I hope you are well. A couple of weeks ago my son was playing in a football (or soccer) match in a town called Macclesfield, about 45 minutes’ drive from my home. As we approached the football club, I realized that it was close to Macclesfield Crematorium. The singer of one of my favourite bands, Ian Curtis of Joy Division, was from Macclesfield, and died there, at the age of just 23. I remembered hearing that there was a stone for him at the Crematorium, so before my son’s match started, I searched for it. After about 15 minutes, I found it and stood at the stone for a few minutes, sending out gratitude for his musical genius and at the same feeling sorrow at the tragedy of his early death. (I took the photo below.) It was moving to see so many tributes to Ian Curtis around the stone. How wonderful that, 44 years after his death, his lyrics and music are still so meaningful to so many people. 

The visit reminded me that crematoriums and cemeteries are such beautiful peaceful places. They’re a great opportunity to stop and contemplate the meaning of life and death. It can be very powerful to remind ourselves of the fragility and impermanence of life. Even if you believe in some form of life after death (as I do), it’s still an amazing privilege to be being alive in this body and in this world, for just a short space of time. 

As you may know, I write about this in my new book The Adventure. I think that acknowledging and embracing our mortality is an important aspect of spiritual awakening. I recently wrote an article on the theme for my Psychology Today blog, which you can read here

I’ll also end the newsletter with a poem on this theme.

The Adventure Eight Week Online Course

Starting on April 7th, I’m leading an eight week live online course based on The Adventure. Each week we will focus on one aspect of spiritual awakening, using meditations, contemplative exercises, and other practices for catalyzing spiritual transformation, as well as poems and inspirational stories. Each session will last for around 1 ¼ hours, with a Q and A at the end. We will find that wakefulness (or enlightenment) is a natural state which is accessible to everyone. All sessions will be recorded, in case you can't make the actual time. Details here

Translations of my Books
 

As an author, you find that your books have a life of your own. You send them out into the world, via your publisher, and you’re never really sure how they will fare. Some books don’t seem to attract much interest at first, and slowly build up over the years. That was the case with my book The Fall, which is still in print after 20 years, and still selling steadily. It has also been translated into several languages, such as Spanish, French, German and Korean.

I enjoy seeing foreign translations of my books. Sometimes I try to improve my French and Spanish by reading translations of my poems – I know exactly what the poems mean, so can learn new words quickly. Last week my publisher sent a box with a few new translations, and I was particularly pleased to see the two below. The one on the left is a Turkish translation of The Leap, while the other is a Chinese translation of Extraordinary Awakenings.

European Transpersonal Conference 
 

I'm really looking forward to this year's European Transpersonal Association conference, which is in Oxford at the beginning of September. (In case you don’t know, Transpersonal Psychology more or less means Spiritual Psychology.) I'll be speaking there, along with many other transpersonalists and spiritual explorers.

More info here

Upcoming Online Talk

On April 3rd, I’m giving an online talk about my previous book, DisConnected, entitled ‘The Continuum of Connection: How a lack of empathy generates cruelty, and how empathy leads to altruism.’ The talk is hosted by one of my favourite organisations, the Scientific and Medical Network, which I have been a member of for 20 years.

Further details here

A Poem - In the Cemetery

As usual, let me finish this newsletter with a poem. This is a poem (included in my book The Adventure) which was inspired by a visit to a local cemetery. 

In the Cemetery

I walked through a cemetery this morning

in the clear winter sunshine, the grass crisp and white.

I paused by old, weathered gravestones

straining to read the faded names and dates

then found a corner of smooth, pristine stones

with inscriptions painfully fresh.

The cemetery was silent and still

but as I walked I heard voices 

from different decades and centuries

whispering through the icy air.

Softly but urgently, the dead seemed to say:

“If only we had realized that life is fragile

we would have savored each passing moment.

If only we had realized that life is brief

we would have seized every opportunity.

If only we had realized that life is precious

we would have stopped complaining and worrying

and lived with joy and love.

If only we had known the meaning of life

while we were still alive

then we would have truly lived.”

There was no regret or disappointment.

The voices were tender, like loving grandparents

sharing the wisdom of their experience.

"So don’t be forgetful, as we were,” I heard them whisper.

“Wake in celebration every morning

go to sleep in gratitude every night

and appreciate each moment in between.

Don’t live at the surface of your mind

amid resentment and regret and fear —

live from the deep space of your soul

sharing your light and love.

We realized too late; we spent our lives asleep.

But there’s still time for you to wake up.”

As I walked away from the gravestones, I looked up.

The sunlight streamed and charged through my body.

The endless blue sky filled me with space and stillness.

With each breath of cold air, I felt refreshed

gloriously awake and alive.

All best wishes and blessings 

Steve