Beyond War - Steve Taylor's December Newsletter

Published: Thu, 12/28/23

Steve Taylor's December Newsletter

Dear

I hope all is well with you. I hope you've enjoyed the festive period and have relished the time with family and friends. However, in times of harmony it's important to reflect with a sense of gratitude, and awareness that others are not so fortunate.

Last week I held a webinar with my friend Serge Beddington-Behrens, on the theme of ‘Beyond War.’ Sadly, the topic is more relevant than ever. I wrote about the psychological and spiritual origins of warfare in my book The Fall. I’ve always found it very significant that warfare arrived very late in human history. In relation to all the time that we’ve lived on the planet, war is a very recent phenomenon. It started around 4000 BC, in the Middle East, and spread slowly over Europe and most of Asia. In The Fall I suggest that this eruption of warfare was due to a ‘ego explosion’ - a new sense of individuality and duality in human beings, that also led to patriarchy, hierarchy, sexual repression and other social pathologies.

Warfare is still caused by the ego. When we feel a sense of separation, there is a sense of lack, which creates an urge to accumulate wealth and power. On a group level, that translates into a desire to accumulate other people’s territory and possessions. A strong ego also reduces the ability to empathise with others, which makes it easier to ‘other’ them - to convince ourselves that they are different to us, members of a group which doesn’t deserve our morality. We can objectify groups of people, which makes it possible to mistreat and even kill them.

In order to transcend warfare, we have to transcend any notion of group identity. We need to identify simply as human beings - even better, as spiritual beings. We are citizens of the cosmos, not members of different countries or religions or ethnic groups. We are one the same, both physically and spiritually. (I include a poem on this theme at the end of the newsletter.)

The Adventure

It’s only a month or so now till the publication of my new book The Adventure: A Practical Guide to Spiritual Adventure. One of my favourite chapters is about altruism. In connection with war, oppression and discrimination, I write about how we sometimes deny altruism to people who belong to different groups. I share a visualisation exercise on ‘travelling to the moon’ to create a global sense of identity that transcends the idea of nationality.

If you haven’t seen it already, this is the final front and back cover of the book:

If you’re intending to buy the book, it would be great if you could do so as a pre-order. Apparently, the number of pre-orders is one of the big factors in how much booksellers promote books.

If you’re in the UK, you can pre-order here:

Or if you’re in the US, it’s here:

If you’re elsewhere in the world, I’m sure you can order the book through your regular source!

Short Spiritual Reflection on the BBC Radio

Earlier this month I presented a 'Two Minute Time Out' spiritual reflection on BBC Radio Leeds (and Sheffield and York), on the theme of 'childhood wonder' with some beautiful contributions from my son Hugh, when he was a toddler many years ago. You can listen here:

Feature of Near-Death Experiences on the BBC

It was also a privilege to speak on BBC Radio 4 earlier in the month, on the 'Sunday' programme, in a piece about mystical experiences and near-death experiences. This piece begins with some wonderful reports of spiritual experiences on the link below at 27.35. You can listen to it here

Video of Talk about Spiritual Awakening

This is a video of a 45 mins talk I gave at the How the Light Gets in Festival in London, on my research into spiritual awakening. I explained the characteristics of spiritaul awakening, how it arises, and how it links to the childhood state. You can view it here

New Poem - Beyond War

As usual, let me finish with poetry. This is the poem about war that I mentioned I earlier. I wrote it at the beginning of the present conflict in the Middle East, about group identity and the illusion of nationality. I hope you enjoy it - let me know if you do!

Beyond War

The human race has no future
unless we transcend our tribal identities
and uncover our deep essence
of empathy and love.

The human race has no future
unless we’re willing to let go
of the history that defines us
the bitterness that inflames us
the beliefs that compete for truth
with the beliefs of millions of others
and the bonds that unite as a tribe
but separate us from everyone else.

The human race won’t survive
unless forgiveness heals our ancient wounds
and empathy flows across otherness
and we sense a shared space of spirit
beyond our surface separateness.

We’ll have to let go of our beliefs
and all the certainty they provide.
We’ll have to relinquish our pride
and accept that we’re not superior to others.
We’ll have to give up our truth
and accept that there are many truths.

We can preserve our traditions, value our culture
without letting them define us.
We can cherish our personalities, nurture our independence
without becoming separate entities.

Leave your tribe quietly, in the middle of the night
and slip over the border, to start a new life
without nationality or religion
as a citizen of the cosmos.

Surrender your narrow tribal self
for a deeper and wider identity
like an animal who leaves a garden, with high thick walls
to wander through an endless open plain.

At first you might feel exposed, even overwhelmed
and long for the safety of the garden.
But soon you’re feel the ground of spirit
firm and deep beneath you.
Soon you’ll sense your bond with the souls of others
and with the soul of the world.

You’ll grow to love the mystery
of not knowing and not believing.
The whole world will become your home.
The whole human race will be your kin.

Then the illusion of our distinctions will fade.
The discord of our divisions will heal
and from the harmony of our shared essence
new peace will arise and pervade the world.

All best wishes and blessings for the New Year, Steve

Calverley Building, Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
Leeds Beckett University
Leeds West Yorkshire LS1 3HE
UNITED KINGDOM

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