I hope you are well. At the moment I’m going through the poems I’ve written over the last five years (about 200 of them) since my last book of poems The Clear Light was published. I’m choosing the best ones – and the ones which fit together best – for a new poetry book, which will hopefully be published next year. It’s strange because I’ve found a lot of poems that I don’t remember writing. It feels as if they have materialised out of nothing. Sometimes I ask myself, “Did I actually write that?” It feels almost as if they were written by someone else. 
 

But that’s the wonderful thing about poetry – perhaps particularly the kind of spiritual poetry that I write. It comes unexpectedly, usually when I’m relaxed and my mind is fairly empty, often when I'm meditating or walking in the countryside. It’s not dissimilar to channeling – although in my case, it feels like the raw essence of a poem (a few lines or a phrase and an overarching concept) is handed over to me, and I complete the rest with my conscious mind. I feel a bit like a film director who is given a script and creates a film based on it. I’ll include one of the unexpected poems I found at the end of this newsletter.

Encounters with Sheep
 

Recently I’ve been doing a lot of walking and climbing in the Lake District, one of the most beautiful and dramatic landscapes in the UK. A couple of weeks ago I climbed to the top of a mountain and was surprised to a solitary ram there, just sitting and admiring the view. He wasn’t chewing grass as sheep normally do. He was relaxing in a quiet spot, taking in the beauty of the surroundings. I love sheep. They are often timid, understandably afraid of human beings, so I always try to be friendly to them, and speak to them as I walk by. But this ram was so placid that I didn't feel any need to speak. We sat quietly near each other for a few minutes, and I left him there to savour the scene. 

A few days later, I met another sheep on a mountain top. She did seem a little timid, so I said to her, “Don't worry - I come in peace. I'm a friend. I'm a vegetarian." She didn't run away, but stood nearby, looking and occasionally chewing grass. So I think I formed a bond. Here are the photos I took of my two sheep friends. 

   Time Expansion Experiences Online Launch 
 
As you’re probably aware by now, my new book Time Expansion Experiences is about to be published. On Sunday 17th November, I’m holding an online launch for the book, which will also be recorded. If you’d like to join the launch, follow this link
 

If you have already joined the launch campaign for the book, by pre-ordering the book, note that you don’t need to sign up for the launch. It’s free for you to join, and I will send the link directly to you a few days before the event. 
 

Interviews about Time Expansion Experiences

As usual when a new book is due out, I’ve been sitting down for a few podcast and radio interviews. Here’s a video interview I did with Debra Moffitt of the Oneness Connection podcast.

I also recently responded to some written questions about the book. I wrote about my spiritual experiences of transcending time, my time expansion experience in a car crash, near-death experiences and one of my favourite films. You can read the text of the interview here

The High School Curriculum
 

A high school student from the US wrote to me to ask me questions about an article of mine, which they are studying in class. I had no idea that it was on the syllabus. But it's great that high school students are discussing the idea that human beings are innately altruistic rather than selfish and competitive! The article from the curriculum is here

This article was originally published on my Psychology Today blog, which is probably the main way in which I reach new readers with my writings. I’ve written over 200 articles for it over the past 12 years. If you’re interested, you can read some of them here
 

Two Poems

The other day I was walking through the countryside and I couldn't take my eyes off the sky. The clouds all seemed like living beings, incredibly real and beautiful, with their own personalities. I wrote this poem to describe the experience. I’ll follow that poem with the one of the poems I forgot I’d written, which I will probably include in my new book of poems.

The World of Clouds 

I came to the countryside to gaze at mountains and lakes 

but today I’ve barely glanced at the landscape. 

My gaze keeps shifting upwards, to the world of clouds. 

I’ve never seen such a busy sky 

crowded with so many different types of clouds

like a suburban park on a sunny day. 

And each cloud seems like a living being 

with a personality and a purpose. 

The soft white clouds are like joyous children.

To them the sky is a playground. 

Some chase each other, as if playing tag 

while others sway slowly to the wind

bending and curling their bodies, as if dancing. 

But some clouds are like adults:

thick dark clouds who push through their sky 

as if they’re late for an appointment;

and other stern stationery dark clouds 

who watch the mischievous white clouds from a distance 

as if disapproving of their carefree joy.

The whole world is up there.

Some clouds are sociable, clustering together 

foaming and mixing and merging

as if they’re afraid of loneliness. 

Other clouds are solitary, standing alone 

like islands surrounded by blue space

guarding their identity carefully

as if company makes them uneasy. 

Some clouds are tactile and affectionate. 

They roll gently down the mountainside

caressing rocks, brushing the tops of trees.

Others are remote and aloof, standing high above 

like gods who disown the world. 

Some clouds are vain. 

They stop to admire their reflection in lakes

or to check their shadows on hills.

Others pass quietly and quickly, staring straight ahead 

like migrating birds who are fixed to their journey. 

Some clouds are headstrong.

They resist the wind, try to forge their own direction

and end up contorted and broken. 

Some clouds are affable, and flow with an easy grace

wherever the wind may take them. 

Science says I’m wrong. 

How could a cluster of water vapour

develop a distinct personality? 

How could ice particles and water droplets

coalesce into conscious beings?

But aren’t I just made up of atoms too?. 

I’m also nothing more than chemistry

a mere collection of molecules. 

And yet I am marvellously sentient.

Awakening is Simple

Awakening is simpler than you think. 

You don’t have to work through your issues, one by one 

until your psyche is completely clear. 

You don’t have to excavate your unconscious mind

and acknowledge every shadow of trauma. 

You don’t have to relive your childhood

return to the trauma of your birth 

or regress through all your previous lives 

to find the roots of all your suffering. 

You don’t have to punish yourself like a criminal 

wear a hair shirt and stand naked in the cold

block your body’s natural impulses 

and deny yourself pleasure and comfort.

You don’t have to decipher ancient texts

understand abstruse philosophies 

accept bizarre beliefs, follow arcane rituals 

swear devotion to a guru, or retreat to a cave.

Awakening is simple. 

You don’t need to explore your past -

you just need to be fully present. 

You don’t need to understand the nature of reality -

you just need to open yourself to reality. 

You just need to quieten your mind 

until you realise that you are not your mind

and become free of its illusions. 

You just have to stop thinking 

whilst remaining fully conscious

and then keep returning to stillness

until it becomes your home.

All best wishes and blessings 

Steve