.

Let them immerse you, and soothe your restless mind.

Then allow yourself to sink, through layers of ever more subtle space,

back towards to the sun of your own being.

 

The radiance of your soul is so powerful -

so deep and rich and nourishing -

that soon you’ll feel replenished and reconnected

to the ground of your own being,

and to the unfolding arc of your life.

 

Then you’ll reemerge, sure-footed and strong,

ready to live your life anew,

like a convalescent, miraculously healed

by the holiness of your own being.

 

all best wishes for Christmas, and blessings for the new year, Steve

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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